Shakin' All Over

Written by Johnny Kidd, this rocker is about the feeling you get near a great looking girl. It was a huge hit in England, but didn't make a dent elsewhere until Chad Allen and the Expressions recorded the song in 1965. When their version was released, their label wanted to create some intrigue for the Canadian group and maybe pass them off as a British Invasion band. So, the single was credited to "Guess Who?", which is what is said on the label. Disc Jockeys thought the group was actually named The Guess Who, and that's the name that stuck. Their version went to #1 in Canada and hit #22 in the US.

The Guess Who didn't like their new name, but their record company insisted they keep it, as that's what every media outlet was calling them. To make things worse, The Who started their rise to fame around the same time, and the groups were often confused with each other. The Guess Who would get requests for "My Generation," and The Who would be asked to play this song, which they often did: their version can be heard on the 1970 album Live At Leeds.

Kidd's hit song came by chance as his bass player Brian Gregg recalls in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: "Wally Ridley's (the producer)'s assistant, Peter Sullivan said, 'We're going to do the old trad tune, "Yes Sir That's My Baby", and you can have the B-side." The day before the session we were in the Freight Train coffee-bar in Berwick Street and we said, 'Let's write any old rubbish'. There was Johnny, the guitarist Alan Caddy and myself. We didn't have any instruments and we sang the parts to 'Shakin' All Over'. We got up early in the morning, had a run through in my front room- not plugged in, and we went to the studio and recorded it. We thought it would be a B-side but Jack Good loved it and pushed it on his new programme, Wham!: And it went straight up the charts."

The Swinging Blue Jeans from Liverpool recorded a rockin' version of this song on their 1964 debut album.