Early life and career (1955–1976) Sievey grew up in
Ashton-on-Mersey,
Sale, Cheshire (2.5 miles from
Timperley). and by the age of 15 was playing in local bands. In 1971, 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.
The Freshies (1977–1982) In 1977 Sievey formed
the Freshies, with various other musicians involved including
Martin Jackson,
Billy Duffy and former
Nosebleeds bassist Rick Sarko. The character was instantly recognisable by his large spheroidal head, styled like an early
Max Fleischer cartoon. This was initially made from
papier-mâché, but later of
fibreglass. In the documentary
Being Frank, Martin Sievey (Chris's brother) states this was made using
plaster of Paris. Frank, usually dressed in a 1950s-style sharp suit, was portrayed as an aspiring pop star from the small village of
Timperley, near
Altrincham. His character was cheerfully optimistic, enthusiastic, and seemingly oblivious to his own failings. Although supposedly 35 years old (the age always attributed to Frank irrespective of the passage of time), he still lived at home with his mother, to whom he made frequent references. His mother was apparently unaware of her son's popularity. Frank sometimes had a sidekick in the form of "Little Frank", a hand puppet who was otherwise a perfect copy of Frank. Comedy character
Mrs Merton started out as Frank's sidekick on his radio show
Radio Timperley, and the similarity of the characters is evident, exuding a sense of great ambition which belies a domestic lifestyle in the
North of England. Sidebottom's former Oh Blimey Big Band members include
Mark Radcliffe and
Jon Ronson, and his driver was
Chris Evans. and was signed to their sub-label
Regal Zonophone. Zonophone released his third EP '''Frank's Sidebottom's Firm Favorites''' in August of 1985. He'd previously self released two EPs as Frank in 1985, titled '''Frank's Summer Special''' as well as an early version of 'Firm Favorites'. The EP reached 97 in the UK Charts on 31 August 1985 before dropping completely. In order to promote the EP, he made an appearance on the TV programme
TX the first of many appearances on the
ITV network. His second Zonophone EP, '''Oh Blimey, It's Christmas'
charted slightly higher than the first, at number 87, before dropping off again. It was likely the failure of his third Zonophone EP, Sci-Fi'', that caused him to be dropped by the label. Afterwards he was signed to
Marc Riley's In Tape label, on which he would release two albums and four EPs. Despite the minimal chart success from these EPs, Frank had developed a cult following that allowed him to attract audiences upwards of 500 in
Northern England and
London. This act of extensively touring the country would develop Frank's status. Performances were often varied from straightforward stand-up comedy and featured novelty components such as
tombola, and crowd interaction. Sometimes the show also included lectures. Contrasting with the
alternative comedians of the time, Frank Sidebottom's comedy was family-friendly, if a little bizarre for some. This family friendly nature led to Frank getting his own comic strip in the children's weekly comic
Oink!, which launched 1986. His backing band, dubbed
The Oh Blimey Band consisted of Mike Doherty on drums, Rick Sarko on guitar (both formerly of the Freshies), Patrick Gallagher on bass, and later,
Jon Ronson on keyboards. At the same time as touring, Frank would become a semi-regular cast member on the two final seasons of the ITV children's programme
No. 73, eventually being grandfathered into its spin off,
7T3. In 1987, Frank released his first album, a spoken word cassette called
Fantastic Tales, released through his own 11:37 label. His first musical album, entitled
5:9:88, was released on vinyl by
In Tape a year later. This album introduced the character
Mrs Merton, portrayed by
Caroline Aherne. Aherne continued to use the character as a comic persona, leading to
her own TV show, launching the comedians TV career. Chris and the band, whilst disgruntled by the success of a character created for Frank now detached from Frank, did not resent it, with drummer Mike Doherty saying that while she had taken the character's name, she had crafted her own thing out of it. Frank was perhaps most popular in the
North West of England, where his success was caught up in that of the
Madchester scene, and for a time was a regular on regional
ITV station
Granada, even featuring as a reporter on its regional news programme,
Granada Reports. Along with his frequent television appearances, the Frank Sidebottom character also made appearances on radio, on stations such as Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 5, alongside Mark and Lard.
Jon Ronson first played with Frank's Oh Blimey Band in 1987, when their original keyboardist (
Mark Radcliffe) was unable to make it to a gig at The Cricketers pub at Kennington Oval, London SE11. Ronson was social secretary at the Polytechnic of Central London and knew Mike Doherty as an agent. During the band introductions at the end of the show, Ronson noted a negative reaction to his presence, but found that his microphone had been almost completely muted, leaving him completely unheard by the audience. Despite this, one year later, he was offered a full time place in the band, which he accepted. This same year Frank was included on the charity album
Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father, which featured other acts like
Michelle Shocked,
the Christians,
Sonic Youth,
Billy Bragg,
Hue and Cry,
the Fall and
Wet Wet Wet. He later recorded "
Flying" for another Beatles tribute album,
Revolution No. 9. In 1989, Sievey re-arranged the Oh Blimey Band, introducing Richard Jones from the recently broken up local band the Desert Wolves on bass guitar, along with a new guitarist and saxophonist. Chris wanted to give the band a more professional sound, and booked a 30 date tour, the longest the band had ever undertook. This new lineup was a source of tension between the members, with Richard Jones and Jon Ronson taking a near instant disliking for each other. The tour and its new sound were panned by audience members and critics alike, leading to Sievey abandoning the new line-up in 1990, instead choosing to perform solo from then on. After this, Frank began to make semi-regular guest appearances on the final season of ITV programme and
No. 73 successor
Motormouth, as well as numerous appearances on
Channel 4, including the British version of the game show
Remote Control which was presented by
Tony Wilson, where each week he would pose "Frank's Fantastic Question" to the contestants. The popularity of these appearances led to him getting his own show on the network, ''Frank Sidebottom's Fantastic Shed Show
, which lasted one series in 1992. Afterwards he migrated to What's Up Doc?'', After the first two series, Sievey left the show.
Retirement of Frank, stop-motion work and failed solo ventures (1995–2004) As the 1990s reached their midpoint, the Frank character began to make fewer public appearances before seemingly being retired. During this time, Sievey began working on a solo album entitled
Life in 74 Minutes, which he later abandoned. In 2000 he began working in stop motion animation and became a regular crew member on series 4–6 of
Bob the Builder, as well as a writer on the fourth series of
Pingu. In 2003, Chris began working on a new album, entitled
Scilly Automatic. One track from this, "Lazy Rising More Slowly, Where R.U, Oh 'Chele, was released on the 2019 outtakes and rarities compilation
Being Frank. He appeared in the Series 3 Christmas special of
BBC Scotland's
VideoGaiden, performing "Christmas is Really Fantastic", and later appeared on the Series 3 Awards show, and the final web-exclusive episode ("Closedown"). Frank appeared briefly as a
Manchester United fan in an advert for the
FIFA 10 video game in 2009. Frank performed at Bloom Festival in 2007 and
Kendal Calling in 2008. In late 2009 and early 2010 he supported
John Cooper Clarke on a UK tour. Frank's last professional appearance was at the
Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington, on 4 June 2010. His last personal appearance was at the Salutation pub, Higher Chatham Street, Manchester on 11 June 2010 when he launched his World Cup single, "Three Shirts on the Line". Following Sievey's death in June 2010, a social networking campaign was launched to gain Frank his first UK hit. "Guess Who's Been on Match of the Day" entered the charts at No. 66. == Television work ==