Frank Sidebottom, Thank You

What a terrible year this is turning out to be for rock stars. It seems like we’re losing at least one a month; Jay Reatard, Paul Gray and Mark Linkous to name just three. Now tragically, Chris Sievey has died. You may not recognise that name but he was the man inside the papier-mache head that was Frank Sidebottom.

Frank Sidebottom is dead. I don’t ever remember writing anything quite so sad as that last sentence. Frank was an indie hero who spanned the worlds of comedy and music. He loved space, football (particularly The Robins), Timperley, singing and colouring in. And those of us that saw him perform live or bought the records or all too rarely saw him on TV, loved him.

I was lucky enough to interview him once. I still have his mobile number in my phone. I bought him a pack of colouring pens for his fantastic drawing. He told me he went through a lot of pink doing Little Frank’s face, so I got a couple of extra pink ones. Here’s a really bad photo of me with the great man.

That was taken at Moles Club in Bath in 2007 during the comeback tour. I must have seen him about three times in all. He was a truly unique and gifted performer. You can read some of the tributes fans are leaving on his website here.

I can’t believe that Frank/Chris has died, but he has. You know he has. He really has. Thank you, Frank/Chris.

Update:
I've just discovered that there is a campaign here to get Frank's latest world cup song "Three Shirts On My Line" to number #1. What a tribute that would be. They need to get make it available on i-Tunes and Amazon first and then decide on a which week to got for, so keep an eye out for that. Meantime go here to see the fantastic video.

Suggested listening: “Frank Sidebottom's ABC And D: The Best Of” and "E F G And H: The Best Of Vol #2" by Frank Sidebottom