The Freshies

The seeds of this UK pop group were sown in 1971 when Chris Sievey and his brother hitched a lift to London and staged a sit-in at The Beatles’ Apple Records headquarters -eventually going on to record a session. Subsequently Sievey 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. His own label Razz was formed in 1974, releasing a variety of singles, videos and over 60 cassettes. In the meantime, Sievey attempted to form his own band under the title The Freshies. Among a stream of musicians who collaborated were Martin Jackson (later Magazine and Swing Out Sister) and Billy Duffy (later The Cult). The most consistent line-up, however, was Barry Spencer (guitar), Rick Sarko (bass, ex-Ed Banger And The Nosebleeds) and Mike Doherty (drums, ex-Smirks), the line-up operating between 1980 and 1982. After several small pressings on Razz, Sievey finally hit the charts with ‘I’m In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk’, when it was re-released by MCA in 1981. Two other curious but enduring singles were also released on the major, the ambiguous anti-war ode ‘Wrap Up The Rockets’, and the paean to record collecting, ‘I Can’t Get (Boing Boing) Bouncing Babies By The Teardrop Explodes’. However, after a solitary single on Stiff Records the band split. Sievey, ever the optimist, went on to a similarly bizarre solo career alongside appearances as his alter ego Frank Sidebottom. Incredibly, for a band with literally hundreds of songs behind them, the Freshies never released an official album. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]