Official Charts Flashback 2004: Eamon vs Frankee

It’s 10 years since the Number 1 spot was occupied by two pottymouthed songs in a row, thanks to Eamon and Frankee’s very public ‘spat’.

On this day in 2004, fans of good clean language rejoiced as a seven-week reign at the top of the charts by two sweary songs finally came to an end.

Thanks to Mario Winans (more on him later), Frankee’s FURB (F U Right Back) was toppled from the Number 1 spot, three weeks after she nudged her supposed ex-boyfriend Eamon’s equally risqué hit F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back) off the throne.

The story of possibly the most foul-mouthed seven weeks in chart history starts in early 2004 as young singer Eamon gets himself plenty of attention Stateside with his profanity-laden debut single.

The fairly self-explanatory F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back) was the ultimate kiss-off to a girl who Eamon no longer wanted to be in a relationship with, for various reasons. Spicing up an otherwise straightforward R&B ballad with a few choice F-words – not to mention some insults that you definitely wouldn’t want anyone to say to your sister – meant Eamon had a hit on his hands.

On release in the UK, the track was an instant sensation, selling over 150,000 copies in its first week. Back in the US, singer Frankee (real name Nicole Aiello) decided it was time for everybody to hear the other side of the story.

Claiming to be Eamon’s ex-girlfriend and the subject of his smash-hit tantrum, Frankee recorded her own version of the track. Over the same beats, Frankee unleashed a tirade of her own, equally sweary and with plenty of disses in there about the contents of Eamon’s pants for good ‘measure’.

After four weeks at Number 1, Eamon was given his marching orders as Frankee got her revenge and took the top spot away from her ‘ex’, notching up almost 80,000 sales in her first week.

Eamon was pretty graceful in defeat – he had, after all, given the OK for Frankee’s track to sample his own, meaning he was credited as a writer.

It turned out, of course, that Frankee wasn’t Eamon’s ex – they’d never even met. But it didn’t really matter anyway; the tale of betrayal, bitterness and revenge was a decent enough yarn and kept people talking – and buying the songs – for seven weeks.

Frankee’s FURB fell one place to Number 2 this week in 2004, thanks to Mario Winans’ I Don’t Wanna Know. FURB sold 270,000 copies in total and was the 8th bestselling single of 2004. Since her big moment, Frankee has never again graced the Top 40.

Eamon’s F**k It was at Number 5 on the chart this week in 2004. It’s shifted 630,000 copies in total and would’ve been the biggest selling single of 2004 had it not been for the release of Band Aid 20’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?

It was Number 1 for four weeks and still has a certain appeal – 19,000 of you bought it in 2013! Eamon would have one more Top 40 entry, the equally classy Love Them, but since that track peaked at Number 27 in October 2004, Eamon hasn’t been seen on the Official Singles Chart since.

So now we’ve got those two pottymouths out of the way, what about the rest of the Top 5?

1: Mario Winans FT Enya and P Diddy – I Don’t Wanna Know

Finally ending the ‘blue period’ of Eamon and Frankee, I Don’t Wanna Know was Mario’s second – and final – Top 40 hit. His only other placing was a feature on Puff Daddy track Best Friend, which reached 24 in 1999.

I Don’t Wanna Know borrowed its distinctive beat from Fugees’ Number 1 song Ready Or Not, which itself had sampled Irish music star Enya’s Boadicea. Enya scored a credit on the track and her 10th Top 40 hit, and second Number 1 after Orinoco Flow.

Coincidentally, I Don’t Wanna Know spawned an answer record of its very own, from Pirates FT Shola Ama. Although it didn’t storm to the top to wreak the ultimate revenge, like Frankee did with Eamon, it did pretty well, reaching Number 8. Enya got a credit on that too, making it her 11 Top 40 hit, and her most recent one to date. It was Shola Ama's ninth spell in the Top 40, but she's not had a hit since.

3: Peter Andre – Insania

A new entry this week in 2004, and following on from the successful rebirth of Mysterious Girl, the king of oiled pecs released the track he’d been composing in the I’m A Celebrity jungle in between X-rated hugs with Jordan aka Katie Price. Mysterious Girl ended up being the 7th bestselling single of 2004, and altogether Peter’s had 15 Top 40 hits, including 10 top 10s – three of which went to Number 1. They were Flava and I Feel You (both 1996) and, of course, Mysterious Girl, which had previously peaked at Number 2.

4: Kelis – Trick Me

The follow-up to Kelis’s tribute to all things dairy, Milkshake, Kelis scored her second Number 2 hit in a row with this typically confident track. Trick Me has sold over 200,000 copies and was taken from Kelis’s most successful album to date, Tasty. Kelis has scored 16 Top 40 hits, including nine Top 10s. She’s never had a Number 1 but has reached Number 2 three times, most recently featuring on Calvin Harris’s Bounce.

See the full Top 40 from this week in 2004. 

This time last year

Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines went straight in at Number 1, knocking Naughty Boy FT Sam Smith’s La La La off the top. Blurred Lines would go on to be the bestselling single of 2013. Hey hey HEY.