- Starting with somebody you don’t know, but he was one of the stalwarts on the F&M Prediction League.

When I joined Twitter the 2nd person I followed was Denizo, aka Dennis Kelly.

When the season (prediction and Premier League) was over, we were all looking forward to the World Cup and then on May 23rd I received some very shocking news… Denizo was gone.

Shocking because of the obvious unexpectedness. As it happens with these things there was no warning, everything was fine the night before.
Denizo will be missed on Twitter and on the predictions. Always funny with his posts, kept me company on the shoutbox.

Below is a series of photographs of Dennis sent to me by Orna (Bubbles on the prediction league), one of his many friends.

Bubbles told me that Denizo, an American born Irishman, had a tune associated with him. It was this song that was played as they carried his coffin into the church. It made people laugh and cry at the same time.

The song might not be familiar to some of us because the TV show, Greatest American Hero, to which this track was the theme tune, wasn’t shown in the UK.

[See post to listen to audio] » Joey Scarbury – Believe It Or Not (Theme to The Greatest American Hero)

- Some of you may have spotted it on Seinfeld though.

This next bloke you will be very familiar with, he was featured on F&M quite a few times and as you can see with the header image above we’ve created a permanent tribute to Frank Sidebottom.

Football and music should be approached in the Frank Sidebottom way, wearing a big red nose (or in his case, a big fibre glass head). It is something that raises a few chuckles because it’s a comedy sideshow. It should never, ever be taken seriously.

A gallery of Sidebottom:

I’ve pretty much done everything involving Frank and footie & music on here already, so I’ve chosen a couple of different tunes to commemorate his memory. The first one is Frank fretting about paying his electricity bill.

[See post to listen to audio] » Frank Sidebottom – Electricity

Ah NORWEB… what memories…

This next one was selected because Frank mentioned in an interview that this was one of his favourite songs to perform:

[See post to listen to audio] » Frank Sidebottom – Mr Custard

- You can still find lots of Sidebottom all over t’internet:

Finally to steal a quote by the man above:

Dennis.   Frank.   Thank you.

Well I don’t know what to write… I feel that I have to write something because Frank is another one of those Manchester icons who have gone too soon. You see I am Manchester. I am from Manchester and I will forever be Manchester even if I’m 3000 miles away.

As I get older I see these people who shaped my life all passing away…
Ian Curtis, Martin Hannett, Rob Gretton, Tony Wilson, and now.. Frank Sidebottom.

Oh I know that Uncle Frank didn’t exactly cause any ripples in the musical world, but like the others above he was Manchester. To be precise Timperley, but he was always gigging around the city.

Like many when these things happen you like to tell a funny story about your experience with Frank, so this is mine:

It was the early 90′s when Frank was out of fashion and he was playing a late afternoon/early evening gig at a pub in Levenshulme. I don’t know why he was on at that time, maybe a matinee thing I don’t know, but anyway… There we were in the public bar and on the small stage at the other end was Frank and his Bontempi organ. Now in there at the time (I think it was a Thursday or Friday) his audience was made up of the five of us and a dog. I am not making this up. Five people. And the dog.

At an allotted time (again I don’t know why, he must have been told to start at this time) Frank looked up and said “Oh it’s looks like the charabanc with all me family hasn’t got here yet. I’ll give them a minute.”

He then sat on the edge of the stage and looked straight ahead. Still in that papier-mâché head.
Occasionally he would look to the left and to the right, like he was looking and waiting for somebody, then straight ahead again. This sight was both slightly unerving and funny at the same time.

Eventually after what seemed like an age, but was probably only about five minutes he got up and started his act. Still to the five of us and the now sleeping dog. Nobody else had come in at that point.

After a small amount of time a few more did arrive and I think I counted about a dozen heads, but despite this sparse number Frank carried on and entertained us all. And the dog.

