This page is for your stories of meeting Francis Dunnery. If you submit your story I will publish it here. I will also scour the egroups for stories.

Simon Hopwood
Paul Kirkbride
Peter McDermott
Philip Dolphin
Mark Andrews Part 2
Lisa Grove
Mark Andrews
Andrew Johnson
Feargal Mellon
Phil
James Rolfe
Mark Ratcliffe
Mike Hoyle
Gareth
Stephan Landshuter
Dave Ellison

 

 

 

 

Simon Hopwood

We'd taken my sister to see him for the first time as a birthday treat not realising I would get to meet the "MAN" himself. I was a gibbering idiot but what a night.

Paul Kirkbride

I've seen Frankie many times now and still cannot get enough, and though talked frequently with members of his family (typically down to earth, lovely Cumbrians) I've met Francis twice. The first was when he supported Hootie and the Blowfish in Manchester (they should have supported him by the way) and outside about 2 hours before the gig on my way to the local with my brother and mate I spotted what I thought were roadies at the back entrance to the hall and asked them to get Frankie if they could (I'm also West Cumbrian and blagged I was one of his closest mates). He appeared and was brilliant, signing an autograph and having a general crack. It turns out I'd sent Hootie's guitarist running all over the place to find him, but I didn't realise this till they came on stage......the second time I kinda bluffed my way into his sound check (again Manchester) with my brother and he kindly and patiently signed a little Fender guitar of mine. He signed "Love, Peace and Cash, Francis Dunnery". Again he is extremely approachable and genuinely nice (even though we disrupted his soundcheck). His brother Baz and sister Faye are both salt of the earth great folk too!!!!

Peter McDermott

I first met Frankie in 1979/80 when i was touring Cumbria with my band "The Videos". We were Professional muso's & often played Tarnside caravan club were Frank was in the resident band that played to all the workers etc from nearby Sellafield.We did quite a few gigs together were HE supported us!! The rest of the IT BITES lads were in a group called "THE FEEL" that played haircut 100 / Level 42 type songs. John beck was desperate to join us at the time but we knocked him back!./ Anyway we used to get a couple of nights off when we toured Cumbria/scottish borders.So we went to the Hunting lodge club in Bothel (Cumbria) were frank was playing in "Waving at trains". They were a great band but nothing special just treading the boards like us but on a semi-pro basis.I've met Frank twice since the old days,the last being the buddle arts centre were he Announced " I know you,your Little Mac! how's the old videos doing! were all fat ,old & baldy now!! you were doing my chords on Steve rowes site!" It was nice to still be remembered.. Now i'll have to dig out the old tapes our roadie made from our mixing desk when they used our P.A system on a few gigs!!...

Philip Dolphin

I first went to see Francis at High Steet Harlsden in June '95 (I was lucky
to get in, as I was only Fourteen at the time) with my Dad.
I didn't get to meet him there and I was so much in ore of his presents
that I don't really remember to much of it.
What I do remember of it is mostly subliminal and keeps on cropping up when
I here new stuff.
I am a bigger fan of Franky than my Dad, because I look at the web sites
and get the Info about the gigs and the events.
This is how I found out about the gig in Fulham in the summer (thanks
guys), at which my Dad My Brother and myself didn't meet Francis again.
So I continued to search the net for more and more sites whilst keeping an
eye on the mailing list and the sites that I already read.
This was how I found out about Shepherds bush which my Dad my Brother and
myself attended and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Guess what........... that's right, we didn't meet him there either.
So I'm looking on the net at work as usual and look at the e-group find out
about Workington and decide to go.
This time it's my Dad, his Brother, me and my brother (our surname is
Dolphin so it was like, mildly funny).
We had a great time and decided to stay behind after and sink down a few
more double scotches.
We were talking to some of Frankies friends in the bar and sending Matt off
on errands to get autographs and give out plectrums and stuff
when somebody mentioned that Franky was giving out autographs in the hall.
So we wondered in there and queued.
"So what star sing are you?" Franky askes me.
"The best." I answered him.
"Oh, so you're a Leo!!!" He guessed wrongly.
"No, I'm the best Virgo."
So I get the FDAS flier signed for lady friend of mine and my ticket signed
to "Philip the Virgo".
Francis pauses and says "No spelling mistakes either".
Then Matt pops out from behind the curtain with a piece of paper signed by
Francis for my brother and I see my plectrum sticking out Frankies Pocket.
Matt has to be one the kindest blokes I've met, but meeting Francis was
something else. And getting a kiss from the lady friend I mentioned was
the icing on the cake for the year 2000. Fantastic Year.

Mark Andrews Part 2

i went to frankies mothers house and the whole family were there-and my son(matthew francis) and i were made to feel at home.
i really enjoyed it.
frank said that he would visit me,my wife(wendy) and matthew on new years eve.
the weather was poor,snow everywhere,frankie wasnt sure where i lived-i would have understood if he didnt turn up.
but he did!!!
and even better than that -he showed me how to use my scanner properly,what a man.
i have a few good photos but i am new to computers and do not know how to share them with you.if you could tell me,im at

Lisa Grove

When I "meet" Frankie, he NEVER remembers me, always asks my name (Lisa),

always asks my sign (Gemini), always tells me his girlfriend is a gemini and

always asks me how many there are of me.....

