Marlow's Shakin' Stevens celebrating 30 years (From Ealing Times)

Marlow's Shakin' Stevens celebrating 30 years

10:10am Friday 21st October 2011 in Interviews By Andy Carswell

DESPITE 30 years in the music business, Shakin’ Stevens isn’t quite ready to do the ‘best of’ circuit just yet. Andy Carswell talks to the singer ahead of his 30th anniversary tour.

There will still be new material and a few surprises for fans to enjoy when the popular entertainer takes to the stage at the Wycombe Swan in November.

Now living near Marlow, Shaky is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first-ever hit this year and is showing no signs of slowing down.

He said: “It’s the second phase of our 30 year anniversary. In February and March we did 19 dates.

We’ve been doing festivals, we went to Denmark.

“I’ve been doing it since I left school and I still love it, getting out there.”

But Shaky - real name Michael Barratt - added: “If they’re expecting a tribute show, it’s not like that.

We’ll do some of the hits, some album tracks and a few surprises. It will be varied styles - it’s not going out as a hits package. We want to keep clear of the 80s revival shows, with respect to them.

“Some of them I don’t think I have sung for 15 years. I thought we’d do them in a different way on acoustic guitars and the mandolin. I sung it differently and it really goes down well - it’s totally different to the singles and people sing along. We’ve made it more grown up.

“We are going from a ten piece band - there’s a tenor sax, trumpet, harmonica, mandolin, three fantastic female singers and a piano as well.

“I’ve always been into that kind of thing, rhythm and blues and rootsy music. There’s a vast repertoire.

“I like anything, really, that’s got a memorable hook and great lyrics that tell the story - anything you can have fun with.”

He’s just released a boxed set comprising no fewer than 147 tracks, which includes some songs that haven’t been released before.

Shaky said: “People had been asking, ‘When are you going to have them on CD?’ We’ve done that now. It was great to listen to the guitar solos. I’ve been lucky to have great musicians round me.”

The trip to High Wycombe is the ninth stop on Shaky’s latest tour and it’s a venue he’s looking forward to appearing at.

He said: “I’ve played there from time to time but I haven’t been there for quite a long while. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great venue.”

Shakin’ Stevens is at High Wycombe Swan on Saturday November 19. Tickets are £28.50 from 01494 512000.