SHAKIN’ STEVENS and THE SUNSETS – AT THE ROCKHOUSE LP – Nr MINT UK 1981 ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

Shakin’ Stevens and The Sunsets – At The Rockhouse
(Magnum Force Records  1981  MFLP004)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known as Shakin’ Stevens, is a platinum-selling Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter who was the UK’s biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although it was not until 1980 that his commercial success began. His most successful songs were nostalgia hits, evoking the sound of 1950s rock and roll and pop.

In the UK alone, Stevens has charted 33 Top 40 hit singles including four chart-topping hits “This Ole House”, “Green Door”, “Oh Julie”, and “Merry Christmas Everyone”; his last Top 40 single was “Trouble” in 2005 apart from his Christmas song, which has re-entered the UK Top 75 chart each December since 2007.

Having worked as an upholsterer and milkman, Barrett performed on weekends in clubs and pubs. Having previously followed them as a fan and then as an occasional guest vocalist, Barrett joined the existing Penarth-based the Backbeats – originally formed in 1958 – as lead singer. Spotted by South Wales impresario Paul “Legs” Barrett – who was not a relative – Paul Barrett proposed repackaging the band as a 1950s-influenced rock ‘n’ roll outfit under a new name. Michael Barrett agreed to choose a stage name, and so borrowing from old school friend Steven Vanderwalker, he chose Shakin’ Stevens.

Fronting the newly named Shakin’ Stevens and the Sunsets, an early break for the band presented itself when they were given a support slot for the Rolling Stones in December 1969. Despite landing a recording contract with Parlophone Records the following year and releasing a Dave Edmunds-produced album, the optimistically and prematurely titled A Legend, the group found success hard to come by, at least in their native Great Britain, though they had several hit singles in other countries. The band toured Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands in between UK dates.

Because they only achieved minor sales, many of the Sunsets’ records with Stevens have become collectors’ items in the years following his commercial breakthrough; for example a copy of their single “Honey Don’t” released in Sweden on CBS Records in 1973 sold for over £340 in 2013. The Sunsets continue to perform, and still tour annually in the UK, Europe and Australia, fronted in recent years by Shaky’s nephew, Levi Barrett.