After he finished he told everybody that he had some albums and cassettes for sale if we’d like to buy. I went up and bought an LP and tape and got Frank to sign them both. I think these are both now sitting in storage with everything in the shed, I’ll have to dig them out. He then sat with us and had a drink. Through a straw mind. At no point did he break character. He never did and never will…

A couple of years later I bumped into him at the Reading Festival. I was lucky enough to get a presspass for backstage. (Not the backstage, but the area where all the plebs who thought they were special hung out). There was Frank – even though he didn’t need to – schmoozing the crowd. I told him about that five people/1 dog gig in Manchester and he remembered it well. The hundreds that were there, hanging out the door they were. Did two encores. Fantastic.

I’ve gone on a bit too long now, so I’ll stop here. Still have more to tell. Maybe another time.

In the past few weeks, ever after he learnt about and was getting treatment for the tumour in his chest, as they say the show must go on. He continued to gig and was planning on doing another of his Magical Timperley tours on July 4th. Which he announced only a couple of days ago would have to be cancelled.

I was closely watching his MySpace page and Tweets because Frank had also announced plans to release a World Cup song with the profits going to cancer research.

I was still awaiting news of this release, which was imminent, before he was taken from us.

But the song Three Shirts On My Line (clip below) might still get a posthumous release.

- There’s a Facebook campaign ~ also on Twitter ~ that was launched after the news of his passing. It’s aim is like the Rage Against the Machine one, to get this song to Number 1 in the charts.
As mentioned the original plan by Frank was for profits to go to cancer research and it still will.

As soon as I have news of when the track is out I will do full coverage here.
In the meantime some reposts of my favourite Sidebottom compositions:

And my all time favourite video – the Frank Sidebottom Supergroup (Frank, Little Frank, David Soul and Paul Ryder from the Happy Mondays) and their rendition of Hit The North:

  Little Frank is going to be speechless…

You may have guessed from the last couple of posts I am a big Sidebottom fan.

Frank is like Stephen Fry, in that he’s a Manchester treasure at least…

Mr Sidebottom used to have his own telly show on the late lamented Channel M, but can still be seen on Timperley TV. Plus he will return to broadcasting from April 11th with another run of Radio Timperley via Manchester Radio Online.

As you can tell by now this is a post with nowt but links.

As previously mentioned Frank will be performing a few dates in New York City (Apr 1st-5th) and live somewhere near you in April, May and June.

- Let’s get to some more of his music then, because obviously that’s why you are here. But promise me that you will visit the links below and buy stuff afterwards. Come on…promise me…   Good.

Extra Time – Some fantastic video clips:

Popping To The Shops:

Buy the album: Amazon UK or Amazon USA.  |

Buy the album: Amazon UK or Amazon USA.

- Or you can buy both of them via Cherry Red Records.

- Now go here:
www.franksworld.co.uk and myspace.com/franksidebottom.

Now here’s something you didn’t know about Frank Sidebottom: The picture above of him wearing that shirt – it isn’t a replica of the team you are thinking about. Have a closer look at that badge. It is of a football club which Frank himself founded. » Timperley Big Shorts F.C.

Mr Sidebottom is famously known as being from Manchester but is actually from Timperley, which is a real place within Altrincham.
If you want to generalise, yes it is within the boundaries of Greater Manchester, but as Frank will constantly remind you – as exampled below – he is originally from and proud of Timperley.

Getting back to the football team though… The club was founded in 1990 and Frank is El Presidente and goes to watch them whenever he can (without his mum knowing), in fact he was down there last weekend.

The Big Shorts play every Sunday in the Altrincham & District Amateur Sunday Football League – First Division . If you want to go and watch Timperley Big Shorts F.C. play you can find their home ground at the Timperley Rec and you can get there via the tram from MCR city centre. This Sunday (March 28th) they are at home to Longhey Athletic. For their last match they got a crowd of 25 so if you go that will be…26.

- You can find more about Timperley Big Shorts F.C. on Facebook* and their Myspace page.
*You won’t find him on Facebook because Frank thinks it’s bobbins.

