Songs Of The Day 4/2/2015: The Freshies - "I Can't Get 'Bouncing Babies' By the Teardrop Explodes" + Mark Cottrell - "I Can't Get 'I Can't Get "Bouncing Babies" By the Teardrop Explodes' By the Freshies"

First of all, I’d like to thank Morrissey for his generously detailed special commentary yesterday. You wouldn’t believe the strings I had to tug to get that pulled off, but I was thrilled he consented. We got his longhand copy from FedEx at quite literally the last moment, and it was my honor to transcribe his cutting, incisive, yet oddly compassionate viewpoint. I didn’t expect it to be on Club Med stationery though; that was an odd wrinkle.

Moving on! Looks like one of my casual obsessions this year is going to be the Frank Sidebottom rage from about 25 years ago in England. This is the gentleman who found popularity on British TV by wearing a papier-mâché mask over his head and acting somewhat hyperactively in various city streets. He was the inspiration for the not-bad indie flick Frank and the subject of an SOTD a few weeks ago.

The gentleman’s real name was Chris Sievey, and before all of that he had new wave band called The Freshies. He started along his entertainment path in 1971 when, according to All-Music Guide, he “staged a sit-in at Apple Records headquarters – eventually going on to record a session.” Through the usual musician’s trajectory of appeasement and rejection, Sievey got his band together and they released some singles (no albums) for a few years in the ’70s and ’80s. The only one that dented the charts was “I’m in Love with the Girl on a Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk,” which is listed under a few different titles omitting and including certain words since nobody can remember what it was officially titled.

The other notable single they released was “I Can’t Get ‘Bouncing Babies’ by the Teardrop Explodes,” a pain-sotted lament to being unable to add to one’s record collection in a timely manner. Thirty years later York singer-songwriter Mark Cottrell responded with his own lament about being unable to find the Freshies’ single. Pandora, meet box. They’re both up here today so that we can help them help themselves.

By the way, for completion’s sake, here’s the song that started this whole mess. You can all have it 'cause it's on Spotify now.