Frank Kogan

What's going on with Rainbow's "concept"? And how do "concepts" work in general in K-pop? Even though performers do sometimes change 'em like costumes, that doesn't necessarily mean those very performers aren't committed in some deeper way to what the concepts mean. Or at least it doesn't mean that they're not committed in the audience's eyes, or that we don't hold them accountable on the basis of our (or someone's) sense of what they're doing with the concepts and who they appear to be behind the concepts.

I find Rainbow's switch from "the sexy dominatrix image"* of "A," "Mach," and "To Me" to the new one on "Tell Me Tell Me," whatever it is (cheery and serene and bright but at a half-knowing half distance?), jarring:

"A":


"Mach":


"Tell Me Tell Me":


Music seems to be included in the concept of "concept." As it should be. Except the music on "Tell Me Tell Me" is meh compared to what Rainbow were doing a couple of years ago in "A" etc.

( I don't believe that in Korea or America there's a split between authenticity and artifice; the two concepts aren't opposites )

GLAM's "I Like That" entered the Gaon Chart this week at 57. This was way lower than I'd anticipated, my expectation being based on an Allkpop story saying "I Like That" had finished number 3 on January 2 on the Bugs Chart. I don't know what the Bugs Chart does, actually (the chart is in Korean, not surprisingly). I assume it records daily numbers, though I don't know of what. "I Like That" isn't in today's top ten.

GLAM began promoting the single on December 29, performing it on SBS's Gayo Daejun accompanied by their Vocaloid friend SeeU. The video didn't go up until three days later, though teasers had started on December 26. Full-throttle comeback performances started on January 3. So, anyway, I don't know whether or not the song had a full week in the public consciousness to post numbers — Gaon's week runs Sunday to Saturday, so the current rankings are based on December 30 through January 5; next chart will cover January 6 through today.

SNSD's "I Got A Boy" is number 1 with a rather unimpressive 28,479,080 points. Its numbers might not reflect a full week either: video wasn't up until Monday December 31, and I don't know when sales started. Also, it's a weird song.

On YouTube, "I Got A Boy" is at 26,564,464 views. Are there Korean video sites I should be taking account of too? YouTube views for "I Like That," which are divided up between LOENENT and GLAMofficialvideo, total 291,414. A couple orders of magnitude of difference, there. Gaon points for "I Like That" are 3,376,761, which makes up one order of magnitude but is still way behind. So Allkpop's lead, "GLAM have been giving Girls' Generation a run for their money with their new single, 'I Like That,' which is rising up on music charts," seems very wrong. Premature, anyway.

I'm rooting big for "I Like That," which I'll write about later. Is a good song, not a great one, but socially this group matters. And they dance well. And the lyrics engage in fairly subtle arguments with themselves, aren't just slogans. Though as slogans they're good, too.

Inspired by Christophe calling Big Bang's "Blue" the greatest boyband song since Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," I compiled a list of fifteen boyband tracks. Not a best-of, not a survey, but some stuff I think highly of, and enough gaps to call forth lists of your own:

The Jewels "Hearts Of Stone"
Dion And The Belmonts "I Wonder Why"
The Marcels "Blue Moon"
The Miracles "You Really Got A Hold On Me"
The Beatles "She Loves You"
The Temptations "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
The Monkees "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
The Jackson 5 "I Want You Back"
The Moments "Love On A Two-Way Street"
New Kids On The Block "You Got It (The Right Stuff)"
Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison"
*NSync "I Want You Back"
Backstreet Boys "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
Big Bang "Tonight"
MBLAQ "I Don't Know"

Watch on YouTube

I was extrapolating forward and back from early '90s usage; so, the male r&b vocal group taken to by kids and teens, with dancing. Orioles and Drifters not eligible, Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers are. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" eligible, "I Am The Walrus" not. "ABC" eligible, "Shake Your Body" not (among other things, vocals too much a Michael-only showcase). I count the Coasters, but I'd have chosen the Robins/Coasters' "Riot In Cell Block Number 9," which is a bit early and the content is probably insufficiently pre-teen (though I myself would've loved it as a tyke). I count the early Wailers, but my choice, "Jailhouse," is too late, and it reaches older than teen. I disqualified duos even though in my heart I'm sure the Everly Brothers belong for "Cathy's Clown" and "All I Have To Do Is Dream," and maybe even Simon & Garfunkel for the electric version of "Sounds Of Silence."

( Ignorance, missing sweet )

So have at it.

( Temptation )

(Crossposting at poptimists, to see if it's still a ghost town.)

Orange Caramel's "A~ing♡" is our problematic video of the week, which I posted over at poptimists, but since almost no one there writes comments anymore, I'm putting it up here as well. As Mat says, "It's odd, because they almost have a supermodel look to them with their long legs, and it just seems grotesque to put them in cheap girly Halloween costumes." I wouldn't say I know what's going on with Orange Caramel. The videos don't seem like camp or parody, but do seem deliberately "off." Or maybe we're just the ones who think it's off, and for the core audience stuff like this is bacon and eggs, seven days a week. Anyhow, you can see what I said; you also might want to check out the convo that petronia, Mat, and anhh had here a month ago on related subjects.



EDIT: Of course, just because something might strike us (in our ignorance) as grotesque doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with it, or anything problematic. Or the problem might only be ours, that we don't understand what's going on. But women acting girlie can raise a red flag. That is, do women in that world generally have a choice not to act girlie? What are the consequences for those who don't act girlie?