SHAKIN' STEVENS
(UK, twenty seven Top 40 hits, seven Top 40 albums)

DENIM-JACKETED throwback king from Wales whose shamelessly engaging re- workings of rock 'n' roll classics earned him an enormous following and a busful of hits, with '81 and '82 dominated by him practically all on his own. Michael Barrett, a dark, boyish and undoubtedly handsome singer, threw on his Levi's and white dancing shoes for the first time in '80 and scored two semi-hits, but any suggestions he would be merely a passing novelty were scotched flamboyantly when "This Ole House" ("ain't got time to fix the shingles, ain;t got time to fix the floor") soared to No.1 in '81, as he did his usual feet-turned-the-wrong-way boogie-esque choreography within the ruins of some derelict country barn on the video. There was now no stopping this man from being an amazing force in the charts. "You Drive Me Crazy" ("every time you touch me, every time you hold me, my heart starts beating like a train on a track") went to No.2, and "Green Door" ("saw an eyeball peeping through a smoky cloud behind the green door-aaah!") gave him his second chart topper. One more would follow at the start of '82 in the shape of "Oh Julie" ("oh-woah Julie, if you love me truly"), capping an astonishing twelve months. In the end, he would score eight Top 10 hits from nine releases in '81 and '82 (or twelve out of fourteen from '81 to '84), and only the obsessively churlish of society would seek to argue with statistics like that.  

SOMERSAULT

All of them were performed with unceremonious enthusiasm, with TOTP always memorable for his little miming stint in that tiny black and white patterned circular dancefloor which only ever seemed to be used by him, allowing just enough room for the odd stage somersault. Many claim that Barrett's success was more down to a disenchantment elsewhere with the modern pop scene, but it was clear that many a non-discerner, younger and older, were drawn to him because he wasn't miserable. His job was to have fun, to entertain and to involve his crowd, making them feel good and he got it spot on. "Cry Just A Little Bit" ("every night when you whisper goodbye, well I cry just a little bit") got to No.3 in '83 and "A Love Worth Waiting For" went a step closer in '84 (damn you, Lionel Richie). More production line modernised jollity followed with "A Letter To You" ("I want you to know that I took a rainbow, sent it off in a letter to you") and his self-penned ballad "Teardrops" ("teardrops will fall, only for you") which were No.10 and No.5 respectively.

QUIFF

By '85, the ball was more or less over, barring that smashing festive No.1 "Merry Christmas Everyone" ("snow is falling all around me, children playing, having fun") which stands alongside Slade for seasonal definition, and the charts didn't seem quite the same without him, whether the reasons for such a sentiment were good or not. He still plundered into the Top 30 a few times until '88, with just one more Top 10 hit in "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?" ("if they don't mean what they say-ay-ay-ay") at the end of '87, but Barrett still stonewashes those denims and gels that quiff to this day for the thousands of people who unashamedly want to have a bloody good dance without getting all precious about it. He also once headlocked a pre-Judy, irritating Richard Madeley when interviewed on regional telly, which ups him in our estimation even further. An absolute star, and don't let any pompous muso tell you otherwise.

Biggest Hit: "This Ole House", "Green Door", "Oh Julie", "Merry Christmas Everyone", all No.1, 1981, 1981, 1982 and 1985
Defining Moment: "Ain't-a-gonna need this house no longer, ain't-a-gonna need this house no more..." 

Matt