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. Immediately after creating the character, Sievey would record an in-character cover 'Material Boy', and send it to several major labels with the note ''I'm thinking of getting into showbiz. Do you have any pamphlets?" EMI were interested and offered him an interview. Chris appeared in character as Frank, 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 lead 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