He hasn’t done any songs about the Big Shorts yet, but has a few which mentions the town village:

Extra Time: Frank is your guide on a magical tour of Timperley:

Additionally: Via Frank’s World > Magical Timperley Tour. *Warning – music automatically starts*

Get Shopping:

The first three tracks are from his 1st best of album ABC & D which can be purchased via Amazon UK or via Amazon USA.

The last track is from his 2nd Best of… album EFG & H which can also be purchased via Amazon UK or via Amazon USA.

- Additionally you can purchase items directly from Frank via his fantastic ebay store.

- Also on t’internet: myspace.com/franksidebottom and www.franksworld.co.uk.

Coming up next: More Sidebottom.

This is the first post in the Frank Sidebottom week. Since it’s Tuesday already I’d better get on with it…

There might be one or two of you out there who don’t know who Francis (he hates it when his mum calls him that) nomiddlename Sidebottom is, so a quick bio:

He first came to everybody’s notice as a dedicated and loyal fan of the band The Freshies (who it is rumoured that the lead singer Chris Sievey is one of the same, but it’s not true I tell ya !) and eventually he was given a chance to release some songs which he had recorded in the shed at the bottom of his back garden and eventually led to a record deal.

Frank has appeared on the telly and on the radio, he’s had his own show on each of these mediums at one time or another. On Radio Timperley his sidekick was Mrs Merton.
Some past members of his backing group – the “Oh Blimey Big Band” who went out on tours with him included Mark Radcliffe and Jon Ronson, and Chris Evans used to drive the van.

- If you want a proper look at a biography have a look at his Wikipedia entry.

Frank’s footballing loyalties lie in three places. The others I’ll get to in the next series of Frank Sidebottom posts, but we start off with the team down the road from Timperely, where he lives.

Atrincham F.C. (also known as Alty) since their formation have played in various non-league divisions. Occasionally they cause an F.A. Cup upset, but they spend most of the time struggling in the Conference.

They have a few famous fans, but none have sung about them apart from Mr Sidebottom.

- This first one is a football medley…of sorts…   It is a recording of Frank with Little Frank down at Moss Lane. The 2nd track proclaims that they are not Bobbins. Then the third track was from when Alty were on one of their F.A.Cup runs and the Beeb featured him on that footie telly show they have…

[See post to listen to audio] » Frank Sidebottom – 6 Greatest Football Chants [See post to listen to audio] » The Robbins Aren’t Bobbins [See post to listen to audio] » Guess Who’s Been On Match Of The Day (short version)

These tracks are from his first Best Of... album ABC & D which can be purchased via Amazon UK or via Amazon USA.

Additional: A live performance: Clicky

Also you must visit: www.franksworld.co.uk and myspace.com/franksidebottom

- A note for you chaps in Americaland: Frank will be performing in New York City from April 1st – 5th.
More details on his Myspace page.

Coming up next…more Frank.

They are not by or about a football team or by or about any football players.

What they are about is some seasonal tunes done by a couple of musical acts who are well know for their footie supporting. With the first one literally putting his money (or as you will see – his tongue) where his mouth is:

A few years ago Mr B. Bloodvessel was involved with his local team, even going as far as sponsoring them:

“…Margate’s new sponsors were Link Music and this led to 80′s pop star Buster Bloodvessel becoming linked with the club, something which attracted a lot of publicity. The name of Buster’s band ‘Bad Manners’ was emblazoned on Margate’s new shirts, the group were with the Link Music record label, and he occasionally watched matches at Hartsdown.”

Not only just watching, he was on the board at one time too.

