Lee Jung-jae, then and now

It’s nostalgia day!

Old ’90s vocal duo The Blue is back with comeback activities, which means its two actor-singer members (Kim Min-jong and Sohn Ji-chang) are back in action and promoting their reunion.

Thus the two old friends recently appeared on Sang Sang Plus 2 and shared old stories about their earlier days, namely the hit 1994 youth trendy drama Feelings [느낌], which I LOVED.

Kim and Sohn played twin brothers in the drama (Sohn was the “elder” of the two), which was also the launching pad for a then-unknown young actor who would become a top movie star, (my!) Lee Jung-jae (of Typhoon, Air City, and soon to be seen in Triple). But according to Sohn Ji-chang, Lee Jung-jae was only cast at the last minute through a fateful chance encounter.

Drama brothers Sohn Ji-chang, Lee Jung-jae, Kim Min-jong

SONG OF THE DAY

Feelings OST – “너의뒤에서” (Behind You) by JYP. This was one of the main love themes of the series, sung by Park Jin-young — yes, that Park Jin-young — and featured on his first solo album.
[ Download ]

[Read more →]

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The Blue: Kim Min-jong, Sohn Ji-chang

Omona, ajumma!

Okay, this one’s for us old fogeys out there, with some news about old (oooold)-school kpop.

The popular-in-the-’90s vocal duo The Blue — aka actors Kim Min-jong and Sohn Ji-chang — are reuniting.

*sound of crickets*

Yeah, I know most of you don’t know who they are or care, but back in the Internet-less Ages, aka the ’90s, these two were The Shiz. They were perhaps the original pretty boys, alongside newbie actors like Jang Dong-gun and Lee Jung-jae, with whom they starred in some very popular dramas. Their projects kicked off a couple trendy-drama trends, back before Hallyu was Hallyu.

SONG OF THE DAY

The Blue – “나의 곁엔 언제나” (Always By My Side). I can’t say that I was ever in love with their music, but they do bring back some very fond memories. [ Download ]

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Jang Dong Gun, Lee Seon Kyun

Oh man. What a trip back to the old-school days of Korean drama.

The Voice, aka Lee Seon Kyun, recently recorded an episode of the MBC talk-variety show Yoo Jae Seok and Kim Won Hee’s Let’s Play airing on the 23rd, wherein he shared a story about his acting “senior” and friend, supa-star Jang Dong Gun.

Back in his university days, Jang Dong Gun was playing basketball with fellow basketball enthusiast Lee Seon Kyun, when one day he turned to him (Lee) and said, “Your shoes look too worn — it must be uncomfortable playing with those.” With that, he handed him a pair of shoes, saying, “These are my sneakers from when I filmed The Last Match — if that’s okay with you, wear them instead” — and gave them as a gift. Lee Seon Kyun was so touched by the gesture that afterward, he always wore those sneakers when playing basketball.

(Of course, things got tricky when the sneakers started to smell because off Lee Seon Kyun’s peculiar habit of wearing them without socks! File that under “too much information”?)

Dude. I remember The Last Match fondly because it was one of the first Korean dramas I ever watched, way back in 1994, and was one of the earliest projects for two of the most famous all-time Korean actors, Jang Dong Gun and Shim Eun Ha. Along with Jealousy [Jiltu] (starring a very young Choi Jin Shil and the current sageuk pro Choi Su Jong) and Feelings [Neukkim] (which I’ve mentioned here and starred a very young Lee Jung Jae and Kim Min Jong), those three dramas composed a early-kdrama trifecta that helped shaped my current trendy-drama watching habit.

Source: Newsen

(Old-school soundtrack) SONG OF THE DAY

The Last Match OST – “다시 시작해” (Start over) by Lee Chang Kwon. Thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to raid some of my long-ignored stacks of ancient kpop and kdrama CDs. Yay nostalgia. This was one of the most prominent themes of the series. Played a lot while Jang Dong Gun was off running around (literally, i.e. basketball training). Also played while he did a lot of pulling-up by his metaphorical bootstraps. [ Download ]

Read on for a total ’90s-drama digression >>

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Woo Hee Jin isn’t one of the highest-profile actors around, despite having worked steadily over the span of her career, which is pretty long given that she’s been around more than fifteen years and she’s only thirty-two.

