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.
Shooting Gallery
Shakin' Stevens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh bring your rifle and join the brigade.
I'll show you baby, all the new tricks,
Smack in the middle you'll get your kicks,
You got one shot for money, the other for free,
And if you want it, you got it,
You'll get it from me.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery,
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery,
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery,
Set your body free.
All the cowgirls are out on the street,
They keep stoppin' in time with the heat.
Oh, bring your baby, load up your gun,
Smack in the middle gets the blues on the run.
You just prime your rifle, for ecstasy,
And if you want It, you got it, you get it for free.
All the cowgirls are out on the street,
They keep stoppin' in time with the heat.
Oh, bring your baby, load up your gun,
Smack in the middle gets the blues on the run.
You got one shot for money, the other for free,
And if you want it, you got it,
You'll get it from me.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery, Shoot, shoot,
Shooting gallery, set your body free.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery
The song Shooting Gallery by Shakin' Stevens is a classic rock-n-roll song with a western twist. The lyrics describe a scene where cowboys and cowgirls have traded in their wild west guns and horses for rifles and an arcade. The cowboys are challenging each other to a game of skill while the cowgirls are out on the street dancing in time with the beat. The song is playful and light-hearted with a sexually charged undertone. The lyrics encourage the listener to let loose, let their body free, and take their best shot.
The theme of the song can be analyzed in various ways. On one hand, it focuses on the decadent and wild nature of youth culture in the 80s, promoting the idea of letting oneself go and having fun without worrying about the consequences. However, it can also be seen as a critique of the time, with the lyrics representing a deviation from true cowboy culture, and instead highlighting the artificiality of arcade games and synthetic entertainment.
The melody and rhythm of the song are upbeat and catchy, with a guitar riff that’s easy to sing along to. The call-and-response nature of the chorus energizes the listener and makes for an enjoyable experience. Overall, the song Shooting Gallery is a fun and playful tribute to both cowboy culture and the arcade games of the 80s.
Line by Line Meaning
All the cowboys are at the arcade,
All the men are at the arcade playing games.
Oh bring your rifle and join the brigade.
Bring your rifle and join the group of players.
I'll show you baby, all the new tricks,
I will show you all the new ways to play the game.
Smack in the middle you'll get your kicks,
You will enjoy the game the most when you hit the target spot on.
You got one shot for money, the other for free,
You can choose to pay for a shot or play for free.
And if you want it, you got it,
If you want to play, you can play.
You'll get it from me.
I will let you play the game.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery,
Shoot the targets in the game.
Set your body free.
Enjoy the game and let your body move freely.
All the cowgirls are out on the street,
All the women are outside on the streets.
They keep stoppin' in time with the heat.
They are stopping and dancing to the music playing outside.
Oh, bring your baby, load up your gun,
Bring your partner and get ready to play.
Smack in the middle gets the blues on the run.
Hitting the target spot on will make you forget all your worries.
You just prime your rifle, for ecstasy,
Prepare your rifle for a great experience.
And if you want It, you got it, you get it for free.
You can play the game for free if you want to.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery, Shoot, shoot,
Shoot the targets in the game.
Shooting gallery, set your body free.
Enjoy the game and let your body move freely.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery
Shoot the targets in the game.
Shoot, shoot, shooting gallery
Shoot the targets in the game.
Contributed by Lila V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@andy6576
FANTASTIC! And great to see the Official Shaky channel give due credit to these early performances. Long may it continue 😊👍
@leonolanofficial4581
SHAKY deserves to still be played
@emonnsulliban5863
Cyber ymo..h,
@emonnsulliban5863
Nv
@emonnsulliban5863
NN l
@teresalabate5055
Maravilhoso video de fases esplendidas deste artista fascinante....amo Shakin'Stevens para sempre! Ele e especial ate hj! E merecia muito mais reconhecimento por sua carreira impecavel.
@polixeniagraf2636
Love you're music,Shaky ! Thank you so much !❤😊👏👏👏
@thorstenzander2635
What a great gig. You can really tell that you had fun. And that sparkles in the eyes. Yeah, those were the good old days. It's been a long, long time. Memories are awakened. Great video, hope we see more of it. All the best and best regards from Jesteburg / Germany
@cjsden7703
WOW, WOW, WOW THIS IS SO AMAZING TO SEE. Thank you Shaky and the team for putting this up, really excited to see whatever is coming next.
@elizetecardoso8364
Marravinlhoso Lindo música 🎶 eu dancei muito tempo bom 👍 👍