Song · Hard-Fi
“Hard to Beat” by Hard-Fi
From the EP Stars of CCTV (2004)
“Hard to Beat” by Hard-Fi appears on 13 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2006 and 2024. It was first released in 2004 on the EP Stars of CCTV. Its best result is #21 on the CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2006. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #110 alternative song of 2006 and #2,508 alternative song of all time.
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"Hard to Beat" was the song that got Hard-Fi into the UK top 10 for the first time, landing at number 9 after it came out on 20 June 2005 as the third single from Stars of CCTV. Richard Archer wrote it on his own, words and music, and it became the English indie rock band's favourite thing to play live: Archer once said that when his voice was fraying on tour, the crowd simply sang it for him.
America caught on the following spring, when it went out there as the record's second single after "Cash Machine" and worked its way up to 34 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks. The B-side, "Stronger", reached back to Archer's previous band, Contempo, who had played it first.
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 | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 79 | WFNX Boston, MA | WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2006 | 100 |
| 2006 | 21 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2006 | 101 |
| 2006 | 84 | The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC | The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2006 | 97 |
| 2006 | 47 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2006 | 103 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 796 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1036 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1065 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1107 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1145 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1211 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1261 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2022 | 464 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2024 | 943 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
Also listed as: Hard To Beat.
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