My Mom had a bed of white lilies of the valley that I used to love smelling when I was a kid. The various day lilies, hostas, and bearded and Japanese iris in Mom’s plantings in the yard weren’t sweet-scented, but I loved them, too. A few purple lilac bushes — especially one near the kitchen door — was overpowering as it baked in the sun. A big clump of lavender in the backyard attracted little orange skipper butterflies, cabbage whites, and maybe the occasional tiger swallowtail. A few sweet summer phlox attracted red-and-gold hummingbird clearwing moths. One startled the pants off me the first time I encountered it as a kid. I thought I was going to get stung by a humongous wasp. https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/hummingbird_moth.shtml
Many years later, my own garden was visited by hummingbirds attracted by the tiger lilies and bee balm (Monarda). One day I observed an aerial stand-off between a green hummingbird and a tiger swallowtail. It wasn’t a dogfight per se, but the two of them were about the same size, and definitely after the same nectar flower. Pollinator passions ran high. 😉
I used to grow clove (aka Bath) pinks near my front stairs, and savored the vanilla-spice perfume. Those tiny carnation kin reminded me of the leis I loved. Nowadays most florist carnations have no scent, and the same holds for roses. I was stunned when a florist told me that the market no longer wants scented roses. All I could think was, “Why bother?”
An instrumental jazz piano arrangement plays in the bar where Jung-hoon meets with boss Hee-sang. The lyrics are right on the money for Jung-hoon — before he finally fell for Ha-jin.
Eric Carmen, lead singer of The Raspberries, scored two hits based on compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff, this one (third movement [Adagio] from Symphony No. 2) and “All By Myself” (second movement [Adagio sostenuto] of Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18), also from his solo debut album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN9CjAfo5n0
@pakalanapikake, your writing very often reminds me of someone I used to know, but she was in high school when I was in college, and I was in high school when you were in college. Funny….
Thank you. I talked about this in the OT a few weeks ago. I really hope that our society will start looking after those who suffer once this pandemic ends, but I have my doubts.
@turtuallysarcastic,
You’re welcome. I took a gander at your comments and spotted your OT #651 post #11. The article you mentioned certainly sounds a lot like this one that I linked.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Those of us who have had to deal with adversity are one up on folks who have led charmed lives. Sometimes what seems to be a curse is actually a blessing in disguise, an opportunity for us to grow in ways that only that specific challenge presents. I consider it getting a private lesson in the School Of Becoming Human. Meanwhile, what the world deems blessings are often anything but, for they lull us into a false sense of security, and divert us from developing our spiritual muscles.
I’m grateful that I made the acquaintance of the Serenity Prayer many years ago. It is an antidote to the 24/7 bad news that currently inundates the internet and airwaves. The cacophony is enough to drive anyone mad.
Re: Issues with your childhood friend… Is it possible that you may have outgrown her? Human beings grow at different rates, and sometimes in the course of their lives, they get out of sync with each other. Depending on how serious it is, it may be worthwhile to have a wait-and-see attitude while remaining friendly with her. One of the most useful tools I learned for dealing with problematic relationships is “detachment with love.” I think of it as taking a step back to gain psychological elbow room, while continuing to care about the other party — and oneself.
Perhaps your friend will never be able to empathize with you in the way you wish and need. Can you live with that? Are you better off with her in your life? If you are dissatisfied with the relationship, is it something you can talk with her about? The possibility of losing such an old and valued friendship is cause for concern. But if it’s causing you pain, you have to ask yourself why, and what your bottom line is. — I hasten to add that, given the extreme pressure so many people are feeling as a result of mandated quarantine, you consider taking your time with these deliberations, and not do anything drastic or hasty. As for my unsolicited advice, take what you can and leave the rest. Hwaiting! 😉
I find myself recalling uplifting and inspirational music that I haven’t listened to in ages. One of my high school buddies turned me on to Dan Fogelberg, and I just remembered one of my faves from him. The second piece has inspired me since high school.
Thank you for the music recommendations! I am an old soul in many aspects, music is one of them. Jim Croce has an unique voice, I love his version of ‘Bad Leroy Brown’. The songs give me a bittersweet sense of acknowledging the bad times and at the same trust in better times to come.
I should have known you would retrace my comment, and I appreciate your efforts, but it was certainly not my intention to force you through my ramblings.😉 ‘Charmed lives’ is such a good term to explain that greener grass on the other side. If it was not for my adversity, I would not have been this immersed in K-dramas and other Korean stuff now.😉
“Detachment with love” has been my standard mode for a while now, because it does allow me to keep the friendship without getting hurt. I also have lost and gained friends, one of them is even my partner in crime for Korea stuff, so I am far from lacking there.😉 However, as you read in the OT, there will always be moments that I lament the loss of that eternal childhood best friend that seems to be the norm in all forms of entertainment, despite knowing very well that it is not always a reality.
@turtuallysarcastic,
I’m so glad you liked the music. Jim Croce was part of the soundtrack of my high school years. His music was one of the lifelines I grabbed. (Ditto for Dan F. and Don McLean in high school, and Harry Chapin and Jackson Browne, et al., in college.) Jim and Maury Muhleisen, who accompanies him in the videos below, died in a plane crash shortly after the start of senior year in 1973. It was the shocking and devastating loss of a minstrel who wove the emotional equivalent of an entire Kdrama into 3 minutes of memorable turns of phrase and exquisite melodies and musicianship. Maybe he was the virtual older & wiser oppa I didn’t have in real life. My own self-deprecating sense of humor was and still is much like the personas of some of the subjects and narrators in his songs. Jim was on the verge of quitting the music industry when he died because touring was killing him – right before he finally achieved commercial success.
Harry Chapin: Full Concert, 10/21/78 @Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_f6NTCIsLQ
One of Harry’s innumerable benefit concerts. He did a one-man performance for World Hunger Year at my college a year or two before this. As at this show, you could hear a pin drop in the gym.
I hesitated to look up your comment lest I come off as some kind of stalker. But I figured you wouldn’t have mentioned it without a reason. I certainly didn’t feel that I was being “forced through your ramblings.” On the contrary, it seemed to be bothering you, and I took it upon myself to toss a lifeline, just in case. Other people’s lifelines had made a world of difference to me. I’m glad to learn that you already are clued-in to detachment.
I’d like to thank you. Your comments shook loose memories of books that supported my own early steps in getting my act together when I was 29 – more than half a lifetime ago. What a welcome blast from the past.
I didn’t have lasting childhood friendships. Part of it was the result of being an introvert, and part of it came from living in a housing development 5 miles outside the neighboring town and having to take a bus to parochial school. Entering our public school system for high school was traumatic after attending K-8 with the same class of about 30 kids. My first year or two was socially awful, although I did well academically. It took a couple of years to find my kindred spirits: the literary and journalism nerds & the uncool-but-kind-and-sympatico misfits. 😉
So I say thank you for the music! I am bookmarking your comment and the recommendations for a rainy day with slightly more time on my hands. 😉
Thank you for the lifeline as well. Dramabeans is an important lifeline for me for two reasons:
1.) It gives me a space to practice writing. I stopped writing for a long time because my output was never to my liking, but it turns out I like the process of writing more than the actual output, so my fan wall and the comment sections contain my humble outputs.
