The Freshies were an English punk rock band formed in Manchester in 1978 by singer‑songwriter and comedian Chris Sievey—who later created the comedy character Frank Sidebottom—who launched the group after his earlier project Bees Knees, and the band’s first release was the Washed Up / Moon Midsummer EP in 1978 with Chris Sievey on the Razz label. The Freshies followed with Straight In At No. 2 (1979) and The Men From Banana Island Whos Stupid Ideas Never Caught On In The Western World As We Know It (1979), establishing a reputation for irreverent lyrics and DIY production. Their single "I'm In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk" reached Number 54 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1981, selling over 40,000 copies, and remains their most commercially successful track. In 2005 the compilation The Very Very Best Of… Some Long And Short Titles was issued, and in 2013 Early Singles was released. The band disbanded in February 1982, with Sievey continuing briefly under the Freshies name before focusing on his solo career as Frank Sidebottom. Sievey died of cancer on 21 June 2010 at age 54. In 2019 the original members Barry Spencer and Rick Sarko reformed the group, adding Paul Taylor and Chris Connolly, and announced plans in 2020 to release new material after a three‑decade hiatus.
