77 days is too long - the Human Hearts (feat Franklin Bruno and Jenny Toomey)

The penultimate single of wiaiwya-7777777 of 2014 (released November 7th) is by the Human Hearts - the latest band fronted by Franklin Bruno (the chap from Nothing Painted Blue, and author of the 33 1/3 book on Elvis Costello's Armed Forces) with guest vocals from Geek, Tsunami, Grenadine and Liquorice front woman Jenny Toomey. As you know Jenny also co-founded the Simple Machines label.

Not only were Simple Machines (along with Grand Royal and Sarah) one of the main reasons for starting a label, but their Working Holiday 1993 singles club (along with the Wedding Present's Hit Parade and OddBox's 100 club) was a huge inspiration for doing wiaiwya-7777777.

Releasing a record with both the incredible songwriting talents of Franklin Bruno, and Jenny Toomey's gorgeous vocals has been one of my ambitions for wiaiwya - thank you Franklin for making it happen!

so, without further ado - you can pre-order Franklin's first recordings since 2012's Flag Pin, and Jenny's first recordings since 2002's Tempting (an album of Franklin Bruno covers) here, and I URGE you to do so!:

Part 1: Find The Band

as you know, this year's 7777777's form a fully illustrated seven step guide to releasing your own records.

Part 1, as good a place to start as any, is Find The Band - the amazing Tom Humberstone provides the illustration, and Sean "magic ears" Price shares some wisdom. In case you didn't know (what have you been doing?) Sean runs Fortuna POP!, and has released every good record that has ever been released by every good band ever (apart from the ones on wiaiwya, obvs)

where is good band?

Get there early for the soundcheck. Ask Trev if he’s seen the good band. Ignore Trev. Watch the supports. Talk to the supports. Ask your friends if they’ve seen the good band (it’s not their band). Go home. Open demo. Put CD in player, read letter, put CD case on stack, put jiffy bag in box, put letter in recycling, take CD out of player, throw CD in the bin. 15 seconds. Check your emails. No information. <DELETE>. “Influenced by The Libert..”. <DELETE>. Nice, polite email that mentions influences and shows understanding of what your record label might be about. No mp3s. Listen to Soundcloud link. Lose Soundcloud link. Forget about band. Listen to Riley. Listen to John Kennedy. Listen, listen, and listen. Read Anorak Forum. Listen, listen, and listen. Read SoundsXP. Listen, listen, and listen. Who’s playing Indietracks? Who’ve Slumberland just signed? Listen, listen, and listen. Ask Tom if he’s seen the good band. Ignore Tom. Listen, listen, and listen. Follow a link, then another link, across a blog, then round the corner. There they are… the good band! Oh. They’re already signed to WIAIWYA. Get there early for the soundcheck…