1. Christopher Mark Sievey was an English musician, comedian and artist known for fronting the band the Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1984 onwards.
31 Facts About Chris Sievey
1. 2.
Chris Sievey grew up in Ashton-on-Mersey, Sale, Cheshire.
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In 1969, when he was 14, Chris Sievey began writing and recording his own music, and by the age of 15 was playing in local bands.
4.
Chris Sievey subsequently recorded several demos, which he sent to record companies, receiving many rejection letters which he later compiled into a book.
5.
In 1977 Chris Sievey formed the Freshies, with various other musicians involved including Martin Jackson, Billy Duffy and former Nosebleeds bassist Rick Sarko.
6.
Chris Sievey had written his first LP by this stage, The Johnny Radar Story, which, owing to contractual complications, was never released on vinyl.
7.
In February 1982, Chris Sievey abandoned the quartet lineup of the Freshies, and reformed it as a duo with Barbara O'Donovan.
8.
Chris Sievey's character was cheerfully optimistic, enthusiastic, and seemingly oblivious to his own failings.
9.
Chris Sievey's mother was apparently unaware of her son's popularity.
10.
Chris Sievey appeared in character as Frank, and was signed to their sub-label Regal Zonophone.
11.
Chris Sievey's backing band, dubbed 'The Oh Blimey Band' consisted of Mike Doherty on drums, Rick Sarko on guitar, Patrick Gallagher on bass, and later, Jon Ronson on keyboards.
12.
Chris Sievey later recorded "Flying" for another Beatles tribute album, Revolution No 9.
13.
In 1989, Chris 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.
14.
Chris Sievey wanted to give the band a more professional sound, and booked a 30 date tour, the longest the band had ever undertook.
15.
The tour and its new sound were panned by audience members and critics alike, leading to Chris Sievey abandoning the new line-up in 1990, instead choosing to perform solo from then on.
16.
In 2003, Chris Sievey began working on a new album, entitled Scilly Automatic.
17.
Chris Sievey made five appearances on Iain Lee's programme on London's LBC as well as on numerous community radio stations such as Forever Manchester.
18.
Chris Sievey received an overall score of 22 points from judges James Nesbitt and Glenda Gilson, putting him in first place for all the series' acts so far.
19.
Chris Sievey appeared at "Late" at Tate Britain on 3 August 2007.
20.
Chris Sievey 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.
21.
Chris Sievey would be carried over to the show's short-lived spin-off, 7T3, portraying Frank in two early episodes and two one-off characters in the latter half of the series: Big Jake, the theme park ghost, and Reg the Greengrocer.
22.
Reg is one of the few examples of Chris Sievey playing a character on television not related to Frank Sidebottom.
23.
Chris Sievey remained a crew member until the show's sixth series, but continued to work on specials until 2005.
24.
In 2006, Chris Sievey revived the character of Frank Sidebottom with the short-lived television series Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show.
25.
Chris Sievey was posthumously recognised with the special judges' award at the 2011 Chortle Awards.
26.
Chris Sievey was diagnosed with cancer in May 2010, and died at Wythenshawe Hospital on 21 June 2010 at the age of 54 after collapsing at his home in Hale, Greater Manchester.
27.
Chris Sievey left a daughter, Asher, and two sons: Stirling and Harry.
28.
Chris Sievey's funeral was held on 2 July 2010 at Altrincham Crematorium.
29.
From 1 March to 30 April 2019, Manchester Central Library held an exhibition Bobbins: Frank Sidebottom and Chris Sievey, which featured never-before-seen items from Sievey's archives, from puppets to home videos to personal artefacts.
30.
In 2014, a feature-length documentary about the life and art of Chris Sievey, entitled Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story was announced and was released in March 2019.
31.
Jon Ronson, who worked with Chris Sievey, published Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie in 2014, a memoir of his time in the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band.