Talking Shop: Shakin' Stevens

Shakin' Stevens is hoping to release his new album Now Listen in the UK

Shakin' Stevens was the UK's best-selling male singles artist of the 1980s with pop smashes like This Ole House, Green Door and Oh Julie.

He will perform at the Glastonbury Festival on Saturday - but with a new album waiting to be released and the pink jacket firmly in the bin, he tells fans he's trying to move on.

How do you feel about playing the main stage at Glastonbury on the same day as Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse and James Blunt?

I think it's a great diversity - it's very good. It's fresh. The choice was made by Michael Eavis and his daughter, and I thought why not? It's nice to have a bit of a change.

I haven't done many festivals in the UK, but outside the UK I've done quite a lot with a similar diversity and it's always gone down well. I'm very pleased to be doing it - it is the biggest festival in the UK.

Will you be playing your hits?

Some paper said I'm ditching the image, but I haven't worn that kind of stuff for 15, 20 years or more

I'm very lucky to have 40 hits and a quite a few hit albums, not just in the UK I might add. But you can't do them all and I don't really want to do the hits anyway.

But I will do certain ones and we'll be doing some new songs as well. With the hits I do now, they're totally different arrangements. They're nothing like the singles.

What would you say to those expecting you to turn up in a pink jacket with the Top of the Pops image in their heads?

The people who haven't seen my concerts over the years will probably expect that. I can't knock them for that because they don't know any better.

I'm talking to you now in black jeans, casual clothes and brown boots. I think some paper said I'm ditching the image, but I haven't worn that kind of stuff for 15, 20 years or more.

Are you frustrated that some people still have that image of you?

It's a frustration for me with the new album because it shows a progression, and until you get the chance to go on TV, people can't see you, how you are today. But unfortunately life is not always a bed of roses.

Is the album being released in the UK?

At the label, the guy who signed me moved off to America and the label staff changed. Having said that, it was released in Denmark and went to number four.

People think if you're not on TV, you're not doing anything - it's far from the truth

If that was in England, perhaps we wouldn't be having this conversation. But unfortunately it wasn't released.

But I'm a bit like a skittle - you always pull yourself back up. I've been doing it for such a long time, you just ride the waves. We're looking at having the album back and see if we can get it released and go forward.

What's the album like?

There's a bit of country on it, a bit of gospel on it, a bit of swamp on there. Tony Joe White, the guy who wrote Rainy Night in Georgia, Polk Salad Annie and Steamy Windows, he played lead guitar on one of the tracks. We're very pleased with it, it's a progression forward.

Why have you returned to recording now?

I stopped recording in '92. Through the '80s it was such a wild, fast-moving period that I stood back for a bit, but I didn't sit back for long because I was always working. I was always doing UK tours, always doing festivals throughout Europe. People think if you're not on TV, you're not doing anything - it's far from the truth.

I can still sell records - there is a sleepy audience but they can be woken up

Then in 2005, there was a [greatest hits] collection and it went to number four in the UK chart. Wham, straight in, fantastic. It went gold. I can still sell records, there is a sleepy audience but they can be woken up.

With all your success, do you need to keep working or do you do it for the love?

Why do I keep going? I haven't really gone to the next stage. Everyone's got stages in their career and everybody moves on with their music. My next stage, I haven't done that. I've got close and I've done it in Denmark but I haven't done it in the other territories. So it's a bit frustrating, yes, it is frustrating but we'll get there.

I'd like to get to that stage so those people who only remember Top of the Pops... If we can get onto the next stage and have a success with an album like we did in Denmark... They don't look at me like that no more. It will be good and satisfying for me.

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