LOST TREASURES – The Freshies

Posted on 29 September 2011

LOST TREASURES

by Ray Gianchetti

 

The Freshies were a very cool little indie pop band from Manchester, England that formed in the late 1970’s and dissolved in the early 1980’s.  They were fronted by singer and comedian Chris Sievey (later known by his character Frank Sidebottom).

Releasing a barrage of singles, EPs, and fan club-only cassette recordings over their existence, The Freshies music was indie, at times lo-fi, hook-filled, sometimes quirky (but always charming and catchy), and their DIY delivery was definitely English, sometimes featuring some softened punk and synth overtones.  Critics also described their music as “inventive, endearingly homemade, vaguely psychedelic (in the early Syd Barrett tradition) and totally full of catchy, beautiful 60’s pop harmonies.” Chris even pre-dated the self-financing ethic of punk when he created his own record label Razz in 1974.  Razz went on to release over 60 titles, including much of The Freshies material.

The seeds of this UK pop group were sown in 1971 when Chris and his brother hitchhiked to London and staged a sit-in at the Beatles’ Apple Records headquarters – eventually going on to record a session.  Subsequently Chris recorded numerous demos which were sent to record companies, resulting in an avalanche of rejection slips he later published as a small book.  Another book was dedicated to Virgin Records rejections alone.  He was known for devising ingenious ways to promote his band including scamming Stiff Records into listening to the band by stealing the labels letterhead and sending out a mysterious press release, to putting code to a video game in the grooves of the b-side to a single.  He released two cassettes under his own name before starting The Freshies in the late 1970s.

According to Chris, when the band were looking for a guitarist, a 14 year old Johnny Marr appeared at his house wanting to join the band but was told that he was too young!  At one time or another members of the early Freshies lineup included Martin Jackson (later with Magazine and  Swing Out Sister) and Billy Duffy (later with The Cult).  In 1978 the band included Barry Spencer (guitar), Eddie Carter (guitar), and Bob Dixon (drums).  By 1979 the band was Sievey, Spencer, Rick Sarko (bass, ex-The Nosebleeds) and Mike Doherty (drums, ex-The Smirks).

While dropping of a batch of his Manchester, England band The Freshies records at the local Virgin record store, a cashier at the counter caught the eye of Chris and a hit was born.  Their biggest selling single and best known song is 1980’s “I’m In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk” renamed as “I’m In Love With The Girl On A Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk” on request from Radio 1 (a version with “Virgin” bleeped out to allow it to be played on the radio without being considered advertising was also released).  It reached number 54 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1981 after being picked up by MCA, eventually selling over 40,000 copies.  At the time, the girl who was the subject of the song was frequently asked by fans to autograph copies of the single.  The single’s success prompted Virgin head honcho Richard Branson to undertake a search for the former checkout girl in question in 2006, wishing to invite her to the opening of the new Virgin Megastore in Manchester, in recognition of the role she played in the history of the original store.

Two other curious but enduring singles were also released on the – the ambiguous anti-war “Wrap Up The Rockets”, and the paen to record collecting, “I Can’t Get Bouncing Babies By The Teardrop Explodes”.  After recording a single for Stiff Records, they split up in February 1982.    Incredibly, for a band with literally hundreds of songs behind them, The Freshies never released an album.  In 1996 Cherry Red Records issued a 23- track CD entitled “The Very Very Best Of…Some Long and Short Titles” which contained many of their single sides.

Ever the optimist, Chris went on to a similarly bizarre solo career alongside appearances as his alter ego Frank Sidebottom.  Devised as the Freshies number one fan, Sidebottom was nothing more than Sievey as big-headed, squeakily-voiced, paper-mâché head-wearing character.  Eventually Sidebottom became more popular than the band and Sievey continued to release records and appear on television as his alter ego after the band called it quits.  Chris died on 21 June 2010 at the age of 54.  He had been suffering from cancer.

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LISTEN TO THE FRESHIES:

The Freshies “I’m In Love With The Girl On A Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk”   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0hk5d5703M

The Freshies “I Can’t Get Bouncing Babies By The Teardrop Explodes” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvU8MddmEkw

The Freshies “Dancing Doctors”   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox9FWzqao-g

The Freshies “Yellow Spot”   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPJGwFfpDV0

The Freshies “Wrap Up The Rockets/It’s Gonna Get Better” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a35X52JAEPY

The Freshies “If You Really Love Me Buy Me A Shirt” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKXEJ5M5BzA&feature=related

The Freshies “Tell Her I’m Ill” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLyM62EJfgw&feature=related

The Freshies “One To One” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzOwJsHjZmI&feature=related

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Ray Gianchetti is an avid collector of music since the mid-60s and owner of Kool Kat Musik, a power pop, garage, alt-country label/mailorder company based in Sewell, NJ – for more info, visit the POWER POP/ALT-COUNTRY ONLINE STORE at:  www.koolkatmusik.com


2 Responses to “LOST TREASURES – The Freshies”

  1. Martin Davies says:

    Great article Ray. I’m from Manchester and lived next to the village of Timperley in my youth and would regularly see Chris with his Frank Sidebottom head on doing pictures for the local paper when he was trying to get the character established..He was so funny on late night radio station Piccadilly 261 and his regular late spots with DJ Jim Reeve were surreal, brilliant and hilarious. Fond fond memories indeed and so great to revisit The Freshies music again. I well remember the young Johnny Marr ( he grew up opposite my high school)..great days, full of character and characters, the likes of which won’t be seen again. Gutted when i heard Chris had passed away. Regards,Martin

  2. Keith says:

    Awwww one of my favourites. I have the compilation CD referred to and play it regularly. RIP Chris.