Chris Sievey

Chris Sievey
Sievey as Frank Sidebottom at the Bull and Gate, Kentish Town, London, in December 2006
Background information
Born	(1955-08-25) 25 August 1955 (age 69) Salford, Manchester, England
Died	21 June 2010(2010-06-21) (aged 54) Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
Genres	Punk, power pop
Years active	1969–2010
Labels	Stiff, Rabid
Website	1137enterprises.com

Christopher Mark Sievey (born 2 April 1953) was an English singer, musician and record producer, known for the lead singer and guitarist of his backing band the Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1982 onwards.

Sievey, under the guise of Sidebottom, made regular appearances on North West television throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, even becoming a reporter for Granada Reports. Later, he presented Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show in B/W for the Manchester-based television station Channel M. Throughout his career, Sidebottom made appearances on radio stations such as Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 5, alongside Mark and Lard.

Early life and career (1953–1978)

Sievey grew up in Salford, Manchester, England.^[1]

In 1967, when he was 14, Sievey began writing and recording his own music, and by the age of 15 was playing in local bands. In 1969, he hitch-hiked to London with his brother, staging a sit-in at the Apple Records HQ, demanding to see one of The Beatles. When they were asked to leave they insisted on recording something, and were booked into the studio after playing a song to head of A&R Tony King. Sievey subsequently recorded several demos, which he sent to record companies, receiving many rejection letters which he later compiled into a book. He was an attendee to saw Dr. Feelgood and Kilburn and the High Roads concert in December 1974. Unable to get a deal, he set up his own punk band Bee Knees in November 1976.

Bee Knees released two albums in June 1977 and November 1977, Girl in My Blue Jeans and All Sleeps Secrets and their debut single I'm Her Man in May 1977. Bee Knees disbanded in February 1978. In March 1978, Sievey, along with musician for Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias and John Cooper Clarke, John Scott and record producer Martin Hannett, provided lyrics for "Jilted John" a song featuring music performed by post-punk performer and comedian Jilted John.

Chris Sievey & The Freshies (1978–1982)

In March 16, 1978, Sievey formed his backing band the Freshies, with Barry Spencer (born 1956; vocals, guitar), Rick Maunder (born 1955; vocals, bass), and Paul Whittle (born 1955; drums). They supporting Elvis Costello on his UK tour in March to April 1978. In June 1978, He signed to Stiff Records. Invited by Dave Robinson to participate in the forthcoming Be Stiff Route '78 Tour in 1978, Sievey quickly recorded his first album for Stiff, Rough 'N' Ready, was produced by Pete Shelley, which contained "I'm in Love with the Girl on the Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk", "Heart to Heart", and another Top 20 hit, "No Money". Sievey's musical style combined his own quirky inventions with punk and power pop styles. A string of singles and four albums were released between 1978 and 1981. Chris Sievey's biggest UK hit was "I'm in Love with the Girl on the Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk", released initially on Stiff label (BUY 36). The record peaked at No 34 in November 1978. They had commercial success in England with "Yellow Spot" and "No Money".

Sievey released further singles, "Wrap Up the Rockets" and "I Can't Get Bouncing Babies", and also although commercially successful in England, they failed to make the national charts.

The following year he had a solo release, "Camouflage", with the A-side a song, and the B-side being computer programming.

Filmography

^[2]

Year	Title	Role	Director(s)	Notes
1985	TX: Episode 16	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"	Richard Bradley & Tim Sullivan	TV appearance, debut of Frank Sidebottom
1986	No 73: Sit		Janie Grace	TV appearance
1987	No 73 (Series 7)		Unknown	TV show
	No 73 (Series 8)		Graeme Matthews
1988	7T3	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom", & "Reg"	Unknown
1989	Kazuko's Karaoke Klub: 15 July 1989	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"		TV appearance
1991	Motormouth (Series 4)	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom" & "Little Frank". Soundtrack	Graham C. Williams, J. Nigel Pickard, Simon Pearce, Michael Kerrigan, & Nick Bigsby	TV show
1992	Frank Sidebottom's Fantastic Shed Show	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom". Writer	Dave Behrens
	What's Up Doc? (Series 1)	Actor, as "Life with the Amoebas", "Frank Sidebottom", & "Mr. Fantastico" Soundtrack	Bob Collins & Simon Pearce
1993	What's Up Doc? (Series 2)	Actor, as "Life with the Amoebas" & "Frank Sidebottom". Soundtrack	Bob Collins
1994	Something for the Weekend: 1 July 1994	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"	Dave Behrens	TV appearance
1998	Endurance UK		Unknown
2002	Gina and Stella	Voice actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"	Sarah Ball	Short film
2006	Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show (Season 1)	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom". Writer	Unknown	TV show
	Flushed Away	Voice Actor, as Sam	Film	David Bowers & Sam Fell
2007	Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show (Series 2)	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom". Writer	Unknown	TV show
	The Comedy Map of Britain: Episode 4	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"	Ellen Evans & Matt O'Casey	TV appearance
	The Podge and Rodge Show (Season 2): Episode 30		Unknown
	The Most Annoying Pop Songs.... We Hate to Love: Episode 3		Gareth Cornick, Nick Cory Wright, Richard Dean, Chris Hill, Kevin Hylands, Lindsay Jex, Kate Morey & Lyn Rowett
	Comic Relief: "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles"		Peter Kay	Film
2008	Magical Manchester Tour	Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom", soundtrack	Steve Sullivan	Short film
2011	Phineas and Ferb: "My Fair Goalie"	Voice Actor, as "British Announcer"	Jeff "Swampy" Marsh & Robert F. Hughes	TV appearance

Discography

Studio Albums

• Rough n Ready (1978)
• Manchester Plays (1979)
• Chris Sievey play London (1980)
• Denigration Now (1980)
• Demolition (1981)
• Big Record (1984)
• Fantastic Tales (1985) As Frank Sidebottom
• Radio Timperley C-60 (1986) As Frank Sidebottom
• 5:9:88 (1986) As Frank Sidebottom
• 13:9:88 (1986) As Frank Sidebottom
• Medium Play (1988) As Frank Sidebottom

Singles

• "I'm in Love with the Girl on a Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk" (1978)
• "Heart to Heart / Wrap Up the Rockets" (1979)
• "I Can't Get Bouncing Babies / We're Like... You" (1979)
• "Dancin' Doctors / One to One" (1979)
• "Fasten Your Seat Belts / Best We Can Do" (1980)
• "If You Really Love Me, Buy Me a Shirt / I Am the Walrus" (1980)
• "Camouflage" (1981)
• "The Oink! 45" (1984) As Frank Sidebottom
• "Frank's Indie Medley" (1985) As Frank Sidebottom
• "Panic" (1991) As the Sidebottoms

Compilation albums

• In Love With... (1982)
• Frank Sidebottom's ABC & D... The Best Of... (1997) As Frank Sidebottom
• The Very Very Best Of... Some Long and Short Titles (2003)
• E, F, G & H. The Best Of... Volume Two (2007) As Frank Sidebottom
• Fantastic Show Biz Box Set (2008) As Frank Sidebottom
• Early Singles (2011)
• Cease & Desist (2017) As Frank Sidebottom
• Telephone Line: Monologues And Messages (2017) As Frank Sidebottom

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (2019)

Self-released material

Released either on cassette or CD-r

Albums

• The Bees Knees (1977) With the Bees Knees
• All Sleeps Secrets (1977) With the Bees Knees

References

1. Rob Hughes (22 June 2010). "Chris Sievey obituary | Culture". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
2. "Chris Sievey". IMDb. Retrieved 28 December 2020.