2.) It gives me a space for self-therapy. Writing about my self-reflections, especially during rough times, helped/helps me to cope with my struggles (mainly unemployment, in case you were not familiar enough with me yet😉). Of course it feels nice when Beanies like and reply (especially whenever I am very bothered), but even if they do not I still get to rant anyway.😉
I feel that it is also important for me to open up to encourage other Beanies. I am nearly 29 and am still getting my act together, and so are many other (Beanie)s judging by their replies and confessions. You apparently fit that bill when you were my age too and I am relieved and grateful for that tidbit of information and honored by your gratitude in return.
If I had been born in some other time and place, we would have been besties.😎
Matthew Fisher was Procol Harum’s original organist on their debut album. His Hammond is iconic on “Conquistador” and “A Whiter Shade Of Pale.” He was replaced by Chris Copping on the live concert recording made in Alberta, Canada in 1971. Guitarist Robin Trower plays on the debut LP. Fisher also worked as a producer for PH and on several of Trower’s solo albums.
Correction: The live version is from the Chrysalis 1979 German release of “In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.” Enjoy the snap crackle pop of vinyl. 😉
@spazmo,
How’s that for a small world?! What a great article. I read the whole thing and enjoyed it. I don’t know much about baseball, so I’m glad I read it. It sounds as if the writer and photog had interesting travels in ROK. After watching STOVE LEAGUE when it aired, I appreciated seeing the bat flip videos, which left me agog. 😉
@yuyuu,
It looks as if Sports Chosun jumped the gun.
Following reports, a representative of Gong Yoo’s agency Management SOOP clarified, “It is true that Gong Yoo is reviewing an offer to star in ‘The Sea of Silence.’ It is not confirmed.”
I could do without the dystopian stuff, but would enjoy seeing Gong Yoo in another action flick. What I’d really love to see him do is a full-on sageuk. I loved the Goryeo part of GOBLIN.
The record sounds much better than the monaural TV broadcast, but it’s fun to see the band in action. Be sure to listen with headphones, and crank it up enough. I just wish the guitar stood out more, especially in the left channel. It occasionally pops up in the right channel, too. The distortion muffles it at times, and the lead singer’s bass is a bit too loud, IMHO. But I like the lead and backing vocals a lot.
Personnel
Moon Young-sik, drums
Kim Kwang-hyun, guitar
Jo Ha-moon, bass & lead vocals
per Google Translate:
1980 4th University Song Festival Silver Award
Lead Vocal: Jo Ha-moon
One of the best songs of domestic rock music.
Lyrics:
You have to be fine buried in the dark
A sad face waiting for the morning
When the darkness clears and the sun spreads, it will sting.
You have to do it, if you laugh
I like it alone
You have to be fine buried in the dark
A sad face waiting for the morning
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
I hate a sad moonlit night in a valley like tears
I hate the moonlit night in a nobody’s garden
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
I hate a sad moonlit night in a valley like tears
I hate the moonlit night in a nobody’s garden
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
arajoaina 1 day ago (edited) [i.e., 20200418] Ami2404 it’s basically protest rock wishing the dark hours pass and the new sun to rise and shine. It goes something like; sun sun, that’s buried in darkness devour all the darkness and rise up on high. Lots of pure people are waiting for you t…
Many thanks to windmillsofmusic for posting the song, and commenters arajoaina for requesting, and Ami2404 for providing, a synopsis of the lyrics. 😉
My beloved Boys are played in Hospital Playlist? If only for a second thats enough motivation to get me to start this today. “I’ll go anywhere for you…anywhere you asked me toooooooo”
This one popped up after I found the original version of “In Front of City Hall at the Subway Station” — and am I ever happy. I’m sure I’ve heard it before. Ain’t serendipity grand. The peaceful easy feeling I get while listening reminds me of country rock and Hawaiian music from the 70s and early 80s. The harmonies are lovely. Daebak!
Thanks for the links! Zoo seems to have a lovely sound. I am glad to have discovered more of their music through your links. It also seems that Shin Won-Ho PD seems to have a thing for Zoo (or whoever he works with on OSTs for his dramas does)? Their music has been used – as far as I can tell – in the OSTs for Reply 1988, Reply 1994 and Hospital Playlist.
You’re most welcome, @pickleddragon. I’m so glad you enjoy this piece. It only makes sense that the music of Zoo / Dongmulwon would be used in dramas set in those days. It was in the air back then. There’s nothing like music to transport one instantly back in time… even a time one was never a part of. I’m sure that Korean viewers have a visceral response to this music that I cannot, simply because I’m a tourist from another place. But I can still recognize the emotions it conveys — and I certainly can sense that it is from an earlier, less-frenetic, “kinder, gentler” time.
Maybe because it’s folk rock it’s a lot more accessible to me than later styles of pop music, much of which I find abhorrent. Now that I’m older, I can understand how the generations who were surrounded with Tin Pan Alley, big bands, and the Great American Songbook (and the Gay Nineties and vaudeville tunes of my grandparents’ childhood!) were dismayed by the advent of rock ‘n’ roll and its variants and successors. I have the same response to rap and soulless, over-produced bump-and-grind pop music. Singer-songwriters and folkies are more my speed, and always have been. I could appreciate some of the boy bands of the 90s that harked back to the emotions, melodies, and harmonies of doo-wop — and did it without Auto-Tune. I hope they pop up in HOSPITAL PLAYLIST. I’ll post a couple of my favorites.
For some reason I never got into the REPLY series, probably because sageuk is my favorite genre, and I couldn’t keep up with the multitude of characters (which I’m somewhat better at doing now). Maybe one of these days I’ll give it a shot, but I also recall hearing about the “who’s the husband” uproar, and it wasn’t appealing.
We share similar views on music, even though (I think) we are a few generations apart! Auto-tune is .. erm.. not exactly my favourite ‘instrument’. 😀 I like to listen to voices and sounds raw, which is why, I suppose, the acoustic sounds that most folk rock tends to use are what I am naturally drawn towards.
The REPLY series, I think, is best appreciated by someone who has “lived” the times. I watched 1988 and 1997, and I thought they were okay, not as great as people made it out to be. But I can understand why a certain kind of audience would have loved it (the ‘visceral response’ you speak of). I can think of similar dramas set in my city and in my childhood years that I return to only for nostalgic reasons, which would be completely lost on a foreign audience. I think the ‘guessing game’ is just a plot device to keep people hooked to the dramas, which otherwise have very little else going for them. There’s really no story, other than “such was life in the 1980s/1990s”. The production and acting was high quality, and certainly right up there among the better kdramas I have seen (limited though in number). If this kind of a package appeals to you, I’d recommend them. 88 over 97, unless a focus on romance is preferred, in which case, I’d reverse it. I haven’t watched 1994, and do not intend to.