So with that pisspoor of an excuse found – Here’s a very sugared/saccharine… Xmas version of one of their own tunes:

» Bad Manners – It’s Christmas Time Again

…and the original…

» Bad Manners – Skinhead Love Affair

- –

Next up we have a previously featured act…err….featured on here:

Timperley’s finest – Mr F. Sidebottom (who I’ve heard whisper that’s it’s actually Chris Sievey, late of The Freshies but it’s a damnitable lie I tell you !) gets all festive like with some special Crinkly-time tunes:

[See post to listen to audio]
» Frank Sidebottom – Oh Come All Ye Faithful

[See post to listen to audio]
» Frank Sidebottom – I Wish It Could Be Christmas

[See post to listen to audio]
» Frank Sidebottom – Christmas Is Really Fantastic

Bonus video link: Found via the Shedblog – a blog for everything sheds…check it out… they’ve posted a YouTube clip of Frank live in concert performing a medley of Chrimbo songs.

Nothing from Max Bygraves…? Lennie Bennet…? Come on there had to be another another ‘celeb’ who rocked the mic ? Diddy David help me out here. You are still doing the announcements at Fulham. Haven’t you sung about them ?

Ah well it is not to be. Unless you know different…

But until then I’ll slowly take us away from this pool of despair and brighten things up with another bit of cheezy bit of light entertainment actually. But this time the artist knows that he is camp with a capital C and he plays up to it.

[See post to listen to audio]
» Frank Sidebottom – Manchester City Medley

» Previously on F & M...

Don’t forget to look into Frank’s World on the inter-net.

I read the other day that Branson has sold the Virgin Megastore chain. The buyers are some of the senior staff at the company, which is nice to see. They have decided to rebrand the chain though and it’s new name from November will be… wait for it… Zavvi.

I hope that it survives. I’ve been reading in the past year that many chains (MVC and Tower records) are going under. With more and more people buying songs online…additionally with today’s news of Amazon USA opening their mp3 download store and of course Cherry Red Records in the UK, the traditional record shop is disappearing from… well I was going to say from the High Street, but apart from HMV and Virgin, the better record shops were never found in the High Street, always down some side street.

Another article via the Beeb reports on how many of the shops down my favourite and probably most famous side street for records in the world – Berwick Street.
Mister CD is closing down. Selectadisc has gone. Reckless Records has gone bankrupt. But like the above management buyout there is still someone there who will continue on. SisterRay still have their shop further down, but the article mentions that they bought the old Selectadisc premises and opened there too.

It will be sad going to Piccadilly Circus and not seeing Tower Records there (location bought by Virgin Megastore, soon to be Zaavi). But as Dave Killington of Mister CD says in that article: “People over 35 are still buying CDs, but no-one under 35 is,” says Mr Killington. “We’re just going the way of technology.”
And those people left who are buying CD’s are purchasing them online more often too.

So this post is to mark the passing of the traditional store and to post a song which marks the heyday of the record shop and of the time when the bands designed and homemade the covers to their singles which they went round to local record shops to ask them if they would stock it.

There is a footie connection with this one: The Freshies [Best of CD] were big Man City supporters. The did a track called “Dancing In The Kippax” which I’ll have to find. You might be more familiar with the lead singers other persona – and another well known Citeh fan – Frank Sidebottom. [Best of CD]

In 1980 the Freshies put out a single which not long after it’s release, Virgin Records made them change the title to remove the name of their chain. Which with looking at Richard Branson and the way he constantly promotes himself and his ventures, was a bit of a strange move. Obviously Sir Richard didn’t have a say in this. In fact a couple of years ago Branson was looking for the girl who was on that checkout counter.

So the title was changed from: “I’m In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk” to:
“I’m In Love With The Girl On A Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk” and still holds the record as the longest title of a chart single. Again it is strange that they were made to change the title because in the lyrics to the song they mention many other record labels.

[See post to listen to audio]
» The Freshies – I’m In Love With A Girl On A Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk

..and the branded version:

[See post to listen to audio]
» I’m In Love With A Girl on The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk

The band are no more, but Frank Sidebottom lives on and has his own telly show ! He can be seen on Channel m. (Which you can watch online – click that link back there and have a look.) the TV Channel for Greater MCR.

Bonus video » Watch Frank Sidebottom’s Supergroup covering The Fall’s “Hit The North”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiduNJG-Ltk