The Rise And Fall Of Shakin' Stevens (And His Superstardom)

It was 1998 when I fell in love for the first time. I was in grade school, and it started off a little rocky. Aqua wasn't exactly the picture of bad-assery when the splashed into the US scene. A seven-year-old boy liking a girl-centric singing group was bad enough, but their only hit being "Barbie Girl" (and what people instantly associate them with) just put it over the edge. This was definitely something I didn't boast about back in the day. I followed them avidly for years, letting my love for them grow and prosper. "This," I thought "is the standard by which all music should follow." Ok, guys, seriously I was in like second grade. Don't judge me.

Face it, America, this song was a hit!

Then, out of the blue, they broke up. I thought that my life would end right there... Ok, so I wasn't that dramatic, but still, I was pretty upset. In the wake of this tragedy, one shining object shown through. A short while after their break, a few live recordings surfaced from one of their last shows containing material said to be put on their third album that was canned mid-production. Of these five or so songs, one stood out. This track was an ode to an amazing, and often overlooked crazy-talented musician: Shakin' Stevens.

Dis be him.

This song was nothing like anything I had heard from Aqua before. The rumor was that their next studio album was going to be very different from the previous to. Due to the decline in popularity of the Bubblegum Pop sound they had perfected, the group opted for a more rock sound, and Shaking Stevens was the flagship song. The song itself was very heavy on the guitar, with a very distinct rift that carried out throughout the tune. In the middle, everything slowed down and the song quickly took on a very patriotic sounding chorus line jingle circa WWII. Needless to say, my tiny little mind was blown.

But that was that. That crappy recording was all I was going to get. Aqua was no more, and by the looks of it, with all four of them pursuing heir own individual careers compounded with the drama that happened just before the break, the hopes of an Aqua reunion were slim. But, in a miracle that can only be explained as Jesus actually existing, Aqua did reunite. What started out as a reunion tour coupled with a "Best Of With Three New Songs" album ended up being a full-blown getting back to business as they quickly announced a new album. And best yet: Shakin' Stevens Is A Superstar was set to be on it from the very beginning.

A small snippet of the "studio version" of the song was put up on YouTube (where it can still be found) and I legitimately went nuts. The song wasn't as rock-centric as it had been before, but it was a start. Then things got worse. The group began touring again, and Shakin' Stevens was top billing on the list of songs fans wanted to hear. The version they started to play was rather... unfortunate. Synth heavy and bridge-less, the song went on as part of their set list for the entire reunion tour as well as their other promo tours throughout Denmark and Scandinavia. It's not that this new version was bad -- moreso it wasn't what I was wanting. I was still glad that it didn't disappear into oblivion with Couch Potato, Hi-Fi, and Here Comes The Birds.

Fastforward a couple of years, and the group finally get around to releasing the track list for the new album, Megalomania. I quickly scan through to find Shakin' Stevens, but to my dismay, it was not there. But wait -- there is a track called "Sucker For A Superstar", perhaps they just changed the name. Wrong. Rene confirmed on Facebook that the song had been completely re-written. The only part of the song that is the same at all is the iconic "...don't know who the Beatles are. Rolling Stones or the Spiders From Mars" portion. That's it. The one line is the same. The rest of the song... Is just unfortunate.

The new, hotter Aqua.

The track went from being about Lene's obsession with a rocker and how great he is to a song about a complete whore who is ready at any given point in time to give you a handy if you meet her low, low standards of  being a star. I am not kidding you. The song is literally about a chick who likes to bang guys from rock bands. Needless to say I was very upset upon listening the first time. Now, about twenty listens later, I am coming to terms with this drastic change.


But why? Why change a perfectly good song, especially when the reception had been so good in the first place? I mean they obviously had a studio version of the song laying around, or else this crystal clear, no crowd noise snippet wouldn't exist on YouTube. Was it because they finally got tired of making fun of now deceased Michael Jackson? DidMorten Harket get pissy that he was just called "that guy from A-Ha"? They left in the Beatles and David Bowie references, so why toss out the second half of the chorus to tell us about how this bitch likes to go "downtown"?

One theory would be to say that they got tired of the song. It was over eleven years old. But by that logic, they should be really tired of Barbie Girl, but they still play it on every tour they go on ever. I just don't get it. If I wanted to listen to a song about a slut I'd turn on Britney Spears "3" and get my jam on. I guess people just don't get how important this song is to me. The only logical explanation that I can think of is that Aqua wanted to keep up their dirty image that they established with this album. A lot of pervy and outright nasty things are discussed on the album -- all in good fun, and this may be the cause of the sudden change.

The fact is, we may never know why Aqua fell out with Shakey. Maybe one day he will make a comeback. Maybe on day the true song will be released for the masses. Please, Aqua, if you are reading this, hook a blogger up and let me hear the final studio version of the song as it was meant to be. And with that, I leave you with this simple question: Who else noticed I had to look up the guy from A-Ha's name?

Markin
Martin
David Hasseloff