Singer Frankie Francis and guitarist Michael McKnight were at college together. Drummer Dave Harper and McKnight had played in local bands for years. McKnight and Harper met Francis at a
calypso night in a pub the singer was running at the time in
Sunderland and formed the band in December 2008. Singer Francis had intended to play bass in the band, but Harper said that "He was the worst bassist ever". Other band names that were considered included Pop Sex and The New Groomers, but they settled on Frankie & The Heartstrings. The band's debut release was a 10" 7 track live EP
12.09.09, released on their own Pop Sex Ltd records in a limited edition of 500 in November 2009. The following month they followed it up with a double A side 7" single
Hunger/Fragile released on
Rough Trade. That month they played their first major tour supporting
Florence & The Machine. In April 2010, the band released their second single "Tender / I Want You Back". "Tender" was written by McKnight and was originally called "Tender Is the Night". It was recorded with
James Ford of
Simian Mobile Disco. Further gigging continued throughout 2010 including slots at the
Glastonbury Festival,
Summer Sundae and
Latitude Festival, overseas shows in Europe, New York and Tokyo and support slots across the UK supporting
The Futureheads and
Edwyn Collins, who produced the band's debut album in the late summer and early Autumn at his West Heath Studios in London. The band's sound has drawn comparisons to
Orange Juice and
Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Hunger, Frankie and the Heartstrings' debut album, was released in the UK on 21 February 2011; it charted at No. 32 on the UK albums chart. The band then went on to support
Kaiser Chiefs and
The Vaccines on their UK tours later in the year. A non-
Hunger-related single, "Everybody Looks Better (In the Right Light)", produced by
Suede guitarist
Bernard Butler, was released on 28 November 2011. Its b-side, "The Way That You Kiss", was produced by
Ryan Jarman of
The Cribs. The band released their second album,
The Days Run Away, on 3 June 2013. At the same time, they opened their own record store in Sunderland, Pop Recs Ltd. The store was initially only to be open for two weeks as a
pop up store to promote
The Days Run Away, but community response provoked the band to continue operating it permanently. In July 2015 the band released their third album
Decency. Recorded in late summer 2014 at Leeds' Suburban Homes studio with MJ of
Hookworms at the controls, it was also the first release to feature Ross Millard. The band launched the album with shows in London and Newcastle as well as at Pop Recs Ltd. The band later toured both on their own and as support for
The Charlatans, with Simon Hubbard on guitar and James Leonard Hewitson joining them on brass for a number of their dates. Drummer Dave Harper died on 25 August 2021. His legacy and drive lives on in Pop Recs Ltd. ==Discography==