I'm sure he's just got a bad memory and not trying to blank me from his mind

at all - what-ever he's a wonderful, forgetful old bastard!

Lisa x

 

msandrews

i hadn't seen frank since about 1994-and when i got my "back-stage pass" i was a bit apprehensive. i wrote to frank telling him that i used to do a bit of pencil-drawing in my spare time(i have now got a 7 month old son, matthew francis),so what is spare-time??? anyway,when i heard frank's song-"my hometown",i had an idea. i also live in egremont and have drawn a few of the most popular "landmarks" i copied them,reduced them in size and put them on a piece of paper,framed it and i added the words "my hometown".i took this to manchester and when i got back-stage i was thinking -i wonder if he'll remember me?also,he might take the picture and toss it aside....i needn't have worried!! he greeted me like a long - lost son"mark,great to see ya,how ya doing?" he flung his arms round me,rather than the expected handshake-it made my night. when i presented him with the picture he said"wow,you really drew this and handed it to his girlfriend who had his daughter asleep on her knee. i said to her that i would be happy for it to hang at capricorn farm-i joked "even if you put it in the shed" she insisted"it will be going in the office!!" can you imagine how i felt ,what a confidence boost. i posed with frank for a photo and he shoted "take another",another was taken and he shouted"and another". he was genuinely pleased to see me,his girlfriend was pleased to meet me,and eddy asked me if i drew for a living. what nice people-can't wait til' december!!!

Andrew Johnson:

I met him once after a gig at the Duchess in Leeds, became a nervous wreck (a pissed one at that) and made a total twat of myself.

conversation:

me:'so where are you living then?'

Francis:'New York'

me:'mmmmm......thats nice..'

I will not try again.

Feargal Mellon

Hi all when everyones sharing their meet frank and mumble experiences I thought I'd post mine. Having seen frankie in manchester in 95 &

not getting to meet him I found out he was playing in the tin angel when I was out on my holidays in 98, i got my brother to get the

tickets for me my wife ,him & his then future wife, arriving at the tin angel for my first time I soon discovered that the enterance to

the venue is a side door leading upstairs. filing in we were first in the cue, 3 steps from the top i heard a few chords, and bounded in to

see fd soundchecking, I have to admit I stood in awe, just us 4 fd & the sound guy in the room, I was transfixed I stood for about 5 mins

until a staff member made us wait outside. ha but it doesn't end there! being first in the cue we got seats at the right hand side of the

stage-the seats in front were reserved, during the support act frankie slipped from the stage door to the loo(restroom) when he came

out & went to nip backstage I rugby tackled him did a quick armlock... sorry I shouted frankie to him, he didn't hear the first

one, but i was damn sure I made him hear the second one, he turned around & smiled and came over to me, at this point my brother is

snapping away, all I remember is telling him i was from ireland spelling may name for him to autograph a single for me , shaking his

hand and shaking like a leaf, my brothers recollection is slightly different, after I roared at fd he said I started muttering big fan

have all you stuff from ireland sign this mutter mutter mutter, whilst my brother was muttering if this photo doesn't come out he'll

bloody well kill me.A memorable gig, a memorable night. So if anyone will be at the liverpool gig and hears frankie say oh shit it's the

nutter who stalked me comming out of the toilets in the tin angel-IT WAS ME!

not so short but a very sweet moment

Phil

I was stood outside the Marquee club in London back in 1987 and the man actually walked past me, said hello, 'Phil' and walked into the

club - I'm not bragging :op na na na na nahhhhh (he doesn't remember me these days) but as a young kid I nearly passed out that he

 knew me by name.

Oh yes and he gave me his walkman to listen to at an It Bites sound check at Warwick University - he wanted me to check out this singer

called Sinead O'Connor – another time when my jaw dropped to the floor.  

But hey, I was a very shy guy them, very introvert and I still don't like talking about these things – hehe!

James

Hi everyone, I met Frank backstage at the last gig in Manchester
about 10 of us sneaked round the stage door and after about 5 mins "My Hero" appeared at the door. He shook everyone's hand and signed loads of autographs. As I said to him, I will know share with you. I can now die a happy man!!!!!

Mark Ratcliffe

Oh yes, I forgot to say that after the show I was having a quick chat with Francis and he was amazed at how we already seem to know the words of the new/unreleased stuff that he is playing in the set. I would like to think that some of us are quick learners / have fantastic memories from the previous dates on the tour, but I actually think that it`s more like some of us have "Napster" or have listened to or recorded radio broadcasts by Francis over the net. Nattering to Francis last night after the Portsmouth gig somebody brought this subject up, and Francis` reply was along the lines of "Well I would love to do it for next year, but the other guys dont want to know". Shame. Then he went on to say about the "Erotic lifestyle" thing that he mentions on his current website.

