Last year saw the sad departure of music and comedy legend Chris Sievey. Chris was the main driving force behind the 70s/80s post-punk band The Freshies, but made his big mark on showbiz with his papier-mache-headed alter-ego Frank Sidebottom. From the same era as Chis, and following a similar career-morphing trajectory, is comedy genius Graham Fellows, who, I’m very happy to say, is alive and well and still making people cry with laughter in the guise of his alter ego John Shuttleworth.
Chris and John crossed paths in their careers on the “Going Red?” single Some Boys. But there’s no video evidence of that anywhere on the internet, and not much worthwhile footage of The Freshies either. I wanted to show you something from the early days by these guys, as their humour has been a big influence on more subtle parts (if there are any) of Tank Girl’s own sense of the absurd. So here’s Graham, from way back in 1978, in his third Top Of The Pops appearance as the lovelorn Jilted John…
Have a happy saturday
Alan X