Shaky is an album released by Shakin' Stevens in 1981. Released at the peak of his popularity, Shaky was the first and, to date, only UK number 1 album for Shakin' Stevens. The album features three top ten singles, most notably Green Door, which enjoyed a month at number one during the summer of 1981. Despite Shaky's reputation as a rock and roll cover artist, the album contained five of his own compositions as well as the original song "You Drive Me Crazy", which spent four weeks at number two in the UK singles chart in the spring of 1981. A cover of "It's Raining", released in the autumn, also managed to reach the top ten in the UK.

Shaky
Studio album by
Released4 September 1981
Recorded1981
StudioEden Studios, London
Genre
Length39:04
LabelEpic
ProducerStuart Colman
Shakin' Stevens chronology
This Ole House
(1980)
Shaky
(1981)
Give Me Your Heart Tonight
(1982)
Singles from Shaky
  1. "You Drive Me Crazy"
    Released: 24 April 1981
  2. "Green Door"
    Released: 17 July 1981
  3. "It's Raining"
    Released: 2 October 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Smash Hits8/10[3]

Produced by Stuart Colman, the album retained most of the musicians from Shaky's previous album, notably Mickey Gee, BJ Cole and Geraint Watkins, and was again recorded at the Eden Studios in Chiswick.

The album was issued in Australia under the title Green Door with a slightly different track listing where it was also released on CD in the early 1990s. In Europe, it was only officially released on CD for the first time in 2009 as part of The Epic Masters box set.

Track listing

edit
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mona Lisa"Jay Livingston, Ray Evans2:15
2."You Drive Me Crazy"Ronnie Harwood2:49
3."I'm Knockin'"Shakin' Stevens2:50
4."It's Raining"Naomi Neville3:18
5."Don't She Look Good"Joey Spampinato2:09
6."Green Door"Bob Davie, Marvin Moore3:09
7."Don't Bug Me Baby"Leon Luallen, Johnny Bragg2:50
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Don't Tell Me Your Troubles"Don Gibson2:29
2."I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter"Fred E. Ahlert, Joe Young3:21
3."This Time"Chips Moman2:50
4."Baby You're A Child"Stevens2:35
5."Don't Turn Your Back"Stevens2:59
6."Let Me Show You"Stevens2:49
7."I'm Looking"Stevens2:41

Personnel

edit
  • Produced by Stuart Colman
  • Recorded at Eden Studios
  • Engineer – Rod Houison
  • Assisted by Nick Froome, Neill King

Musicians

edit
  • Mickey Gee – lead and rhythm guitars
  • Stuart Colman – bass
  • Roger McKew – guitars
  • Howard Tibble – drums
  • Geraint Watkins – piano
  • Tony Hall – tenor saxophone
  • Sid Phillips – tenor and baritone saxophones
  • B.J. Cole – steel guitar

Charts

edit

Certifications and sales

edit
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17] Platinum 50,000^
Germany (BVMI)[18] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

edit
  1. ^ Thompson, Dave. Shaky at AllMusic
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  3. ^ "Albums". Smash Hits. 17–30 September 1981. p. 29. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  4. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 293. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Shakin' Stevens – Shaky" (in German). Hung Medien.
  6. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Shakin' Stevens – Shaky" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  7. ^ Timo (13 August 2015). "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit STEP - SUE". Sisältää hitin. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Shakin' Stevens – Shaky" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  9. ^ "Vísir". DV (in Icelandic). 2 October 1981. p. 17. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Timarit.is.
  10. ^ "Charts.nz – Shakin' Stevens – Green Door". Hung Medien.
  11. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Shakin' Stevens – Shaky". Hung Medien.
  12. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Shakin' Stevens – Shaky". Hung Medien.
  13. ^ "Shakin' Stevens | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  14. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1982". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1982". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  17. ^ "IT'S SHAKIN' TIME DOWN UNDER" (PDF). Cash Box. 8 May 1982. p. 26. Retrieved 5 December 2021 – via World Radio History.
  18. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Shakin Stevens; 'Shaky')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  19. ^ "British album certifications – Shakin' Stevens – Shaky". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 December 2021.