Re-Set

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It would be hard to explain to a Gen-Z pop fan just how big Shakin’ Stevens was for the first half of the ‘80s, winning the hearts of the nation with his twin weapons of smooth rock ‘n’ roll vocalising and signature dance moves, which looked like someone had just cut half the strings on an Elvis marionette. You cannot play Merry Christmas Everyone in May, which means Stevens is thawed out in a similar fashion to Michael Bublé.

Shakin’ Stevens: Re-Set. Album Review. | Liverpool Sound and Shakin’ Stevens: Re-Set. Album Review. | Liverpool Sound and

Unlike this mystery groupie, one person who did manage to get up close and personal with Shaky was Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley. Firstly, the lyrical concerns are rather more weighty than the classic Stevens songbook themes of boy meets girl/ boy tries to gatecrash next door’s party/ boy conducts disappointing structural survey. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. Sometimes the message doesn’t get much beyond “like, the government, man”, and we probably didn’t need both references to 1984 within the first verse of Hard Learned Lesson to make the point.He was being interviewed on some TV show and said at the end of the chat, ‘Right, I’ve done this interview, I’m effing off to see Shakin’ Stevens’.

Shakin’ Stevens – Re-Set | Album Reviews | musicOMH Shakin’ Stevens – Re-Set | Album Reviews | musicOMH

Delivered with an impassioned vocal performance, the gritty lyrics mince no words at all on the subject of undiluted avarice. Watch the gritty music video for ‘Greed Is All You Need’ below, and and stream and download the single here. Lead single It All Comes Around is a great example and only a couple of times do the post-pandemic themes slip into cliché. On ‘Re-Set’, those personal tales weave into an interconnected narrative about our collective place in the modern world, both real and virtual.Compared to his octogenarian countryman Tom Jones, who regularly performed amidst a flurry of underwear flung on stage by fanatical female devotees, Shaky’s followers were generally less frenzied. His presence is not one lost on listeners, in fact, every year they are treated to a bit of those magic, Christmas charms.