He began his career fronting the group Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets, managed by Paul Barrett. Also known as the The Sunsets, the 50s-esque rock n roll outfit originaled from Penarth, South Glamorgan. An early break for the band arrived when they were given a support slot for The Rolling Stones in December 1969. Yet, despite landing a recording contract with the seminal label Parlophone Records the following year, the band found success hard to come by. At least in their native Great Britain, they couldn't quite break through commercially, though they had hit singles in other countries. After seven years of constant touring and recording, Shaky left the band in 1977. He gained a lead role in Jack Good's "Elvis!" musical, which brought him praise from many critics.
Regular TV appearances on the revamped TV show Oh Boy led eventually to his first chart success, a reworked version of a Buck Owens song "Hot Dog", which Owens would go on to re-record using Stevens arrangement which had been created by pedal steel guitar player B.J. Cole.
In 1979, Shaky signed what was to be his most successful management deal with Freya Miller, and in 1981, he had his first UK number 1 with "This Ole House" and would have 10 more songs reach the top 5, including three number 1 hits with "Green Door", "Oh Julie" and "Merry Christmas Everyone", while "You Drive Me Crazy" and "A Love Worth Waiting For" reached number 2 in 1981 and 1984 respectively. His 1984 hit "Teardrops" featured Hank B. Marvin on guitar and Stevens has often featured famous musicians such as Albert Lee, Roger Taylor, Bonnie Tyler and more recently Tony Joe White on his recordings. In the mid 80s, Stevens reunited with former producer Dave Edmunds to record an album Lipstick, Powder and Paint and the Christmas smash "Merry Christmas Everyone".
The hits continued throughout the 1980s, making Stevens the biggest selling artist of the decade, and into the early 1990s. Chart successes also included his album Shaky reaching number 1.
It was in the 1990s, however, that Stevens took a lengthy break from recording and was stung by a court ruling requiring a substantial payout to former bandmates The Sunsets. In 1999, Shaky returned to performing and undertook tours that year and the year following. In 2004, things started to look up for Stevens he had a further platinum CD/DVD album in Denmark and a gold album in South Africa.
In 2005, he returned once again to the charts in the United Kingdom, with his greatest hits album The Collection, which reached the UK top 5. That year, he also appeared in the video to Tony Christie's and Peter Kay's #1 hit single "Is This the Way to Amarillo", alongside many other UK stars, including Ronnie Corbett, Jim Bowen, Michael Parkinson and Geoffrey Hayes. He was the winner on the reality television show, Hit Me Baby One More Time. This was quickly followed by a re-release of his cover and his own biggest hit sung in the show, ("Trouble" covering Pink's version) / "This Ole House"), which reached #20 on the UK Singles Chart in June 2005, his 33rd Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom.
In May 2007, Stevens released a brand new album in Denmark entitled Now Listen.
Radio
Shakin' Stevens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She never plays no attention to me
She lives her life in a world full of stereo
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
That's all
Well I take her to the movies and it's just the same
We just get cozy and it's on again
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
All day long
I whisper sweet nothings inside her ear
But when I get close all I ever hear
Some cool DJ telling me it's gonna show, ooh ooh
Doesn't seem to be a way of getting inside her head
She talks to me when it's only if the battery's dead
But then she keeps a spare and it's back to rock and roll, oh yeah
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
That's all she ever wanna do
I got a girl whose as cute as can be
She never pays no attention to me
She lives her life in a world full of stereo, ooh ooh
She's a hopeless case and I don't know what I can do
I rack my brains while she sings out of tune
Well she's switching me off and one of these days I'm gonne go, yeah
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
All she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Yeah, all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
All she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Radio
All she ever wanna do is listen to the radio.
The lyrics to Shakin' Stevens's song Radio tell the story of a man who has a girlfriend who is obsessed with listening to the radio. He takes her to the movies and tries to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, but she is too focused on listening to her favorite radio shows. She is so consumed with listening to the radio that she doesn't pay attention to him at all, and the singer feels like he's losing her to the radio.
