Franz Ferdinand need a caveat up front. The Scottish band were one of the most acclaimed and influential acts of the 2000s art-rock and indie revival, with a Mercury Prize, a string of singles, and a sound that launched countless imitators. They are not a one-hit wonder by any normal definition.
But one song has pulled far ahead of the rest. "Take Me Out", from their 2004 debut, with its famous mid-song gear change from jittery verse to strutting riff, became the band's signature and an enduring indie-disco anthem. It now sits near 1.3 billion plays.
Their catalogue is deep and well-loved, with "Do You Want To" and "No You Girls" among many fan favourites. Even so, dividing "Take Me Out" by their second biggest streaming track gives a ratio of about 10.7, well past our 5.0 line.
So by our strict, numbers-only measure, Franz Ferdinand register as a certified one-hit wonder. We flag it as the reputation-versus-streams artifact it is: a celebrated, multi-single band whose one inescapable anthem has simply outrun everything else on the platforms. It says less about the band than about how a single ubiquitous song can swallow a whole catalogue's streams.