HOSPITAL PLAYLIST seems to be going down the same ‘guessing game’ path, and I’m not sure if I’ll survive the series. But if it has music like this, I’ll be checking in for sure! 😀
There’s something about the Korean popular music of the early 1990s that I find to be emotionally satisfying in a way that is reminiscent of American singer-songwriters of the 1960s such as Jimmy Webb and Jackson Browne, and folk rockers of the 1970s such as Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, and Dan Fogelberg. In his article on Dongmulwon, The Korean speaks of the “Koreanness” inherent in their music, and I have to agree that there is a feeling, a vibe, that comes through even though I don’t understand Korean. In a similar vein, one of my early favorite Korean popular songs that I first heard in THREE FATHERS, ONE MOTHER (2008) comes from 1991: “Ijen Annyeong” [Now Goodbye] by 015B — a lovely song of parting that acknowledges that goodbye is not forever, but a promise to meet again in the future.
@pickleddragon,
You’re most welcome! I finished watching this week’s episode an hour or two ago, and went bonkers as soon as I heard it.
I’ve also posted the original version from 1990, along with The Korean‘s assessment of the band Dongmulwon [Zoo] who recorded it. I love Korean pop music from that time period. Excellent keyboards. I like it even better than the new version.
Bonkers is a good way to describe my reaction too! 😀 And the article is a very interesting read – it contextualises the music to the era. I especially liked the classsification of K-pop as the music that embodies the idea of “Koreanness.”
It’s also good to see PDs picking up older music and showcasing it through their dramas. This helps introduce newer audiences like myself to these sounds (plus it helps that folk rock is one of my favourite genres anyway).
@pickleddragon, The Korean‘s series of top-50 Kpop essays is terrific. It’s a crash-course in the development and genealogy of Korean pop music. It has been difficult to find much information on vintage Korean artists in English, and his articles have been a godsend. I especially appreciate his translations of the lyrics, his comments on the lives and times of the artists, and their music’s reception by Korean society. Not to mention the political tenor of the times, particularly in relation to official censorship. For instance, during the reigns of dictators Park and Chun, prison terms on trumped-up drug charges stifled the careers of many rock musicians. Rock used to top the charts in the mid-to-late 80s, but actually had been suppressed since the 70s. From what I gather, rock remains more popular in Japan than Korea, for instance.
Check out Shin Jung-hyeon (#1), “the Godfather of Korean pop music.” Three of his songs were used in the excellent OST for SIGNAL, which is what compelled me to watch the series as much as all the accolades from Beanies. Be sure to listen to his original versions. He’s an incredible guitarist. Ditto for his son, the late Shin Dae-cheol of Sinawe (#30). I’ll post a Shinawe number that I can imagine the Rockin’ Surgeons of HOSPITAL PLAYLIST jamming out to.
“Only That Is My World” by Deulgukhwa [Wild Chrysanthemum] (#8) would fit in nicely with the life journeys of the physicians. It’s from 1985, prior to their entering medical school, so they would have known it. It wouldn’t surprise me if it inspired them to become musicians.
Sanullim [Mountain Vibrations] (#5) is uniquely Korean with a psychedelic flavor, and I like them. The band comprised of three brothers released its first LP in 1977, but they had been playing together before that, two as a duo, the other in another band. You might recognize one of them as actor Kim Chang-wan. He’s currently appearing in FIND ME IN YOUR MEMORY.
This is a goldmine! Thank you again. I’m going to be spending some time reading and listening. I’ve heard only a handful of the artistes before, mainly Seo Taiji, so this is definitely a super list to explore more. I also like that it is a compilation from ~2000-2010, so it does not have a lot of the cookie-cutter balladeers or bump-and-grind (as you put it!) pop artistes that seem to be the face of Kpop these days.
I found the reference to the censorship especially interesting, and to think it lasted for a long long time. Usually, the first thing to be cut in a censorship drive is literature and popular writing; music tends to be of relatively secondary concern. Clearly, the establishment thought that the music of the time was equally powerful enough to influence audiences. There are similar stories in South Asia too, where musicians and artistes were banned from performing, but I don’t know if it was as pervasive as it seems to have been in SK.
You’re so welcome. That list of Korean albums is a good one. I found it while searching again for a video of a band from Yonsei University called Magma [Magama/Mageuma in Korean] that performed “Sun [haeya]” at the 1980 MBC College Musicians Festival. I stumbled across it a couple of years ago. The power trio cranked out catchy hard rock, and looked just like your average NY-NJ New Wave band of that era, right down to their haircuts and post-preppy long-sleeved shirts and vests. Their LP is on the list. Dang, I found the clip. The sound is mono, which is not surprising for TV back then. I was able to find the album cut as well. I’ll post it separately. I can imagine The Sawbones from HOSPITAL PLAYLIST kicking out the jams on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBHUcdYCWo
I think that in the case of Korean rock, it was suppressed by the government because the dictators were well aware of music’s role in the student antiwar protests in the US in the 60s and 70s, as well as associated drug use and wonton behavior. Recall that early rock ‘n’ roll was denounced from pulpits across America for its endangerment of public morals. Elvis’s music and gyrations were condemned as scandalous temptations of the young to debauchery and miscegenation. And “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” wasn’t just a song by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. It had a basis in fact. One has only to consider such events as Woodstock and the Rolling Stones’ disastrous free concert at Altamont in 1969 to realize why the Park and Chun regimes were eager to nip any potential homegrown rabble-rousers in the bud. They gave no quarter to political dissent or criticism, and suppressed opponents with a ferocity that made the Kent State shootings, shocking as they were to my young self, seem like small potatoes when I read about the Gwangju Uprising.
There’s one other thing that tyrants hate, and that is being made fun of. Skewering potentates and institutions with pithy lyrics paired with a catchy melody is a time-honored tradition the world over. Think of the Sex Pistols’ punk classic, “God Save the Queen.” I’m sure that something like the following track, and “One Toke Over The Line” from the same album, would have gone over like a lead balloon in Korea back in the day. Hilariously, the latter tune was presented as a gospel piece on the staid and straight-laced variety hour THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW!
In some ways, music can be more subversive than literature, and more difficult to stamp out. A case in point is Irish songs of resistance to British rule, many of which used poetic imagery to conceal the true meaning of the lyrics. Kaona in Hawaiian chants and lyrics is another example of hidden meanings. In Hawaiian songs and poetry, images of rain and fog allude to lovemaking just as sageuks use the snuffing of a candle for the same purpose.
