Chris Sievey

**Christopher Mark Sievey** (born 26 November 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.

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), Kevin Kavanaugh (born 1955; vocals, bass), and Mick Bowers (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", "No Money", and another Top 20 hit, "Typewriter Dreams". 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 "No Money" and "Typewriter Dreams".

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

|Year|Title|Role|Director(s)|Notes|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1983|TX: Episode 16|rowspan="4"|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"|Richard Bradley & Tim Sullivan|TV appearance, debut of Frank Sidebottom||
|1984|No 73: Sit|Janie Grace|TV appearance||||
|rowspan="2"|1985|No 73 (Series 7)|Unknown|rowspan="3"|TV show||
|No 73 (Series 8)|Graeme Matthews||||||
|1986|7T3|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom", & "Reg"|rowspan="2"|Unknown|||
|1987|_Kazuko's Karaoke Klub_: 15 July 1987|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"|TV appearance||||
|1989|Motormouth (Series 4)|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom" & "Little Frank". Soundtrack|Graham C. Williams, J. Nigel Pickard, Simon Pearce, Michael Kerrigan, & Nick Bigsby|rowspan="4"|TV show||
|rowspan="2"|1990|_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|||||
|1991|_What's Up Doc?_ (Series 2)|Actor, as "Life with the Amoebas" & "Frank Sidebottom". Soundtrack|Bob Collins||||
|1992|Something for the Weekend: 1 July 1992|rowspan="2"|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"|Dave Behrens|rowspan="2"|TV appearance|
|1993|Endurance UK|Unknown|||||
|2000|Gina and Stella|Voice actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"|Sarah Ball|Short film|||
|2004|Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show (Season 1)|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom". Writer|Unknown|TV show|||
|rowspan="4"|2005|_Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show_ (Series 2)|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom". Writer|Unknown|TV show||
|The Comedy Map of Britain: Episode 4|rowspan="3"|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom"|Ellen Evans & Matt O'Casey|rowspan="3"|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||||||
|rowspan="2"|2006|_Magical Manchester Tour_|Actor, as "Frank Sidebottom", soundtrack|Steve Sullivan|Short film||
|_Flushed Away_|Voice Actor, as Sam|Film|David Bowers & Sam Fell||||
|2007|_Comic Relief_: "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles"|Peter Kay|Film||||
|2011|_Phineas and Ferb_: "My Fair Goalie"|Voice Actor, as "British Announcer"|Jeff "Swampy" Marsh & Robert F. Hughes|TV appearance|||

### Compilation albums

- _Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (2019)

### Self-released material

_Released either on cassette or CD-r''

***Albums***

## Infobox (musician)

- **image**: Frank sidebottom.jpg
- **caption**: Sievey as Frank Sidebottom at the Bull and Gate, Kentish Town, London, in December 2006
- **birth place**: Salford, Manchester, England
- **death place**: Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
- **genre**: Punk rock, Punk, power pop
- **label**: Stiff Records, Stiff, Rabid Records, Rabid
- **years active**: 1967–2010