Michael Barratt, professionally known as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter born on March 4, 1948. He is the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.
Stevens' recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, but it wasn't until 1980 that he achieved commercial success. His most successful songs were nostalgia hits, reminiscent 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". Aside from "Merry Christmas Everyone" remaining popular during the Christmas season, his last Top 40 single was "Trouble" in 2005.
Born to Jack and May Barratt, Michael was the youngest of 11 children. His father, a First World War veteran, worked in the building trade and previously as a coal miner. By the time of Michael's birth, some of his oldest siblings had already married and started families of their own. Jack Barratt died in 1972 at the age of 75, and May Barratt died in 1984 at the age of 83.
Growing up in Ely, Cardiff, Stevens formed his first amateur rock and roll band with school friends, becoming its vocalist and frontman. The band went through several name changes, eventually renaming as the Denims and performing gigs in the local area. In the late 1960s, Stevens was associated with the Young Communist League (YCL),playing at YCL events, although he has stated that this was due to the band's booking agent being a member of the organization.
Stevens' official occupation was a milkman, and he lived in a flat in an office block in inner-city Cardiff, which was later demolished. While working as an upholsterer and milkman, he performed at weekends in clubs and pubs. He joined the existing Penarth-based band the Backbeats as lead singer, and was later spotted by South Wales impresario Paul "Legs" Barrett, who proposed repackaging the band as a 1950s-influenced rock 'n' roll outfit under a new name.