Mike Hoyle

Having met Francis after a few of the gigs I still queued up to talk to him after the Oswestry gig. I had nothing to sign, but wanted to share with him a real highlight of my holiday last year. I took my daughters to France and one afternoon we hired out some cycles, and cycling slowly through the beautifully warm, deserted country lanes looking out across farmland the 3 of us we were happily singing all sorts of songs, and we ended up on Homegrown (Fearless). How, I don't know, but as we trickled along slowly, it came to light that both my daughters thought the track was spelt Home-Groan !! Ironic bearing in mind the subject of the track. I nearly fell off my bike laughing!!

Gareth

I went to a guitar show in Glasgow in 1991, solely to see Francis playing a demo workshop thingy.  Managed to grab 5 mins with him as he sat stringing a guitar. I asked about WTTWC album, as It was going to cost me £35 to buy on import. He was ruthlessly honest and told me it wasnt worth it, not to buy it as he wasnt proud of it. Basically claimed he knocked it out in a few days with a bunch of folk he met in New York.  I've only heard one track, but it seems to me he might have been just a bit hard on himself.  Got an autograph, an honest appraisal of the IB split and left hugely impressed with how down to earth he was. And he seemed sober as well!

Stephan Landshuter

After having met Francis Dunnery's family for about 5 times in all between 1989 and 1994 in or around Egremont, I once in my life succeeded in meeting Frank himself in April 1994 in his home in Kensington, London. I was making holidays in the UK with a friend of mine (a brillant drummer and It Bites Fan as much as I am, by the way), we were visiting Frank's sister and his mother in Cumbria (extremely lovely people, really), and we drove back to the ferry. But around London we found ourselves much too early on our way back, so we decided to drive into London. We knew where Frank lived (his mother had told us, but not really deliberately), so we tried ringing at his door (at 11 p.m.!). He opened the door, we explained with shaking knees (just a little bit, but you do not meet one of your musical heroes everyday), that we just came from his mother ans sister, and he said: "O.K., I give you guys 5 minutes." His wife made us 2 cups of tea, we sat down and talked about the band's split up, about his solo career etc. He relaxed more and more, even played us some of his favourite music (Captain Beefheart, f.e.) and chatted very open-heartedly with these two crazy Germans. He also showed us the new video he had just finished ("American Life In The Summertime") and we were making a few pictures. After one hour (yes, not just 5 minutes) he even asked us, if we can bring him to the cash desk, because he didn't want to give up his parking lot. So we drove him in my car through the streets of London and back again to his home. During this small ride, I asked him what he was actually saying in this small second right before "Still Too young To Remember" starts on the record, and he told us, that it was something about Dali's death, because the painter had died right on the day, when they recorded the vocals. 
All I can say is that Frank was extremely kind and generous. I will always love him for that wonderful hour (and for his music, anyway).

Dave Ellison

Hi Well were do I start, I can honestly say I got into it bites too late, but I feel I have made up for lost time since with my obsession with FD.
I was fortunate enough to attend Welsh Walls on the 18th of January 2001 for the live performance of francis`s new album, along with my wife Carole.
What a gig SUUPPERRB. Having been fortunate to get a firesib seat some 5 yards from the stage, really intimate.
My wife and I later chattd away to Francis and the usual phtos were taken (how aproachable and tollerant of drunken peaple he is)
My wife and my self along with a couple of converts Baz and Lynn then had the pleasure of the Welsh Walls venue the day after his seminar later this year, where francis played the Tall Blonde Hellicopters Session.
On on arrival I noticed 2 posters offering for sale cd`s of the earlier gig in January, the title of the cd was to be The Chicken Tree, what a strange title I thought.
The poster also ofrered a  free Astrological reading by FD, on puchasing a copy,my name was entered into a draw for the prize and on reciept of payment a ticket was issued  (the cd was due for release in March.
On entering the venue FD also stated that he would also take the next Twenty ticket holders to the studios after the gig for a hearing of his new album WWOOOWW.
The music and buffet were again SUUPPERRB.
After the set I again waited to speak to FD,h signed a few cd`s etc,and the draw was being made, Shit I had`nt won the reading, the numbers came out for the draw, wel to cut a long story short, I was the 21st number I couldnt beleave it.
Having earlier got the chance to aquire one of the two posters from the wall, I approached
Francis as he was about to leave and with my poster in hand.
I asked could you endorse this to Elly unlucky as always, he duly obliged, then with a stroke of his pen he stated, No I cant put that and immediately crossed out the UN in unlucky. Was FD right or not, No cd of the gig in January was released unlucky me, but I now am the proud owner of a poster (who has the other) advertiseing an album that has never happend.
By the way on closer inspection the chicken tree wasnt a bad title, the poster orfuture album cover shows FD stood on a country lane, and in the background is a tree....shaped just like a Chicken. It was fate.
 As i write it sits framed on my wall.

 

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