The best One Hit Wonders of the 2010s

20 March 2022, 15:00

By Radio X

@RadioX

Some great songs came into our lives in the past decade... but there wasn't always a follow-up.

Radio X looks at some of the great songs from fine artists who are still best-known for that one particular track among the Great British Public...

1. Vance Joy - Riptide

   Top 10 for this acoustic favourite in 2013, but there's not been a peep out of the Australian singer this side of the world since then.

   

   Vance Joy - 'Riptide' Official Video

2. Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know

   Pretty much the ultimate 2010s One Hit Wonder, Australians Wally De Backer (Gotye) has failed to follow-up the worldwide success of his heartfelt hit. New Zealand singer Kimbra, who also appears on the record, has mainly kept herself to the Southern hemisphere.

   

   Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) - official music video

3. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks

   The album Torches spawned this huge international hit, which made No 18 in July 2011. The 2014 follow-up, Supermodel did decent business, but the single Coming Of Age scraped only to No 158 in the UK charts.

   

   Foster The People - Pumped up Kicks (Official Music Video)

4. Elle King - Ex's And Oh's

   Tanner Elle Schneider is the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider and had a smash in January 2016 with this swaggering tune. She released a second album, Shake The Spirit, in 2018 but it didn't do much in the UK charts.

   

   Elle King - Ex's & Oh's (Official Video)

5. The Drums - Let's Go Surfing

   Originally released in 2009, this lively piece of indie guitar pop made the bottom end of the UK Top 75 the following year, but the US band have been keeping relatively low-key since then.

   

   The Drums - Lets Go Surfing

6. Portugal The Man - Feel It Still

   This remains a great track, but incredibly, it was taken from the Alaskan band's eighth studio album - none of their other singles have made a splash with the Britons.

   

   Portugal. The Man - "Feel It Still" (Official Video)

7. Lumineers - Ho Hey

   This gentle folk-rock tune was everywhere in the autumn of 2012 and while the band's 2016 album Cleopatra made Number 1 in the LP charts, none of the songs cut through like Ho Hey did.

   

   The Lumineers - Ho Hey (Official Video)

8. Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks

   Icelandic indie pop that was straight out of the blocks as a debut single, but while the follow-up Mountain Sound did the business in the US, we weren't so easily charmed this side of the Atlantic.

   

   Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks (Official Video)

9. AWOLNation - Sail

   This quirky tune made the Top 20 a year after its initial release in 2010. But while Aaron Bruno has released two more albums in the 2010s, they've not made any major impression.

   

   AWOLNATION - Sail (Official Music Video)

10. Peace - Money

    Big tune from the 2015 album Happy People - but the Worcester quartet's follow-up Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll didn't bring forth any major hits.

    

    Peace - Money