Do Make Say Think will be in Seoul this weekend. I'll be there, too. 비둘기우유 (Vidulgi Ooyoo) is opening up for them. Two great live bands! And, from what I've read, all 9 members of DMST will make the trip to Seoul.
I'm excited about this show because it's a change of pace for me. I'm usually all about the ska/early reggae & hardcore shows and clubs. Seoul actually has a diverse live scene.
It's just that it's so tempting to stay with What I Know and Where I Go. Know what I mean?
This is one of my favorite Korean songs; possibly, thee fave. And that's incredible because the three brothers in 산울림 played some very cheesey almost-power-pop over the years.
산울림 (San-ul-lim) means 'mountain echo'. The official English title for 나어떡해 (Na-eo-ddeok-hae) is "What Shall I do?" Alhtough, 나어떡해 is a Korean expression that means "What am I going to do now?" "What shall I do?" sounds a bit 19th Century Victorian English to me and carries none of the folksy quality that the pop song embodies.
한글moment: The song's title provides a good illustration of the daily difficulties I experience learning the Korean language. A student might think he sees "떡", which means 'rice cake', which would take him down a path towards "rice cake does", which makes no sense at all. And then the student would ask a Korean. And then bang his head on his desk.
나어떡해 has the right amounts of pop and melancholy mixed together with great, muted drumming. I've been looking for the lyrics and never have found them. If you know them or can find them, in English, or can translate, I'd love to know more about it than I already do.
I'm putting this up because another version of the song by a popular band, Sandpebbles, receives a lot of attention on You Tube. The original is, as many Koreans will correctly argue, the better version.
Shin Jung Hyeon's songs are thrilling mixtures of garage, psychedelic, and folk rock. He began his career playing on US military bases in the late 50s. While his reputation as a guitarist grew, he entertained military personnel as Jackie Shin. (Don't get me started. Anyway....) Shin claims Korean rock was born in military clubs: explains the varied American influences I hear when listening to Korean rock, certainly, but does not explain the genius things Korean musicians did with the music.
The first song below is "Beautiful Rivers and Mountains". It represents the pinnacle of his work during 1970s, the song is from '75, and quite possibly of his career. It's a wonderful, near ten minute, psychedelic track. Shin was widely revered for his knack at psychedelic rock and folk. A finer example of his genius doesn't exist. It's Korean Psychedelic Folk Rock at its best.
Well, some might argue with me because his cover of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is legendary. But I prefer this tune, quite frankly, and the backstory makes it the lead in my post.
In 1972, Park Chung Hee--the totalitarian who ran Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979--asked Shin to record a song praising him and his work. Shin declined and is said to have written this song "아름다운강산" instead ("ah-leum da-un jang-san"= "Beautiful Rivers and Mountains"). Imagine if President Bush had asked Bruce Springsteen to write a song about The Bush Presidency. That's about the only way I can think of putting this request in perspective. But imagine Bush had the power to make you disappear without anybody asking questions.
I love it:
I'm sure denying the dictator the privilege of his talents was one of the reasons that around the time of the above recording, Shin came under criticism for loud and vulgar music and was arrested for smoking pot. He was banned from public performances until Park's assasination.
Here's a clip from the 1975 film, 미인 (mee-in, "beautiful woman"). It's not the complete song, but it helps illustrate the popular fashion and style with groups like Shin Jung Hyeon & The Yup Juns:
Eleven years earlier, in 1964, Shin fronted The Add4, a garage and surf act. The next song, "늦은면 큰일나요" (If You're late, You're in Big Trouble), is a good example of the garage & surf rock popular in the late fifties and early sixties before Korean rock musicians submerged themselves in psychedelic & progressive rock and acid folk. Here's 늦은면 큰일나요 from the album 빗속의 (In the Beat--tell me if I have that title wrong, but I think it's right.)
I'm a little obsessed with traditional Korea pop. One of my favorite vocal groups is The Pearl Sisters, featuring sisters Bae In Soon and Bae In Sook. I can't find much about them in English. From what I can tell, their mother originally encouraged them to sing as "The Kim Sisters". Lee Nanyong was an actress and singer during the Korean War and it sounds like she got her daughters involved in 노래 (norae, song) contests held on the military bases. The girls like performing and soon were recording. They became popular with the backing of Korea's godfather of rock'n'roll, Shin Jung Hyeon, the subject of my next post.
Anyway, if you know more about the sisters, leave a comment.
Contemporary K-Pop is such weak, fashion-oriented, easily-consumed and forgettable junk that researching the 50s, 60s, and 70s Korean Pop, Folk, and Rock scenes has been a real joy. Korea has a wealth of musical treasures. You just have to dig a little to find them.
I can't wait to hit the used record stores in 남대문시장 (Namdaemun Market) and attempt to find some of the music I've grown to love.
Much of the late-sixties to mid-seventies pop & rock music is garage and folk influenced. There is plenty of progressive and hard rock around but the best is the psychedelic tinged folk and folk pop and songs like The Pearls Sisters' garage pop.
"Shadows of the Two" and "I'll Wait" (During the first song there's a little pause in the audio that lasts about 3-4secs.)
The next one is called "커피 한잔" and is probably the best song about "a cup of coffee" I've ever heard:
I like "I Can Not" quite a bit. It's a nice garage pop number:
This great tune is the first track on the great compilation album from long ago, Be a Caveman: The Best of Voxx Garage Revival. I suggest you get to a used record store near you and find it.
