One of its leading lights since the late 1950s was the Backbeats, a band fronted by Robert Llewellyn (who performed under the name of Rockin' Louie) and managed by Paul 'Legs' Barrett, a local entrepreneur and "card-carrying Communist".

Agreeing to both suggestions, Barratt left the Rebels and then, inspired either by the memory of an old school friend playing bat and ball or maybe even an eccentric local roadsweeper, became Shakin' Stevens.

There was a transitional period as the Backbeats evolved into the Sunsets which saw Dave Goddard and Sid Petherick briefly retained from the old band on bass and lead guitar respectively.

On saxophone was Paul Dolan (actually a guitarist who was a veteran of the Cardiff music scene for many years), and this early line-up was completed by London born Trevor Hawkins on piano, who had offered his services when the formative band played a gig at the Northcote Arms in Southall.

A nervous Shaky was disconcerted at having to use Mick Jagger's PA system and, when realising he had left his drumsticks back in Cardiff, Louie had to borrow a pair from Charlie Watts.

[2] Shortly after the Peel sessions, the band were rehearsing at a venue in Cardiff named the Drope when they happened to be overheard by local hero Dave Edmunds as he passed in his car on the way to his bass player John Williams' nearby house.

Their replacements were bass player George Chick, who offered an exciting visual element with his wild stage performance, and Bristolian rock and roll pianist Mike 'Ace' Skudder, who was also no slouch when it came to entertaining an audience.

However, Mickey Gee was to perform a major role in Shakin' Stevens' success of the early 80s, adding his distinctive lead guitar to many of Shaky's biggest hit records.

The Sunsets were reluctant to agree at first having yet to receive royalties from Marchand for I'm No J.D..[1] However, with the promise that the financial issues would soon be resolved, the band (with new guitarist Willie Blackmore) went into Majestic Studios in Clapham and rush recorded the album (along with the single "Sweet Little Rock And Roller") in one day.

A meeting in the autumn of 1972 with a Dutchman named Cyril Van Der Hemel convinced Paul Barrett that Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets should forget about the unprofitable one-off record deals in Britain and should instead concentrate on the much more lucrative live circuit on the European continent.

[1] With nothing to lose, Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets readily accepted the Tulip deal and, as a result, spent a large part of 1973 touring the Netherlands with a reasonable amount of success.

The Sunsets were considered successful enough in the Netherlands for them to be placed above Argent on the bill at that August's Emmen Festival, much to the disgust of the progressive rock giants who were something of a big deal in the UK at the time.

Amongst the star studded crowd were Peter Sellers and Liza Minnelli as well as the Irish novelist Edna O'Brien who apparently took a keen interest in Shakin' Stevens, inviting him back to her Chelsea flat.

[2] Early 1974 saw yet more upheavals in the band's line-up as both Ian Lawrence and George Chick left the group to be replaced by Mike Lloyd Jones and Malcolm Preest on lead guitar and bass respectively.

Ironically, these rough recordings, including versions of "Tiger", "Silver Wings" and "Sugaree", were later licensed to numerous labels throughout the 1980s and would end up as probably the most widely distributed of all the music made by Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets.

Taking his lead from the notorious bank robber John Dilinger, Barrett named the album Manhattan Melodrama (a reference to the film Dillinger watched shortly before he was shot dead).

However, yet again, the band felt they were not given the time to create the record they wanted and, once producer Schell Shelvekins had spent months overdubbing synthesizers and remixing the album to his satisfaction, the Sunsets had just about disowned the project.

When the record was finally released later in 1975 (only in the Netherlands), even the sleeve failed to gain the band's appreciation: "I wouldn't have packaged potatoes in that cover", complained Paul Barrett.

He persuaded Track's Danny Secunda and Mike Shaw to come and see Rock Island Line perform at Warwick University in a bill which also happened to include Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets.

By this point the Sunsets had Ian Lawrence back playing steel guitar alongside Mike Lloyd Jones, while George Chick had also returned to replace Mal Priest on bass.

Clearly out-performing Rock Island Line, Track's scouts ignored Bailey's group and instead Danny Secunda invited Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets to record two songs with him at Gooseberry Studios.

Sensing which way the wind was blowing, George Chick, Ian Lawrence and Mike Lloyd Jones all left the Sunsets for good and formed a new band named Quarter Moon.

Paul Barrett wasted no time in inviting ex-roadie Johnny Chop (real name Colin Hopkins) to take over bass and recruiting Danny Wild to play lead guitar.

While Track offered Shaky a solo contract on the strength of "Never", Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets were still regularly gigging as a unit, particularly in London at venues such as the Hope and Anchor, Islington and the Greyhound pub in Fulham.

Contemporaries of the Sunsets on the rock and roll circuit, they informed Barrett that they had a landed a job as the in-house band for Jack Good's upcoming Elvis - The Musical.

This worked fine until one evening at the Rock Garden (the same venue which had proved the catalyst in Shaky's change of fortune) when an audience became disappointed by the non-appearance of Shakin' Stevens as well as the crazy pianist Ace Skudder, who inexplicably failed to turn up for the gig.

While Skudder appeared on Shakin' Stevens' self titled solo album for Track (released shortly before the label went bust), The Sunsets persisted for a few more years before Louie left and re-formed the Backbeats with Sid Petherick and Dave Goddard.

Some of these releases included new recordings featuring Rockin' Louie and even Paul Barrett on vocals and had nothing whatsoever to do with Shakin' Stevens, despite his now immediately recognisable image being prominently displayed on the front cover.

As a result, Shakin' Stevens found himself in Cardiff High Court alongside Dave Edmunds facing charges of non-payment of royalties from former Sunsets Rockin' Louie, Carl Petersen, Steve Percy and Paul Dolan.