Christopher Mark Sievey (25 August 1955 – 21 June 2010) 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. 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. Biography Early life and career (1955–1976) Sievey grew up in Ashton-on-Mersey, Sale, Cheshire (2.5 miles from Timperley). In 1969, when he was 14, Sievey began writing and recording his own music, 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. Sievey subsequently recorded several demos, which he sent to record companies, receiving many rejection letters which he later compiled into a book. Unable to get a deal, he set up his own Razz label in 1974. Sievey released two cassettes under his own name in 1975 and 1976 – Girl in My Blue Jeans and All Sleeps Secrets. 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. A string of singles and several cassettes were released between 1978 and 1983. Most of these were credited to the Freshies, but were occasionally listed as Chris Sievey & the Freshies. In 1981, Sievey played on "Some Boys" by Going Red?, the band formed by former Jilted John star Graham Fellows. The Freshies biggest UK hit was "I'm in Love with the Girl on the Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk", released initially on his own Razz label (RAZZ 10), it was reissued by the US giant MCA Records with a slightly different title ("I'm in Love with the Girl on a Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk") as there were objections about using