Songoftheday 08/12/24 - See I don't know why I liked you so much, I gave you all my trust I told you I loved you...

 

 

"F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)" - Eamon

from the album I Don't Want You Back (2004)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #16 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 15

 

Today's song comes from Eamon (Doyle), who grew up in Staten Island, the son of a part-time doo-wop singer. Eamon, who started singing as a child, was discovered by a manager and producer who tried to get him signed until finally he was brought on to Jive Records. Eamon's debut single, released in the late fall of 2003, was the titularly provocative "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)". The song was written by Eamon with the Brooklyn rap duo Audio Two, Kirk "Milk Dee" and Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, with Milk Dee producing. The lyrics have Eamon whining about a breakup with a woman who cheated on him delivered in the most nasal voice imaginable. I mean, the verses do seem like real thoughts running through a guy's mind in this situation, but damn it sounds kind of lame, especially the "you even gave him head" line. The production harkens to the sparse Latin freestyle ballads of the late 80s early 90s, but Eamon was trying to coin a "new" genre called "Ho-wop", for what it's worth, with the revered retro style given "new life" with cursing. But for a moment, it worked, and Eamon found himself with his one big claim to fame...

 

 "F**k It" became Eamon's first and only hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, reaching the top 20 in February of 2004, while reaching #37 on their R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song climbed to #9 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, and #5 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. But after it's success in the States, the record became an even bigger international hit, spending four weeks at #1 on the British Singles chart, and topping the lists in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland (it also hit #4 in France). Eamon's debut album on Jive, I Don't Want You Back, was aided by the pull-back of the single from stores, and came in at #7 on the Billboard 200 sales tally and #3 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies. 

Eamon's follow-up tried to cement the "ho-wop" thing he wanted to create with "I Love Them Ho's (Ho-Wop)". Despite a production from Robinson that would've served a legitimate rap record better, this was even more cringy and stiffed here in America, thought the novelty allure carried a little overseas, where it reached the top-40 in Switzerland (#22), Australia (#24), The United Kingdom (#27), and Ireland (#29). 

 

In 2006, Eamon returned with "(How Could You) Bring Him Home" tried to catch the cheating vibe with the acoustic guitar again, but only was a top-40 hit in Italy at #26 and a minor hit in the UK at #61. Jive didn't even bother promoting it in the U.S., and his second album Love & Pain wasn't even released stateside (it's on Spotify though now, one of the benefits of a streaming world). 

After a horrible decade which had him signing with a label that stiffed him, Eamon was able to put out a third album, Golden Rail Motel, which is a huge degree better than anything from his debut. Since then he's released two more pretty solid alt-soul records, most recently No Matter The Season in 2022. I really recommend checking these three out.

(3/10)

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"F**k It" was so popular that it inspired an "answer record" from a female vocalist from Staten Island, Nicole "Frankee" Aiello. "F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back)", which had the (incorrect) buzz that it was from his ex-girlfriend, made it to #63 on the Hot 100 and #71 on the R&B Singles chart. It did even better on the radio, where it hit #29 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, and #18 on the Rhythmic list. But in the UK, where Eamon spent a month at #1, "F.U.R.B." replaced him at #1 and took three weeks at the top, also topping the chart in Australia and making the top-40 in multiple countries...

and lastly, Eamon performing the song in Italy in 2004...

Up tomorrow: An Idol runner-up isn't seen.