She appeared on the variety-talk program Yashimmanman on the 29th and talked a bit about her career and her relationship with fellow actor Lee Sung Yong, whom she met while working on a morning drama together.

She’s been pretty forthcoming about their relationship, which is generally not the case for most celebrity couples, although she admits they weren’t quite so open in their early days of dating. She revealed that she’d found herself telling “the lie that celebrities say the most.”

That, then, would be the answer given to the perpetual question, “Are you dating?” The “most-told lie” uttered in response was, naturally: “Oh, we’re just friends.” (More specifically, “We’re just close in an oppa-dongsaeng way.”)

Heh. We always figured that was the case, but nobody ever honestly admitted it. Donghae* lovers, fantasize away. (Although I think Bikyo** fans are really reaching.)

* That would be shippers of Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae, leads of the drama My Girl,
** and shippers of Bi (Rain) and Song Hye Gyo, from their romantic pairing in Full House.

All I know is, Woo Hee Jin sure has aged well. Granted, at thirty-two she’s still in her prime, but it seems like forever ago that she was young Yuri in one of my favorite early kdramas, Feelings — one of the original trendy dramas that aired in 1994 and starred a very young and hot new actor, Lee Jung Jae. (FYI, With S2 subbed this drama as a special side project, which I’ve written about here.)

Source: Osen

 
SONG(s) OF THE DAY

Shinhwa – “Soulmate” & “Missing You.” I figured I’d post a Shinhwa song for all y’all who didn’t know much about them in the Minwoo post below. Like I said, I go back and forth on whether I like Shinhwa’s music or not. Some of their songs are okay (I tend to like their ballads), while most of the other stuff I find overprocessed. (Particularly the old stuff, which was a lot lighter and jokier — “eusha eusha” anyone?) I definitely agree that their appeal comes only partly from their music, and partly from the personalities and interactions of the members, which is something they’ve made remarkably good use of — marketing themselves as personalities above and beyond the “Shinhwa” brand. I don’t know that any other band has been able to do so with anywhere near that level of success. Certainly not the current boy- and girl-banders, which have a few popular leads and some others forgotten on the sidelines. Anyway, I have two favorite Shinhwa songs, and rather than decide which to post, I’m throwing ‘em both up here. Both are from their sixth album (of eight, not including all those solo/side projects), which is also the one I like best.
“Soulmate” [ zShare download ]
“Missing You” [ zShare download ]

 
RELATED POSTS:

• Minwoo makes a bad first impression
• Feelings / Neukkim (1994)

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Lately, I’ve noticed something about the dramas I’ve been watching, which is that I’ve been finding — more so than the big dramatic romantic turns — that the most affecting, moving moments are family-related. There’s just something that Korean dramas do that captures family elements so well. They don’t try to make you cry with the SADNESS! and ANGST!, but with little heartfelt moments.

Whenever I read an article about the reason for the Korean Wave/Hallyu’s recent popularity, there’s a mention about the focus of family in kdramas that set it apart from their more sensational, sexy Western counterparts. While not all kdramas are family-related, there often are very strong family undercurrents, even when the main story is about crime, about the workplace, romance, whatever.

It’s not exactly a drama, but there’s an episode of the sitcom Nonstop 5 (episode #244) that shows a perfect example of what I mean, in a bite-sized, 20-minute package. Watch it after the jump.

SONG(s) OF THE DAY

G.O.D. – “To My Mother” (어머님께): This one’s a repost from the mother-related Flowers For My Life episode. [ zShare download ]

Tim – “To My Father” (아버지께) [ zShare download ]

Read more and watch the Nonstop 5 “Family” episode >>

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