Song · Foster The People
“Houdini” by Foster The People
From the EP Foster the People EP (2011)
“Houdini” by Foster The People appears on 7 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 2011 and 2013. It was first released in 2011 on the EP Foster the People EP. Its best result is #29 on the 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2011. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #72 alternative song of 2012 and #444 of the '10s.
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Mark Foster wrote "Houdini" while he was still cranking out commercial jingles at Mophonics, and the song carries that trade's knack for a hook that lodges on first contact. It appears on both the 2011 Foster the People EP and the band's debut album, Torches, and after an early promo run in the UK it finally went out as the fifth single from Torches in May 2012.
The origin story is disarmingly casual: showing a girlfriend around the office, Foster knocked together a drum beat and a vocal sample in 10 minutes, then came back 4 days later and piled on piano chords. Rich Costey produced and mixed it with Foster co-producing, Cubbie Fink and Mark Pontius lock down the groove, and Gary Grant's trumpet adds a flash of brass. It later slipped into the SSX and Sackboy games, Gossip Girl and Suits.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 29 | 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH | 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2011 | 88 |
| 2011 | 40 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2011 | 100 |
| 2012 | 68 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2012 | 103 |
| 2012 | 31 (tie) | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2012 | 131 |
| 2012 | 33 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2012 | 103 |
| 2012 | 72 | 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT | 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2012 | 99 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 347 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
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