A biography for Shakin' Stevenshasn’t been written yet.
“Merry Christmas Everyone' went from 38 to 10, then 2, and then it hit the top spot, by which time the rereleased Band Aid single was at No 3.”
“I still love being on the road. I've been doing it since I left school. It's in my blood, it's in my bones.”
“My health had always been pretty good.”
“My older brothers would scour the railway tracks for lumps of fallen coal to keep us warm and we'd sleep, top to tail, three to a bed. So we were seriously poor in every way except for one. We were rich in love.”
“Someone can have a heart attack at any age. That person may only have so much time, so if there's a chance to help people in distress we should take it.”
“I had success in Canada, all through Europe, Poland, Czechoslovakia.”
“I have had some great interviews and some not.”
“Dad was in the First World War in the Royal Field Artillery from 1914 to 1918, as well as uncle Leonard.”
“I couldn't go on an '80s package show or anything like that. I have a lot more to give. If you go down that road completely I think you'll stay with a certain type of audience. Again I'm not knocking it. People go for the fun of the hits, it's what they've grown up with.”
“DJs used to mickey-take, have a real poke at Shakin' Stevens.”
“I've jumped off pianos, I stopped climbing up curtains when the screws popped once and I fell to the floor like a Looney Tunes cartoon character, and ended up off for six months because of a broken ankle.”
“I was in several bands, and we just started off doing the clubs and dancehalls in the valleys - and eventually moved on to the colleges and universities.”
“War affects people in different ways.”
“Hot Dog' had been my first hit in the U.K., but it was 'Marie Marie' that really changed things.”
“In Australia and New Zealand I had big, big success.”
“I did feel a bit of an outsider in the Eighties. But there was a market for me out there. New Romantics were totally different.”
“I had a heart attack and it was touch and go. I was in intensive care, my body was frozen. I had an ice cap and had to get a pacemaker. I was in hospital for nearly two months.”
“I always thought it would be nice to have a Christmas number one. If nobody remembers you for the rest of the year, they'll remember you at Christmas.”
“I had a positive remark from Johnny Rotten, would you believe? He said I was a fantastic singer. Not a lot of people know stuff like that.”
“I was a guy who was born in Cardiff and thought, there must be more to my history than that.”