Monday 21 June 2010

People Take Pictures of Each Other #4 - Chris Sievey and the Freshies: Dancin' Doctors



More great old footage of 'town', but this time with a sad subtext. I heard today that Chris Sievey has passed away. He'd recently revealed that he had cancer, and it obviously got a lot worse very quickly. Most people know him from his papier mache-headed alter ego, Frank Sidebottom, who I had the fortune to see a few times. Most memorably supporting Jonathan Richman at The Town and Country Club in London, where he came into the crowd after he'd played and never once came out of character. Most recently when he supported The Phantom Surfers in Wigan and came on stage with them for the encore of 'Sheena Was A Punk Rocker' (that's what they recorded it as). I never got the chance to see The Freshies, as I was exiled in Lincolnshire when they were in their pomp, and the one and only time our timetables converged was the night they were due to play at The Beach Club and it either burnt or closed down. I have bad form for that kind of thing, later having the same experience with The Living Room in London which I went to the week after it was raided and closed down. Ho hum. Enjoy the footage, ropey as it is, and enjoy Chris without his papier mache head on.

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