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Cover of Foster the People EP by Foster The People
Cover: Foster the People EP

Song · Foster The People

“Helena Beat” by Foster The People

From the EP Foster the People EP (2011)

“Helena Beat” by Foster The People appears on 35 radio countdowns from 27 stations between 2011 and 2026. It was first released in 2011 on the EP Foster the People EP. Its best result is #6 on the WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #14 alternative song of 2011, #3,385 alternative song of all time and #49 of the '10s.

35countdowns
27stations
#6best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
2011–2026years charted

Watch

Foster The People - Helena Beat (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (fosterthepeopleVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Helena Beat" opens Torches, Foster the People's debut album, and it went to radio in the summer of 2011 as the follow-up to "Pumped Up Kicks". Mark Foster wrote it alone and co-produced it with Greg Kurstin, and between them they stack synths on synths until the track glitters like a dance floor at 3 a.m. Cubbie Fink's bass bounces, Mark Pontius keeps the drums crisp and busy, and Foster's voice floats high over the top, sunny on the surface and restless underneath.

It's alternative dance built for headphones and car stereos alike, and it traveled. Australia's Triple J played it more than any other track in 2011, and its listeners voted it to number 15 in that year's Hottest 100; Spotify counted it among its five most-streamed songs of the year, and in Britain, Radio 1's Greg James made it his Record of the Week.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2011 26 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2011 91
2011 6 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011 101
2011 45 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2011 89
2011 44 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 15 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 64 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2011 99
2011 20 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2011 103
2011 15 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011 94
2011 30 X107.5 Las Vegas, NV X107.5 Top 50 Songs That Didn't Suck 2011 50
2011 42 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2011 100
2011 60 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2011 90
2011 84 Exit 97.7 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY WEXT Top 97 of 2011 97
2011 11 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2011 111
2011 23 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2011 98
2011 38 94.1 The Zone Rochester, NY 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2011 94
2011 42 89.9 WLCA St. Louis, MO WLCA Top 89 of 2011 89
2011 11 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2011 88
2011 26 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2011 49
2011 33 KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2011 92
2011 12 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2011 51
2011 47 94.3 WCYY Portland, ME WCYY Top 50 Songs of 2011 50
2011 45 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 of 2011 97
2011 15 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2011 100
2011 10 WBRU Providence, RI WBRU Top 95.5 Songs of 2011 96
2012 92 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 Songs of 2012 97

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2011 1954 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1343 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 300 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 984 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 37 102.7 WEQX WEQX Top 102.7 of the 2010's Decade 103
2019 94 ALT 98.7 ALT 98.7 Top 98 ALT Songs of the Decade 98
2022 271 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2025 539 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714
2026 332 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500
2026 823 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 2011

Best songs of 2011 →
  1. 1Pumped up KicksFoster The People
  2. 2RopeFoo Fighters
  3. 3The Adventures of Rain Dance MaggieRed Hot Chili Peppers
  4. 4WalkFoo Fighters
  5. 5You are a TouristDeath Cab for Cutie
  6. 6Rolling in the DeepAdele

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