One of the linchpins of the British rock & roll revival of the 1970s and '80s, Shakin' Stevens ranks among the most persistent performers ever to emerge, ultimately, as a superstar. Stevens has no less than 30 U.K. Top 40 hits to his name, almost all of them racked up during a five-year span of chart invincibility. Yet his recording career pre-dated his first hit by over a decade, struggling through a period that might have forced any less committed artist to simply abandon all hope.
"Shaky" was born Michael Barratt on March 4, 1948 in Ely, Wales. The youngest of 11 children ...