"Shirley" is a song originally released by

John Fred and the Playboys John Fred Gourrier (May 8, 1941 – April 15, 2005) was an American blue-eyed soul, swamp pop, rock and roll, and R&B performer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, best known for the 1967 No. 1 hit song "Judy in Disguise (With G ...

in December 1958 by Montel Records. It was the band's debut single and reached number 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1959. The song became an international hit in 1982 when it was covered by

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although ...

, peaking at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart.

John Fred and the Playboys version

"Shirley" was recorded at Cosimo Matassa's recording studios in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

when John Fred was just 17 years old, after local dance promoter in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, Sam Montalbano was impressed by the band. Fats Domino's backing band helped out on the recording as Domino recorded " Whole Lotta Lovin'" prior to John Fred and the Playboys' recording session. The success of the song led Fred to appear on Alan Freed's New York show '' The Big Beat''. The single might have been more successful had Fred not turned down the opportunity to appear on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' to instead play for his high school

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team.

Charts

Shakin' Stevens version

Shakin' Stevens released a cover of the song in April 1982 under

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

as the second single from his album '' Give Me Your Heart Tonight''.

Personnel

– vocals *

Mickey Gee Michael Richard Gee (3 July 1944 – 21 January 2009) was a rock and roll guitarist who played alongside some of the most prominent Welsh musicians of the last forty years. He died on 21 January 2009 in Cardiff, Wales, from emphysema. Career B ...

– lead guitar *

Geraint Watkins Geraint Meurig Vaughan Watkins (born 5 February 1951) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist. He has backed many notable artists, including Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Ro ...

– piano, accordion *

Stuart Colman Ian Stuart Colman (19 December 1944 – 19 April 2018) was an English musician, record producer and broadcaster. Allmusic noted that he "has an impressive catalogue as a record producer and much of Shakin' Stevens success can be attributed to ...

– bass guitar, producer * Howard Tibble – drums *

Rod Houison Rodney Houison (born ), is a British musician, producer, and sound engineer who has worked with The Who, Pete Townshend, Cliff Richard, Shakin' Stevens, Judge Dread, and Echo & the Bunnymen. He has worked with and is married to Miriam Stockley. S ...

– engineer

Charts

References

{{Shakin' Stevens 1958 singles 1958 songs 1982 singles 1982 songs Shakin' Stevens songs Epic Records singles Songs written by John Fred