RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

[Stumpy Pepys]

Chris Sievey, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer, died today, following an operation.

Very sad. I was (and still am) a big Frank fan. Some of the funniest things I ever went to were his gigs.

[Furtho]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Very sad news indeed. I grew up just down the road from Timperley and loved the guy. Don't think I've ever laughed quite so much as at a series of "lectures" at Timperley Labour Club in about 1989. You know I haven't, I really haven't. Thank yow.

RIP Frank.

[RobW]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Gutted. Was due to see him this Friday. One of a kind, RIP.

[evilC]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Gutted here too.

When I mentioned this about a month or two ago, it sounded (from his blog posts) as if it wasn't going to be terminal and he was relatively chipper, considering.

Very sad.

[ad hoc]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Aye, add me to the saddened

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

I've just had a Frank hour on You Tube - I'll miss him. Bobbins news, that.

[delicatemoth]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

An absolute one-off. Not many people can make comedy records that stand up to repeated listening and still sound good years later. RIP Frank and all your showbiz pals.

[evilC]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

I've just been looking up the myspace profiles of some of my old John Shuttleworth-related acquaintances and Frank Sidebottom had left personal messages on the sites of one or two of them - as recently as last month, too. It's quite sad and spooky to witness.

(I've lost touch with the people in question, but I should have known they'd be big Frank Sidebottom fans too.)

[imp]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Bollocks. Saw him live in London a couple of times in the early 90s, and he was absurdly funny (though not to the taste of some of the people I dragged along with me). 'The Robins Aren't Bobbins' has been a recurrent earworm down the years, as well as 'Zoo Scrapbook.' Peculiarly brilliant, surreal comedy, and refreshingly free of malice.

[Guy Profumo]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Good to see some people remember him, too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chrisevans/

[Furtho]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

The Manchester Evening News are reporting here that Chris Sievey died "virtually penniless" and is "facing a pauper's funeral." Donations towards funeral expenses are therefore being accepted via radiotimperley.com, or you can Paypal donations to jonelle1929ATgmail.com.

[Stumpy Pepys]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Jon Ronson was another graduate of the Oh Blimey Big Band. I heard an interview with him recently and he said his next project would be based on this experience.

[David Agnew]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

John Ronson's time with the Oh Blimey Big Band, from 2006. Well worth reading, if only for the Gary Glitter roadie story.

[RobM]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Technicky Vizionar wrote:

John Ronson's time with the Oh Blimey Big Band, from 2006. Well worth reading, if only for the Gary Glitter roadie story.

That is both hilarious and (now) sad at the same time, thanks for that.

RIP Frank & Chris.

[evilC]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

This might be considered inappropriately morbid, but I think it was intended as a tribute and it made me smile, albeit tinged with sadness (once I'd worked out what it was) :

-

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

I thought the update to this thread was going to be about this.

[evilC]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Cavalry Trouser Tips wrote:

I thought the update to this thread was going to be about this.

Ohmygod! That's outrageous - it's near identical right down to the position of the parting and the 'missing segment' in the iris. I wonder if they'll go for the compensation offered or hold out for more?

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

At the very least their "head of visual" needs taking to task. He/she knew what they were doing here.

[RobM]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

There's a bit of Betty Boop in there as well. Has Little Frank got a sister?

[Furtho]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Little Frank has / had a girlfriend called Little Denise.

A good source of news on the Selfridges controversy has been the Mr Sidebottom Twitter account, which I gather is maintained by Chris Sievey's former partner.

[Furtho]

RIP Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom

Kickstarter campaign to fund the proposed Being Frank documentary film is here.

[Satchmo Distel]

I saw Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story last week. I thought Mark Radcliffe's conclusion was apt: just because you might fuck up is not a reason to not do it.

Favourite moment: two postboxes: "one for right-handed people and one for left-handed." Apparently he spent many of his last months immersed in reading about The Beatles, whom he loved (he had an audition at Apple once).

[imp]

Is it on general release or is it being streamed somewhere?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Is it on general release or is it being streamed somewhere?

Briefly looked into this and the only simple option seems to be importing the DVD via Amazon or eBay.

Edit: Just noticed it's on Google Play, but our internet is routed via the UK, so I'm not sure if it's available in Germany.

[Giggler]

I saw Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story last week. I thought Mark Radcliffe's conclusion was apt: just because you might fuck up is not a reason to not do it.

Favourite moment: two postboxes: "one for right-handed people and one for left-handed." Apparently he spent many of his last months immersed in reading about The Beatles, whom he loved (he had an audition at Apple once).

My favourite bit was the look on Nick Owen's face when Chris (not Frank) appeared on BBC Breakfast.