A live recording.

From Wikipedia :
In 1976,[1] at age 16[2] and as a member of theMelbourne punk rock band Young Charlatans, Howard wrote “Shivers”.[1] Discussing the song’s origins, Howard said that “Shivers” was “intended as an ironic comment on the way that I felt that people I knew were making hysterical things out of what were essentially high school crushes”. He further explained that the emotional responses of people he knew who were in relationships seemed “incredibly insincere and blown out of proportion” and inspired the cynical lyrics of the song.[3]

Howard composed “Shivers” on an Ibanez Gibson Firebird copy,[4] an electric guitar on which he performed on the first known recording of the song. Recorded as part of a series of demos for the Young Charlatans in 1978, it featured Howard on vocals and guitar, Ollie Olsen on guitar, Janine Hall on bass and Jeff Wegener on drums.[5]

During sessions for Door, Door at Richmond Recorders in Melbourne in January 1979, the Boys Next Door recorded “Shivers”. Engineer Tony Cohen suggested that Howard perform the vocals for the track, arguing that his voice was best fitted for his own songs. However, the band’s regular vocalist, Nick Cave, insisted on singing on the recording.[6] Howard said later that as a result of Cave’s vocals, “Shivers” was “interpreted completely differently and now the song, to most peoples’ minds, is something completely different from what I intended it to be”.[7] In hindsight, Cave noted that Howard’s vocals should have been recorded, as Cave was “never able to do that song justice”.[8]