In Memory of Frank Sidebottom & Chris Sievey

I first became aware of Frank Sidebottom when the local TV news magazine ran a piece about him having the hump with Sting and Madonna for nicking his song ideas out of his suit while it was at the dry-cleaners in Timperley Village. I was in stitches from the word go. Living in Timperley meant that there was ample opportunity to see him live, not just at the Summer Carnival, but regularly at the local Labour Club or even at the International in Manchester, and if that didn't satisfy the craving he had his own radio shows and released records, sometimes an LP a week.

During the late 80s he seemed to permeate so many parts of my life: in football he was Tommy Doc's "assistant" at Moss Lane on Saturday afternoons, on Sundays I'd play against his Timperley Big Shorts in the Pub League, and he was on kids' TV on Saturday mornings where one of his co-stars was an old schoolmate of mine. Even the busstop I used every day for work had a flyer for Chris's band, The Freshies, jammed behind the plastic where the timetable should be.

After a hiatus for much of the 90s/00s during which Chris worked successfully in animation (he won an award for writing Pingu), Frank returned with his own telly show on Channel M, not dissimilar to his Fantastic Shed Show of 1992, but with more innovation, such as his experiments in 3D TV. And he started touring again. Last year he played a residency at the LMRCA club at the bottom of our road, which meant I saw him 10 times at a fiver a throw, and every night he had me in stitches, even when he had a hangover. It's these shows I'll probably remember him for as I made many new friends there and they had something of a street party spirit about them.

I only met Chris once. We shared a few beers after his first show abroad in Darmstadt, Germany, a show I flew out specifically to see. He was obviously a very creative and mischievous bloke, but you'd wouldn't have guessed who he was if he hadn't been the only other Englishman there.

I'm so sad he's passed away as I know he had some many things planned in all different types of media. Hopefully they'll see the light of day and he'll get a bit more of the recognition he deserves. I'm missing him already. He still owes me 1p.