There's a new movie recently released called 'Frank', which is loosely based on the character 'Frank Sidebottom', a comic persona of the late Chris Sievey. Who???? I hear you ask, on all the above. Here's a link to the BBC report which sums it up quite nicely....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26820227
I can't remember the first time I saw a Frank Sidebottom gig. It must have been back in the late 1980s, downstairs at King George's Hall in Blackburn, or maybe some pub in Preston, and possibly Manchester or Bolton.... I was into 'independent music', and would often go to gigs, and Frank was a small part of this alternative scene, the buzz coming out of Manchester... or, in Frank's case, Timperley.
I think Blackburn KGH had a comedy club, circuit, scene, and that's probably the link. I remember seeing up and coming comedienne Jo Brand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Brand there once (outrageous, I didn't like her much, but I've warmed to her as I've got older), and Mancunian punk-poet John Cooper Clark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cooper_Clarke (brilliant, droll, twinkling and often drunk) more than once. Frank Sidebottom must have been on the listings, and it would't have cost much, and what else is there to do in a boring Blackburn on a Thursday night after all???
The fact that I liked indie music went hand in hand with the culture of the North at the time. The Smiths were in their prime, or just fading, and I had one of the greatest thrills of my life when I saw them live in 1986 in Manchester. There was a 1 day concert in the G-MEX halls to celebrate the 'Festival of the 10th Summer' it being 10 years since the break out of punk music. It was a long day, starting at 12noon, and going on past it being dark, and having to run to the railway station to get the last train home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_the_Tenth_Summer
I can't remember the full line up, but I do remember the stage stealing lead singer, Mark E Smith, of The Fall, performing in full scarlet hunting gear, jodphurs, riding boots, and whip in hand, menacing and mesmerising at the same time. I've been a fan of The Fall ever since, and many more tales hang there, believe you me.
I'm pretty certain the Buzzcocks played, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, then the build-up to the star-billings, New Order played brilliantly, before the lights dimmed, the strains of Carmina Burana stole into our consciousness, and Kapow! the stage was set, and The Smiths dazzled us with their sovereignty, they reigned and rose and were more real than any dream I could have dreamed, they were dreaming before our eyes, and we were there with them and didn't want the dream to be real...
Ah me, happy days, I digress. Setting the scene for Frank Sidebottom, you really have to understand the rest of the social compass of the time, the Northerness of the humour, his references to the Northern music scene, to the integralness of football to the region, to the normalness of life in a Northern town, and the ridiculousness of the joke, being in on the joke, being part of the joke, being part of the performance, part of the act, the inclusiveness, and warmth of his performance, of his persona, which was of a 12 yr old boy, could be pop-star, would be football star, that awkward age, where you don't quite understand the nuances of the adult world you are on the cusp of, or the dreams you are dreaming, have dreamed and aren't entirely sure you woke up from.
I'm also pretty sure you had to be Northern to love him, to understand him, to get the humour, and join in, for part of the evening had the audience singing along with him, and I have etched into my memory the exact Timperley twang to his end of sentence '... actually'.
So this is a tribute to Frank Sidebottom, and the late Chris Sievey, and a thank you for all the joy they brought to the Northern towns in the 1980s....
Kat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26820227
I can't remember the first time I saw a Frank Sidebottom gig. It must have been back in the late 1980s, downstairs at King George's Hall in Blackburn, or maybe some pub in Preston, and possibly Manchester or Bolton.... I was into 'independent music', and would often go to gigs, and Frank was a small part of this alternative scene, the buzz coming out of Manchester... or, in Frank's case, Timperley.
I think Blackburn KGH had a comedy club, circuit, scene, and that's probably the link. I remember seeing up and coming comedienne Jo Brand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Brand there once (outrageous, I didn't like her much, but I've warmed to her as I've got older), and Mancunian punk-poet John Cooper Clark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cooper_Clarke (brilliant, droll, twinkling and often drunk) more than once. Frank Sidebottom must have been on the listings, and it would't have cost much, and what else is there to do in a boring Blackburn on a Thursday night after all???
The fact that I liked indie music went hand in hand with the culture of the North at the time. The Smiths were in their prime, or just fading, and I had one of the greatest thrills of my life when I saw them live in 1986 in Manchester. There was a 1 day concert in the G-MEX halls to celebrate the 'Festival of the 10th Summer' it being 10 years since the break out of punk music. It was a long day, starting at 12noon, and going on past it being dark, and having to run to the railway station to get the last train home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_the_Tenth_Summer
I can't remember the full line up, but I do remember the stage stealing lead singer, Mark E Smith, of The Fall, performing in full scarlet hunting gear, jodphurs, riding boots, and whip in hand, menacing and mesmerising at the same time. I've been a fan of The Fall ever since, and many more tales hang there, believe you me.
I'm pretty certain the Buzzcocks played, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, then the build-up to the star-billings, New Order played brilliantly, before the lights dimmed, the strains of Carmina Burana stole into our consciousness, and Kapow! the stage was set, and The Smiths dazzled us with their sovereignty, they reigned and rose and were more real than any dream I could have dreamed, they were dreaming before our eyes, and we were there with them and didn't want the dream to be real...
Ah me, happy days, I digress. Setting the scene for Frank Sidebottom, you really have to understand the rest of the social compass of the time, the Northerness of the humour, his references to the Northern music scene, to the integralness of football to the region, to the normalness of life in a Northern town, and the ridiculousness of the joke, being in on the joke, being part of the joke, being part of the performance, part of the act, the inclusiveness, and warmth of his performance, of his persona, which was of a 12 yr old boy, could be pop-star, would be football star, that awkward age, where you don't quite understand the nuances of the adult world you are on the cusp of, or the dreams you are dreaming, have dreamed and aren't entirely sure you woke up from.
I'm also pretty sure you had to be Northern to love him, to understand him, to get the humour, and join in, for part of the evening had the audience singing along with him, and I have etched into my memory the exact Timperley twang to his end of sentence '... actually'.
So this is a tribute to Frank Sidebottom, and the late Chris Sievey, and a thank you for all the joy they brought to the Northern towns in the 1980s....
 |
| Comedy Club downstairs at Blackburn King George's Hall, late 1980s - I'd be in my early 20s |
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