The song highlights the power of music and the impact it can have on people. The woman in the song is so enamored with the radio that it becomes a part of her life and identity. The singer is left wondering what he can do to break her out of her obsession and get her to pay attention to him.
Overall, the song is upbeat and fun, with catchy lyrics and a bouncy tune. It's a lighthearted take on the struggles of communication and connection in relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I got a girl whose as cute as can be
I have a very attractive girlfriend
She never plays no attention to me
She never pays attention to me
She lives her life in a world full of stereo
She spends most of her time listening to music
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Because listening to the radio is all she ever wants to do
Well I take her to the movies and it's just the same
When I take her to the movies, itโs no different
We just get cozy and it's on again
We cozy up and listen to the music again
Listen on the headphones tuned into her favourite show
We listen to her favorite radio show on headphones
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Because listening to the radio is all she ever wants to do
I whisper sweet nothings inside her ear
I say sweet things to her
But when I get close all I ever hear
But all I hear from her is the radio
Some cool DJ telling me it's gonna show
A DJ interrupts us, saying something is going to happen
Doesn't seem to be a way of getting inside her head
It seems impossible to get her attention
She talks to me when it's only if the battery's dead
She only talks to me if the battery on her device is dead
But then she keeps a spare and it's back to rock and roll, oh yeah
But she always has a spare battery, and then it's back to listening to music
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Because listening to the radio is all she ever wants to do
I got a girl whose as cute as can be
I have a very attractive girlfriend
She never pays no attention to me
She never pays attention to me
She lives her life in a world full of stereo
She spends most of her time listening to music
She's a hopeless case and I don't know what I can do
She's a lost cause and I donโt know how to help her
I rack my brains while she sings out of tune
I try to come up with a solution while she sings poorly
Well she's switching me off and one of these days I'm gonne go, yeah
Sheโs ignoring me and one day I will leave
'Cos all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Because listening to the radio is all she ever wants to do
All she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
All she ever wants to do is listen to the radio
Yeah, all she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
Yes, listening to the radio is all she ever wants to do
All she ever wanna do is listen to the radio
All she ever wants to do is listen to the radio
Radio
Radio
All she ever wanna do is listen to the radio.
All she ever wants to do is listen to the radio.
Contributed by Jasmine R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Anuj Prajapati
Television is on the blink
All the stations appear to stink
Not so helpful or satisfied
Looking for my lost soul underneath
The wrong stone
Cause I'm the last man alive
And it's one in the eye
For the whole of mankind
I'm the last man alive
Crazy weather I'm in the sun
Radiation part of the fun
For my welfare I hope it rains
Looking for my lost soul underneath
The wrong stone
Cause I'm the last man alive
And it's one in the eye
For the whole of mankind
I'm the last man alive
Looking for my lost soul underneath
The wrong stone
Last man alive
Last man alive
Last man alive
Last man alive
Last man alive
Last man alive
Last man alive
Last man alive.
Enjoy everyone.
Kevin Phillips
I was never ever anything close to a SHAKEY fan - BUT this is BRILLIANT. World Class.
Andy
A FANTASTIC version, nice to see our boy's still got it live! Hard to believe I'm watching and listening to a 68 year-old, good on ya, Shakes. (LOVING the new album, too)
Bella Italia
What a great singer and what a voice! I'm a fan at the first time of shakin' stevens! A gentleman, with a lot of power! A completely unusual style with earworm potential! Also the album is rather exceptional, but awesome! Thank you shaky to be there! Love him!
Paul Beard
Love this version. To be fair anything you do shaky I love. Keep up the great work shaky and I love the new album and I hope to see you live next year :)
Ewa Waszak
Great version of the song Last Man Alive. Whole album is absolutely fantastic..Shakin is simply brilliant. love him.
michelle stuart
Saw shakin stevens last night in glasgow and his new music is fab! He was fantastic!
Mandy Raith
I love this version. I think it shows off his brilliant vocals more than the original, although I do love that one.
Rocka Molly
Yup I think I like the acoustic version best,,,but to be honest I love them both! WTG Shaky!
FENDS
Great Ole Shaky! Like this version very much! A great album too!
Graham Thomas
Superb track!