Hah. Fair point about music and censorship. I definitely need to read up more on it. I’ve had only a superficial understanding of it so far, including its history in India. Here, though, I think the music that did get censored was not mainstream to begin with, and almost everyone who was engaged in mainstream entertainment aligned (whether voluntarily or not is a separate question) with the establishment, but for a handful of notable exceptions. Artistes on the periphery singing a revolutionary tune is ‘normal’, but not when they are top billed commercial artistes. That is what makes this especially interesting.
The AAK list is so well done. I’ve been working my way down the list and slow-listening to all the music, and loving it thoroughly. Thanks once again for the pointers and the explanations. This has been an enlightening and enriching and very enjoyable conversation 🙂
@pakalanapikake You might want to give this version of the song a listen, if you haven’t already – I thought this was, melodically, the best version of this gorgeous song I have heard so far. The improvs add a lot of character to the minimalist melody.
@pickleddragon,
Thanks for the pointer. Alas, it was unavailable when I tried to listen to it just now, so I dug around and found what I think might be another copy by the same artist. Is this the one you meant?
Kim Bum-soo has a lovely, warm voice. Very soothing. This is indeed a beautiful rendition of the song, right down to the la-la-las. Thank you for another taste of that earworm. 😉
The version you’ve linked to is a live version, and has a lovely raw feel to it. I had linked to a studio recording, which seems to be from the album Kim Bum-soo Again. Live is always better than recorded, IMO. He’s got a beautiful voice, and gives it a new spin. I like how. the original singer doesn’t really sing the song well (and/or doesn’t have a good voice generally), but the melody is just so enchanting, you forget the singing quality, and just enjoy the music. Earworm is the perfect word for this!!
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 10:19 PM
Aloha!
“King” Bennie Nawahi’s Hawaiians: “May Day Is Lei Day In Hawaii” (1930)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkmLVpGLYf4
Lei-Making
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDE8c8WM3ns
bbstl 🧹
May 1, 2020 at 7:33 AM
Wow! That is really cool! I could almost smell the warm California air. My air here is currently scented with lilies of the valley 😁
PakalanaPikake
May 1, 2020 at 10:46 AM
@bbstl,
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I don’t think I’d ever seen Bougainvillea used for leis when I lived in Hawaii. Not that scent is the only reason for using flowers. Vanda and dendrobium orchids don’t have fragrance, either.
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/bougainvillea.html
My Mom had a bed of white lilies of the valley that I used to love smelling when I was a kid. The various day lilies, hostas, and bearded and Japanese iris in Mom’s plantings in the yard weren’t sweet-scented, but I loved them, too. A few purple lilac bushes — especially one near the kitchen door — was overpowering as it baked in the sun. A big clump of lavender in the backyard attracted little orange skipper butterflies, cabbage whites, and maybe the occasional tiger swallowtail. A few sweet summer phlox attracted red-and-gold hummingbird clearwing moths. One startled the pants off me the first time I encountered it as a kid. I thought I was going to get stung by a humongous wasp.
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/hummingbird_moth.shtml
Many years later, my own garden was visited by hummingbirds attracted by the tiger lilies and bee balm (Monarda). One day I observed an aerial stand-off between a green hummingbird and a tiger swallowtail. It wasn’t a dogfight per se, but the two of them were about the same size, and definitely after the same nectar flower. Pollinator passions ran high. 😉
I used to grow clove (aka Bath) pinks near my front stairs, and savored the vanilla-spice perfume. Those tiny carnation kin reminded me of the leis I loved. Nowadays most florist carnations have no scent, and the same holds for roses. I was stunned when a florist told me that the market no longer wants scented roses. All I could think was, “Why bother?”
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 1:00 PM
FIND ME IN YOUR MEMORY, Ep. 13/25 BGM
Eric Carmen: “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again” (Eric Carmen LP, 1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI_h1yginzY
@26:15 jazz piano version plays in bar (MORE)
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 2:13 PM
(MORE)
An instrumental jazz piano arrangement plays in the bar where Jung-hoon meets with boss Hee-sang. The lyrics are right on the money for Jung-hoon — before he finally fell for Ha-jin.
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ericcarmen/nevergonnafallinloveagain.html
Eric Carmen, lead singer of The Raspberries, scored two hits based on compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff, this one (third movement [Adagio] from Symphony No. 2) and “All By Myself” (second movement [Adagio sostenuto] of Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18), also from his solo debut album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN9CjAfo5n0
The Raspberries had a huge hit with “Go All The Way” in 1972. 3:19 of pure power pop perfection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5u25XGGo-E
Eric Carmen composed the music to the ballad “Almost Paradise” for the soundtrack of FOOTLOOSE (1984). No, not that “Almost Paradise.”
Mike Reno (Loverboy) & Ann Wilson (Heart): “Almost Paradise… Love Theme from FOOTLOOSE” (OST, 1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PVwArjPcg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Carmen and related entries for his songs
latebloomer
April 30, 2020 at 2:36 PM
All By Myself, angsty song of my high school years…. Thanks for the background.
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 9:33 PM
@lindag latebloomer,
You’re most welcome. I was already in college by the time his solo debut was released. 😉
latebloomer
May 1, 2020 at 9:14 AM
@pakalanapikake, your writing very often reminds me of someone I used to know, but she was in high school when I was in college, and I was in high school when you were in college. Funny….
PakalanaPikake
May 1, 2020 at 3:44 PM
How strange, @lindag latebloomer. I suspect that we’ve all got doppelgaengers. Maybe I’ve been watching too many Kdramas. 😉
latebloomer
May 1, 2020 at 4:06 PM
Oh! Parallel universe! K-verse and regular life!
PakalanaPikake
May 1, 2020 at 5:23 PM
@lindag latebloomer. And maybe even some resets a la 365: REPEAT THE YEAR. LOL!
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 9:22 AM
YMMV
My PTSD can be a weight. But in this pandemic, it feels like a superpower.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/4/23/21231596/coronavirus-covid-19-mental-health-ptsd-anxiety-depression
bbstl 🧹
April 30, 2020 at 1:54 PM
Thank you, that’s a very helpful article. Although I must admit that I first read it as “My Weight is a PTSD” and I could relate to that as well😉
TurtuallySarcastic
April 30, 2020 at 4:02 PM
Thank you. I talked about this in the OT a few weeks ago. I really hope that our society will start looking after those who suffer once this pandemic ends, but I have my doubts.
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 9:13 PM
@turtuallysarcastic,
You’re welcome. I took a gander at your comments and spotted your OT #651 post #11. The article you mentioned certainly sounds a lot like this one that I linked.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Those of us who have had to deal with adversity are one up on folks who have led charmed lives. Sometimes what seems to be a curse is actually a blessing in disguise, an opportunity for us to grow in ways that only that specific challenge presents. I consider it getting a private lesson in the School Of Becoming Human. Meanwhile, what the world deems blessings are often anything but, for they lull us into a false sense of security, and divert us from developing our spiritual muscles.
