Shinyoo's Hands Of The Clock

[koganbot]

Anybody know anything about this? According to Billboard, it's been on the K-pop chart for 39 weeks, never getting above 35. A trot rhythm, ballad-like but definitely Asian. In the olden days, this would have been my stereotype of what Asian pop sounds like. Touches of what seem like country & western, but the resemblance may be a coincidence (though I wouldn't assume it's a coincidence). Also, a few big-band r&b horn flourishes.

Presumably, it's old people who listen to this. I'm an old person, and I like it.

Watch on YouTube

[EDIT: YouTube took down the studio version, so here's a live performance. RE-EDIT: And then they took that one down; here's one that may or may not be the same one]
Longest-running K-pop qua K-pop tracks in the top 50 are Ailee's "Heaven" (which is a big ballad, really, though I'll count it as K-pop given that K-poppers give it their ears), 15 weeks, and Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby," 12 weeks. The Gaon chart doesn't list longevity, but goddamn "Moves Like Jagger" is still in the Top 100 after 9 months or so. T-ara's "Lovey-Dovey" just fell out of the Top 100 after approximately 20 weeks; IU's "You And I" and Trouble Maker's "Trouble Maker" are still in the low 100s after about 25.

Unlike American pop, K-pop has a blockbuster pattern. Releases are events, and they get crowded out by the next week's events. Even the most popular songs stay only several weeks near the top. SNSD's mark of 9 consecutive wins for "Gee" on Music Bank in early '09 will likely never be beaten. (The Gaon chart didn't exist yet. I think it's slightly easier for a teen-oriented K-pop song to hang onto number one on the TV performance show charts than on Gaon, since ballads aren't as much in the competition. But still, 2 weeks is a lot and 4 weeks is dominating. Not sure how IU's "You And I" did on the performance charts, but it stayed atop Billboard K-pop for a solid 5 weeks, and remained in the top 10 for a total of 9. See Wikipedia's Korea K-Pop Hot 100 entry for the other long runners.)

Comments

[askbask.livejournal.com]

IU won Music Bank six times in a row with You & I. Music Bank have revamped their scoring system several times to avoid a song dominating for too long so the points aren't the same as they were back in the 'Gee' days (but SNSD got six with 'The Boys' as well). Inkigayo only allows a song to win three times before removing it from the chart.

Old stuff

[(Anonymous)]

If you like old stuff, how about really really really old stuff. Great singer and gives some idea of Korean psyche I guess.

Re: Old stuff

[koganbot]

Singer is impressive. I didn't come close to comprehending this musically, much less culturally. But I was taken enough by it to listen more than once.

Didn't say I liked old stuff (though I often do), just that I like (a particular piece of) music for old people. My guess is that this gets listeners of all ages, though probably not a lot of listeners.

[EDIT: Is 김영임 her name? (Kim Young-Im?) I'm clueless when it comes to Korean. Apparently, the song is a version of "Arirang."]

Re: Old stuff

[askbask.livejournal.com]

This haunting version was famously used in 'Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.. and Spring'



I don't know a lot about the history of 'Arirang', but I know this isn't the one I've heard used as a '2nd national anthem' on various events.

Re: Old stuff

[davidfrazer.livejournal.com]

I think this is the version you're thinking of:

[arbitrary-greay.livejournal.com]

Holy cow that sounds like some generic Chinese karaoke staple. I can hear the color change scrolling through the karaoke captions on a flickering blue screen.

[davidfrazer.livejournal.com]

You might enjoy Bret's visit to the noraebang from Flight of the Conchords:



(By the way, I've read that the tune comes from a Teresa Teng song.)