The Bop Won't Stop

The Bop Won't Stop is an album by Welsh rock and roll singer Shakin' Stevens, released in November 1983 by Epic Records. Compared to his previous albums, this album was not as successful, only peaking at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart despite the success of its singles.^[4]

The Bop Won't Stop
Studio album by Shakin' Stevens
Released	18 November 1983
Recorded	1983
Studio	Eden Studios, London
Genre	Rock and roll pop
Length	33:33
Label	Epic
Producer	Christopher Neil Richard Anthony Hewson Shakin' Stevens
Shakin' Stevens chronology
Give Me Your Heart Tonight (1982) The Bop Won't Stop (1983) Lipstick, Powder and Paint (1985)
Singles from Give Me Your Heart Tonight
"It's Late" Released: 15 July 1983 "Cry Just a Little Bit" Released: 4 November 1983 "A Rockin' Good Way" Released: 30 December 1983 "A Love Worth Waiting For" Released: 12 March 1984

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[1]
Number One	[2]
Smash Hits	[3]

Release

The album spawned three UK Top-5 singles: "Cry Just a Little Bit", "A Rockin' Good Way" (a duet with Bonnie Tyler) and "A Love Worth Waiting For". A cover of Ricky Nelson's "It's Late" was also released, peaking at number 11 in the UK.^[4] In Mexico, a cover of Jerry Williams & Roadwork's "Diddle I" was released as a single in 1983, with the B-side "Love Me Tonight".^[5]

In the US and Canada, like with Stevens' previous album Give Me Your Heart Tonight, The Bop Won't Stop was released with only 10 tracks, omitting "Livin' Lovin' Wreck" and "It's Late".^[6]

The album became Stevens' first CD release in 1984. In 2009, it was re-released on CD as part of The Epic Masters box set, which included bonus tracks. The bonus tracks were two B-sides and two singles: a cover of "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night", which was only released in Europe, and also a cover of "A Letter to You" which was released as a single from Stevens' Greatest Hits album.

Reception

Reviewing the album for Number One, James McGregor gave the album a four out of five and wrote "Honour where honours due. Somehow Shaky's put all the pieces together and turned rockabilly and '50s crooning into an '80s mix that anybody can enjoy. His latest offering is a perfect lightweight performance, undoctored, urgent, and just the right side of tongue in cheek."^[2]

Reviewing for Smash Hits, Linda Duff gave the album four out of ten, describing it as "Nothing new or even remotely startling. Shaky rattles out the same old song – literally, even his self-penned tracks are ripped off from his own previous hits."^[3]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Bop Won't Stop"	Steve Tatler	2:35
2.	"Why Do You Treat Me This Way?"	Shakin' Stevens	2:27
3.	"Diddle I"	Caj Högberg Dougie Lawton	2:59
4.	"Don't Be Two Faced"	Tom Bee	3:12
5.	"Livin' Lovin' Wreck"	Otis Blackwell	2:11
6.	"A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)" (with Bonnie Tyler)	Brook Benton Clyde Otis Luchi DeJesus	2:57

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Brand New Man"	Mickey Gee	2:25
8.	"I Cry Just a Little Bit"	Bob Heatlie	3:11
9.	"As Long As"	Steve Markwick Stevens	2:58
10.	"A Love Worth Waiting For"	Gary Sulsh Stuart Leathwood	3:20
11.	"Love Me Tonight"	Stevens	3:16
12.	"It's Late"	Dorsey Burnette	2:02
Total length:			33:33

2009 bonus tracks:

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"It's Good for You (Baby)" (B-side of "It's Late")	Stevens	2:58
14.	"Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night"	Stephen Schlaks Robert Glazer	3:23
15.	"A Letter to You"	Dennis Linde	3:08
16.	"Come Back and Love Me" (B-side of "A Letter to You")	Stevens	2:47

Personnel

Shaky's musicians

• Shakin' Stevens – vocals
• Les Davidson – lead guitar
• Roger McKew – lead and rhythm guitar
• Dick Bland – bass guitar
• Gavin Povey – piano, synthesiser
• Chris Wyles – drums
• The Rumour Brass:
  • Ray Beavis – tenor saxophone
  • John "Irish" Earle – baritone and tenor saxophones
  • Chris Gower – trombone
  • Dick Hanson – trumpet

Technical

• Neill King – engineer
• Simon Hurrell – engineer
• Christopher Neil – producer (all except 3, 7, 10)
• Richard Anthony Hewson – producer (10)
• Shakin' Stevens – producer (3, 7, 10)
• Simon Cantwell – art direction
• Alan Ballard – photography

Charts

Chart (1983–84)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7]	73
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8]	38
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9]	24
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[10]	6
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11]	12
UK Albums (OCC)[4]	21

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[12]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
2. "Albums". Number One. 19 November 1983. p. 38. Retrieved 20 January 2021 – via flickr.com.
3. "Albums". Smash Hits. 24 November – 7 December 1983. p. 27. Retrieved 20 January 2021 – via sites.google.com.
4. "Shakin' Stevens | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
5. Shakin' Stevens - Te Lo Dije (Diddle I), retrieved 20 January 2021
6. Vinyl Album: Shakin' Stevens - The Bop Won't Stop (1984), retrieved 20 January 2021
7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 293. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Shakin' Stevens – The Bop Won't Stop" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Shakin' Stevens – The Bop Won't Stop" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
10. "Norwegiancharts.com – Shakin' Stevens – The Bop Won't Stop". Hung Medien.
11. "Swisscharts.com – Shakin' Stevens – The Bop Won't Stop". Hung Medien.
12. "British album certifications – Shakin' Stevens – The Bop Won't Stop". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 December 2021.