I’m grateful that I made the acquaintance of the Serenity Prayer many years ago. It is an antidote to the 24/7 bad news that currently inundates the internet and airwaves. The cacophony is enough to drive anyone mad.
Re: Issues with your childhood friend… Is it possible that you may have outgrown her? Human beings grow at different rates, and sometimes in the course of their lives, they get out of sync with each other. Depending on how serious it is, it may be worthwhile to have a wait-and-see attitude while remaining friendly with her. One of the most useful tools I learned for dealing with problematic relationships is “detachment with love.” I think of it as taking a step back to gain psychological elbow room, while continuing to care about the other party — and oneself.
Perhaps your friend will never be able to empathize with you in the way you wish and need. Can you live with that? Are you better off with her in your life? If you are dissatisfied with the relationship, is it something you can talk with her about? The possibility of losing such an old and valued friendship is cause for concern. But if it’s causing you pain, you have to ask yourself why, and what your bottom line is. — I hasten to add that, given the extreme pressure so many people are feeling as a result of mandated quarantine, you consider taking your time with these deliberations, and not do anything drastic or hasty. As for my unsolicited advice, take what you can and leave the rest. Hwaiting! 😉
I find myself recalling uplifting and inspirational music that I haven’t listened to in ages. One of my high school buddies turned me on to Dan Fogelberg, and I just remembered one of my faves from him. The second piece has inspired me since high school.
Dan Fogelberg: “Part Of The Plan” (Souvenirs LP, 1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgZ1kezjGRo
Jim Croce: “The Hard Way Every Time” (I Got A Name LP, 1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47g1jS7G8OQ
TurtuallySarcastic
May 1, 2020 at 6:14 AM
Thank you for the music recommendations! I am an old soul in many aspects, music is one of them. Jim Croce has an unique voice, I love his version of ‘Bad Leroy Brown’. The songs give me a bittersweet sense of acknowledging the bad times and at the same trust in better times to come.
I should have known you would retrace my comment, and I appreciate your efforts, but it was certainly not my intention to force you through my ramblings.😉 ‘Charmed lives’ is such a good term to explain that greener grass on the other side. If it was not for my adversity, I would not have been this immersed in K-dramas and other Korean stuff now.😉
“Detachment with love” has been my standard mode for a while now, because it does allow me to keep the friendship without getting hurt. I also have lost and gained friends, one of them is even my partner in crime for Korea stuff, so I am far from lacking there.😉 However, as you read in the OT, there will always be moments that I lament the loss of that eternal childhood best friend that seems to be the norm in all forms of entertainment, despite knowing very well that it is not always a reality.
PakalanaPikake
May 1, 2020 at 3:40 PM
@turtuallysarcastic,
I’m so glad you liked the music. Jim Croce was part of the soundtrack of my high school years. His music was one of the lifelines I grabbed. (Ditto for Dan F. and Don McLean in high school, and Harry Chapin and Jackson Browne, et al., in college.) Jim and Maury Muhleisen, who accompanies him in the videos below, died in a plane crash shortly after the start of senior year in 1973. It was the shocking and devastating loss of a minstrel who wove the emotional equivalent of an entire Kdrama into 3 minutes of memorable turns of phrase and exquisite melodies and musicianship. Maybe he was the virtual older & wiser oppa I didn’t have in real life. My own self-deprecating sense of humor was and still is much like the personas of some of the subjects and narrators in his songs. Jim was on the verge of quitting the music industry when he died because touring was killing him – right before he finally achieved commercial success.
“Lover’s Cross” live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8A2loaBhkQ
“New York’s Not My Home” live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUO-4zp9gM0
Don McLean: “Oh My What A Shame” (3rd LP, 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuTDTne54hg
Harry Chapin: Full Concert, 10/21/78 @Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_f6NTCIsLQ
One of Harry’s innumerable benefit concerts. He did a one-man performance for World Hunger Year at my college a year or two before this. As at this show, you could hear a pin drop in the gym.
I hesitated to look up your comment lest I come off as some kind of stalker. But I figured you wouldn’t have mentioned it without a reason. I certainly didn’t feel that I was being “forced through your ramblings.” On the contrary, it seemed to be bothering you, and I took it upon myself to toss a lifeline, just in case. Other people’s lifelines had made a world of difference to me. I’m glad to learn that you already are clued-in to detachment.
I’d like to thank you. Your comments shook loose memories of books that supported my own early steps in getting my act together when I was 29 – more than half a lifetime ago. What a welcome blast from the past.
I didn’t have lasting childhood friendships. Part of it was the result of being an introvert, and part of it came from living in a housing development 5 miles outside the neighboring town and having to take a bus to parochial school. Entering our public school system for high school was traumatic after attending K-8 with the same class of about 30 kids. My first year or two was socially awful, although I did well academically. It took a couple of years to find my kindred spirits: the literary and journalism nerds & the uncool-but-kind-and-sympatico misfits. 😉
Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert: “Harriet Tubman” (Lifeline Extended CD, 2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnF0PDefPFI
TurtuallySarcastic
May 2, 2020 at 8:35 AM
So I say thank you for the music! I am bookmarking your comment and the recommendations for a rainy day with slightly more time on my hands. 😉
Thank you for the lifeline as well. Dramabeans is an important lifeline for me for two reasons:
1.) It gives me a space to practice writing. I stopped writing for a long time because my output was never to my liking, but it turns out I like the process of writing more than the actual output, so my fan wall and the comment sections contain my humble outputs.
2.) It gives me a space for self-therapy. Writing about my self-reflections, especially during rough times, helped/helps me to cope with my struggles (mainly unemployment, in case you were not familiar enough with me yet😉). Of course it feels nice when Beanies like and reply (especially whenever I am very bothered), but even if they do not I still get to rant anyway.😉
I feel that it is also important for me to open up to encourage other Beanies. I am nearly 29 and am still getting my act together, and so are many other (Beanie)s judging by their replies and confessions. You apparently fit that bill when you were my age too and I am relieved and grateful for that tidbit of information and honored by your gratitude in return.
If I had been born in some other time and place, we would have been besties.😎
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 8:28 AM
GOOD CASTING, Ep. 2 Epilogue, BGM
Redbone: “Come And Get Your Love” (Wovoka LP, 1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuymTS9PoBQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_Get_Your_Love
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 8:00 AM
GOOD CASTING, Ep. 2 BGM
The Police: “Every Breath You Take” (Synchronicity LP, 1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m52AeCoeKdw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Breath_You_Take
Stalker anthem
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 2:00 AM
Random Rock
Procol Harum: “Conquistador” (Procol Harum LP, 1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6RUvUM8LFk
live w/ Edmonton Symphony Orch. (1972 LP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QNa7-NVGaU
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 2:36 AM
Matthew Fisher was Procol Harum’s original organist on their debut album. His Hammond is iconic on “Conquistador” and “A Whiter Shade Of Pale.” He was replaced by Chris Copping on the live concert recording made in Alberta, Canada in 1971. Guitarist Robin Trower plays on the debut LP. Fisher also worked as a producer for PH and on several of Trower’s solo albums.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Fisher_(musician)
I purposely picked the monaural mix of “Conquistador” because that’s how it sounded back in Ye Olden Days.
PakalanaPikake
April 30, 2020 at 2:40 AM
Correction: The live version is from the Chrysalis 1979 German release of “In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.” Enjoy the snap crackle pop of vinyl. 😉
PakalanaPikake
April 22, 2020 at 1:24 PM
Korean Baseball
You’re Out! No Fans — Or Spitting — As Baseball Returns To South Korea
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/22/840986609/south-korea-tries-for-homerun-with-spit-less-fan-less-baseball-season
PakalanaPikake
April 22, 2020 at 1:23 PM
Korean Baseball
The Art of Letting Go
by Mina Kimes & Mickey Duzyj, 10/04/16
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/17668845/korean-bat-flip
PakalanaPikake
April 22, 2020 at 1:40 PM
KBO Bat Flip Collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ggQf5UP4w
I had no idea what a “bat flip” is. Looks dangerous, but in some cases, incredibly artistic. Fan service indeed.
spazmo
April 22, 2020 at 4:29 PM
mina kimes is my high school classmate’s daughter!!
PakalanaPikake
April 22, 2020 at 10:52 PM
@spazmo,
How’s that for a small world?! What a great article. I read the whole thing and enjoyed it. I don’t know much about baseball, so I’m glad I read it. It sounds as if the writer and photog had interesting travels in ROK. After watching STOVE LEAGUE when it aired, I appreciated seeing the bat flip videos, which left me agog. 😉
spazmo
April 23, 2020 at 12:27 AM
right? overlaps in this DB community!
: )
she’s half korean, btw.
PakalanaPikake
April 23, 2020 at 6:12 AM
@spazmo,
Six degrees of Kdrama/DramaBeans separation. LOL!
I suspected that with a name like Mina, she might just be Korean. 😉
PakalanaPikake
April 21, 2020 at 7:03 AM
THE SEA OF SILENCE / Gong Yoo & Bae Doo-na
https://www.soompi.com/article/1395626wpp/gong-yoo-in-talks-to-star-in-new-dystopian-sci-fi-drama-along-with-bae-doona
Paging @ally-le!
Yuyuu, The Drama Queen
April 21, 2020 at 8:35 AM
WAIT, so has he or has he not selected it as his next project?
The article is really confusing.
PakalanaPikake
April 21, 2020 at 8:51 AM
@yuyuu,
It looks as if Sports Chosun jumped the gun.
I could do without the dystopian stuff, but would enjoy seeing Gong Yoo in another action flick. What I’d really love to see him do is a full-on sageuk. I loved the Goryeo part of GOBLIN.
Yuyuu, The Drama Queen
April 21, 2020 at 9:09 AM
Thanks for the clarification!
Ally
April 21, 2020 at 1:36 PM
Yes, @katakwasabi alerted media yesterday! We’ll see. I’m not a horror genre-type person.
PakalanaPikake
April 22, 2020 at 10:56 PM
Good, @ally-le. Just as long as you know that Gong Yoo may have another project in the works. I understand about not being a horror fan. 😉
PakalanaPikake
April 19, 2020 at 11:07 AM
Random Tunes for HOSPITAL PLAYLIST
Magma: “Hey Sun” [1st album (Cannot Know Why / Hey Sun), 1981]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LBZzN3-pQg
Daebak! (MORE)
PakalanaPikake
April 19, 2020 at 11:09 AM
(MORE)
Magma [Magama/Mageuma], Yonsei University: “Sun [haeya]” live at 1980 MBC College Musicians Festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBHUcdYCWo
Additional info on Magama here:
http://www.dramabeans.com/members/pakalanapikake/activity/1032713/#acomment-1034204
The record sounds much better than the monaural TV broadcast, but it’s fun to see the band in action. Be sure to listen with headphones, and crank it up enough. I just wish the guitar stood out more, especially in the left channel. It occasionally pops up in the right channel, too. The distortion muffles it at times, and the lead singer’s bass is a bit too loud, IMHO. But I like the lead and backing vocals a lot.
https://www.discogs.com/%EB%A7%88%EA%B7%B8%EB%A7%88-Magma/release/2755658
Personnel
Moon Young-sik, drums
Kim Kwang-hyun, guitar
Jo Ha-moon, bass & lead vocals
per Google Translate:
1980 4th University Song Festival Silver Award
Lead Vocal: Jo Ha-moon
One of the best songs of domestic rock music.
Lyrics:
You have to be fine buried in the dark
A sad face waiting for the morning
When the darkness clears and the sun spreads, it will sting.
You have to do it, if you laugh
I like it alone
You have to be fine buried in the dark
A sad face waiting for the morning
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
I hate a sad moonlit night in a valley like tears
I hate the moonlit night in a nobody’s garden
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
I hate a sad moonlit night in a valley like tears
I hate the moonlit night in a nobody’s garden
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
Should float, should float, should be red, rise
You have to be fine, eat all the darkness
Interpretation in comments on this copy of song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pucv_XYEu0
arajoaina 1 day ago (edited) [i.e., 20200418]
Ami2404 it’s basically protest rock wishing the dark hours pass and the new sun to rise and shine. It goes something like; sun sun, that’s buried in darkness devour all the darkness and rise up on high. Lots of pure people are waiting for you t…
Many thanks to windmillsofmusic for posting the song, and commenters arajoaina for requesting, and Ami2404 for providing, a synopsis of the lyrics. 😉
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 11:25 PM
Random Tunes for HOSPITAL PLAYLIST
Deulgukhwa 들국화 [Wild Chrysanthemum]: “Only That is My World” (March 행진 LP, 1985)
https://youtu.be/Aomt_cCNXO0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeon_In-kwon
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 11:28 PM
(MORE)
Interlinear translation of lyrics here:
50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 8. Deulgukhwa
http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2015/02/50-most-influential-k-pop-artists-8.html
See also:
http://www.dramabeans.com/members/pakalanapikake/activity/1032713/#acomment-1033877
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 11:53 PM
See also Jeon In-kwon for more on the band:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeon_In-kwon.
Deulgukhwa’s 1985 debut album is entitled March 행진, as in the month.
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 10:53 PM
Random 90s Tunes for HOSPITAL PLAYLIST
Sinawe 시나위: “Farewell To Love” (Four LP/CD, 1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWPQnzmqgCI
https://www.discogs.com/Sinawe-Four/release/4640271
(MORE)
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 11:11 PM
(MORE)
Personnel:
Shin Dae-cheol, guitar, backing vocals
Kim Jong-seo, lead vocals
Seo Tai-ji, bass, backing vocals
Oh Gyeong-hwan, drums
I can just imagine The Sawbones going whole hog on this one, especially Ik-jun.
More on the band:
http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2011/04/50-most-influential-k-pop-artists-30.html
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 6:54 PM
Random 90s Tunes for HOSPITAL PLAYLIST
Backstreet Boys: “As Long As You Love Me (Clive’s Cut)” MV (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gl2QnHNpkA
isa: I'm not a serial killer I'm just really passionate about things
April 19, 2020 at 5:56 AM
My beloved Boys are played in Hospital Playlist? If only for a second thats enough motivation to get me to start this today. “I’ll go anywhere for you…anywhere you asked me toooooooo”
PakalanaPikake
April 19, 2020 at 11:18 AM
@isthatacorner isa,
Oops! False alarm! Sorry to disappoint, but no, they are not. I’m saying their music should be used in the drama. 😉
isa: I'm not a serial killer I'm just really passionate about things
April 19, 2020 at 11:46 AM
Oooooh…well thats disappointing. My hopes were sky high. Hospital is still on my my to-watch list but its shimmies back down in priority
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 6:48 PM
Random 90s Tunes for HOSPITAL PLAYLIST
Take That: “Back for Good” (1995) MV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ICtCO8TCw
PakalanaPikake
April 17, 2020 at 8:07 AM
Another earworm from Dongmulwon
Zoo: “I Will Love You” neol salanghagess-eo 널 사랑하겠어 (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX0woszDR-4
https://secondhandsongs.com/artist/76824/all#nav-entity
(MORE)
PakalanaPikake
April 17, 2020 at 8:16 AM
(MORE)
This one popped up after I found the original version of “In Front of City Hall at the Subway Station” — and am I ever happy. I’m sure I’ve heard it before. Ain’t serendipity grand. The peaceful easy feeling I get while listening reminds me of country rock and Hawaiian music from the 70s and early 80s. The harmonies are lovely. Daebak!
pickleddragon
April 18, 2020 at 12:10 AM
Thanks for the links! Zoo seems to have a lovely sound. I am glad to have discovered more of their music through your links. It also seems that Shin Won-Ho PD seems to have a thing for Zoo (or whoever he works with on OSTs for his dramas does)? Their music has been used – as far as I can tell – in the OSTs for Reply 1988, Reply 1994 and Hospital Playlist.
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 6:41 PM
You’re most welcome, @pickleddragon. I’m so glad you enjoy this piece. It only makes sense that the music of Zoo / Dongmulwon would be used in dramas set in those days. It was in the air back then. There’s nothing like music to transport one instantly back in time… even a time one was never a part of. I’m sure that Korean viewers have a visceral response to this music that I cannot, simply because I’m a tourist from another place. But I can still recognize the emotions it conveys — and I certainly can sense that it is from an earlier, less-frenetic, “kinder, gentler” time.
Maybe because it’s folk rock it’s a lot more accessible to me than later styles of pop music, much of which I find abhorrent. Now that I’m older, I can understand how the generations who were surrounded with Tin Pan Alley, big bands, and the Great American Songbook (and the Gay Nineties and vaudeville tunes of my grandparents’ childhood!) were dismayed by the advent of rock ‘n’ roll and its variants and successors. I have the same response to rap and soulless, over-produced bump-and-grind pop music. Singer-songwriters and folkies are more my speed, and always have been. I could appreciate some of the boy bands of the 90s that harked back to the emotions, melodies, and harmonies of doo-wop — and did it without Auto-Tune. I hope they pop up in HOSPITAL PLAYLIST. I’ll post a couple of my favorites.
For some reason I never got into the REPLY series, probably because sageuk is my favorite genre, and I couldn’t keep up with the multitude of characters (which I’m somewhat better at doing now). Maybe one of these days I’ll give it a shot, but I also recall hearing about the “who’s the husband” uproar, and it wasn’t appealing.
pickleddragon
April 19, 2020 at 2:14 AM
We share similar views on music, even though (I think) we are a few generations apart! Auto-tune is .. erm.. not exactly my favourite ‘instrument’. 😀 I like to listen to voices and sounds raw, which is why, I suppose, the acoustic sounds that most folk rock tends to use are what I am naturally drawn towards.
The REPLY series, I think, is best appreciated by someone who has “lived” the times. I watched 1988 and 1997, and I thought they were okay, not as great as people made it out to be. But I can understand why a certain kind of audience would have loved it (the ‘visceral response’ you speak of). I can think of similar dramas set in my city and in my childhood years that I return to only for nostalgic reasons, which would be completely lost on a foreign audience. I think the ‘guessing game’ is just a plot device to keep people hooked to the dramas, which otherwise have very little else going for them. There’s really no story, other than “such was life in the 1980s/1990s”. The production and acting was high quality, and certainly right up there among the better kdramas I have seen (limited though in number). If this kind of a package appeals to you, I’d recommend them. 88 over 97, unless a focus on romance is preferred, in which case, I’d reverse it. I haven’t watched 1994, and do not intend to.
HOSPITAL PLAYLIST seems to be going down the same ‘guessing game’ path, and I’m not sure if I’ll survive the series. But if it has music like this, I’ll be checking in for sure! 😀
PakalanaPikake
April 17, 2020 at 6:34 AM
HOSPITAL PLAYLIST, OST Part 6
Dongmulwon [Zoo]: “In Front of City Hall at the Subway Station” (1990) original version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiSkmo4xbvw
Composer: Kim Chang-gi
(MORE)
PakalanaPikake
April 17, 2020 at 7:29 AM
(MORE)
50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists: 48. Dongmulwon [“Zoo”]
http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/08/50-most-influential-k-pop-artists-48.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_Playlist#Original_soundtrack
There’s something about the Korean popular music of the early 1990s that I find to be emotionally satisfying in a way that is reminiscent of American singer-songwriters of the 1960s such as Jimmy Webb and Jackson Browne, and folk rockers of the 1970s such as Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, and Dan Fogelberg. In his article on Dongmulwon, The Korean speaks of the “Koreanness” inherent in their music, and I have to agree that there is a feeling, a vibe, that comes through even though I don’t understand Korean. In a similar vein, one of my early favorite Korean popular songs that I first heard in THREE FATHERS, ONE MOTHER (2008) comes from 1991: “Ijen Annyeong” [Now Goodbye] by 015B — a lovely song of parting that acknowledges that goodbye is not forever, but a promise to meet again in the future.
015B: “Goodbye Now” Official Lyrics Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFv0ketCz40
PakalanaPikake
April 17, 2020 at 6:29 AM
HOSPITAL PLAYLIST, OST Part 6
Kwak Jin Eon: “In Front of City Hall at the Subway Station” Lyrics
(Han/Rom/Eng/Indo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyyTdXse1c
pickleddragon
April 17, 2020 at 6:40 AM
Thank you for sharing this song! I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I heard it. It is such a gorgeous piece!
PakalanaPikake
April 17, 2020 at 7:44 AM
@pickleddragon,
You’re most welcome! I finished watching this week’s episode an hour or two ago, and went bonkers as soon as I heard it.
I’ve also posted the original version from 1990, along with The Korean‘s assessment of the band Dongmulwon [Zoo] who recorded it. I love Korean pop music from that time period. Excellent keyboards. I like it even better than the new version.
Enjoy! 😉
pickleddragon
April 18, 2020 at 12:19 AM
Bonkers is a good way to describe my reaction too! 😀 And the article is a very interesting read – it contextualises the music to the era. I especially liked the classsification of K-pop as the music that embodies the idea of “Koreanness.”
It’s also good to see PDs picking up older music and showcasing it through their dramas. This helps introduce newer audiences like myself to these sounds (plus it helps that folk rock is one of my favourite genres anyway).
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 10:05 PM
@pickleddragon,
The Korean‘s series of top-50 Kpop essays is terrific. It’s a crash-course in the development and genealogy of Korean pop music. It has been difficult to find much information on vintage Korean artists in English, and his articles have been a godsend. I especially appreciate his translations of the lyrics, his comments on the lives and times of the artists, and their music’s reception by Korean society. Not to mention the political tenor of the times, particularly in relation to official censorship. For instance, during the reigns of dictators Park and Chun, prison terms on trumped-up drug charges stifled the careers of many rock musicians. Rock used to top the charts in the mid-to-late 80s, but actually had been suppressed since the 70s. From what I gather, rock remains more popular in Japan than Korea, for instance.
50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists Series Index
http://askakorean.blogspot.com/1998/02/50-most-influential-k-pop-artists.html
Check out Shin Jung-hyeon (#1), “the Godfather of Korean pop music.” Three of his songs were used in the excellent OST for SIGNAL, which is what compelled me to watch the series as much as all the accolades from Beanies. Be sure to listen to his original versions. He’s an incredible guitarist. Ditto for his son, the late Shin Dae-cheol of Sinawe (#30). I’ll post a Shinawe number that I can imagine the Rockin’ Surgeons of HOSPITAL PLAYLIST jamming out to.
“Only That Is My World” by Deulgukhwa [Wild Chrysanthemum] (#8) would fit in nicely with the life journeys of the physicians. It’s from 1985, prior to their entering medical school, so they would have known it. It wouldn’t surprise me if it inspired them to become musicians.
Sanullim [Mountain Vibrations] (#5) is uniquely Korean with a psychedelic flavor, and I like them. The band comprised of three brothers released its first LP in 1977, but they had been playing together before that, two as a duo, the other in another band. You might recognize one of them as actor Kim Chang-wan. He’s currently appearing in FIND ME IN YOUR MEMORY.
PakalanaPikake
April 18, 2020 at 10:22 PM
PS: You might find this interesting after perusing The Korean‘s listing above:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/inmydreams/100-greatest-korean-albums-of-all-time-by-melon-2018/
pickleddragon
April 18, 2020 at 11:56 PM
This is a goldmine! Thank you again. I’m going to be spending some time reading and listening. I’ve heard only a handful of the artistes before, mainly Seo Taiji, so this is definitely a super list to explore more. I also like that it is a compilation from ~2000-2010, so it does not have a lot of the cookie-cutter balladeers or bump-and-grind (as you put it!) pop artistes that seem to be the face of Kpop these days.
I found the reference to the censorship especially interesting, and to think it lasted for a long long time. Usually, the first thing to be cut in a censorship drive is literature and popular writing; music tends to be of relatively secondary concern. Clearly, the establishment thought that the music of the time was equally powerful enough to influence audiences. There are similar stories in South Asia too, where musicians and artistes were banned from performing, but I don’t know if it was as pervasive as it seems to have been in SK.
PakalanaPikake
April 19, 2020 at 9:40 AM
Re: @pickleddragon April 18, 2020 at 11:56 PM
Part 1 of 2
You’re so welcome. That list of Korean albums is a good one. I found it while searching again for a video of a band from Yonsei University called Magma [Magama/Mageuma in Korean] that performed “Sun [haeya]” at the 1980 MBC College Musicians Festival. I stumbled across it a couple of years ago. The power trio cranked out catchy hard rock, and looked just like your average NY-NJ New Wave band of that era, right down to their haircuts and post-preppy long-sleeved shirts and vests. Their LP is on the list. Dang, I found the clip. The sound is mono, which is not surprising for TV back then. I was able to find the album cut as well. I’ll post it separately. I can imagine The Sawbones from HOSPITAL PLAYLIST kicking out the jams on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBHUcdYCWo
I think that in the case of Korean rock, it was suppressed by the government because the dictators were well aware of music’s role in the student antiwar protests in the US in the 60s and 70s, as well as associated drug use and wonton behavior. Recall that early rock ‘n’ roll was denounced from pulpits across America for its endangerment of public morals. Elvis’s music and gyrations were condemned as scandalous temptations of the young to debauchery and miscegenation. And “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” wasn’t just a song by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. It had a basis in fact. One has only to consider such events as Woodstock and the Rolling Stones’ disastrous free concert at Altamont in 1969 to realize why the Park and Chun regimes were eager to nip any potential homegrown rabble-rousers in the bud. They gave no quarter to political dissent or criticism, and suppressed opponents with a ferocity that made the Kent State shootings, shocking as they were to my young self, seem like small potatoes when I read about the Gwangju Uprising.
– Continued –
PakalanaPikake
April 19, 2020 at 9:42 AM
Re: @pickleddragon April 18, 2020 at 11:56 PM
Part 2 of 2
There’s one other thing that tyrants hate, and that is being made fun of. Skewering potentates and institutions with pithy lyrics paired with a catchy melody is a time-honored tradition the world over. Think of the Sex Pistols’ punk classic, “God Save the Queen.” I’m sure that something like the following track, and “One Toke Over The Line” from the same album, would have gone over like a lead balloon in Korea back in the day. Hilariously, the latter tune was presented as a gospel piece on the staid and straight-laced variety hour THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW!
Brewer & Shipley: “Oh Mommy” (Tarkio LP, 1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmmfD-FecqA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarkio_(album)
(That’s Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on pedal steel, by the way.)
In some ways, music can be more subversive than literature, and more difficult to stamp out. A case in point is Irish songs of resistance to British rule, many of which used poetic imagery to conceal the true meaning of the lyrics. Kaona in Hawaiian chants and lyrics is another example of hidden meanings. In Hawaiian songs and poetry, images of rain and fog allude to lovemaking just as sageuks use the snuffing of a candle for the same purpose.
-30-
pickleddragon
April 20, 2020 at 12:41 AM
Hah. Fair point about music and censorship. I definitely need to read up more on it. I’ve had only a superficial understanding of it so far, including its history in India. Here, though, I think the music that did get censored was not mainstream to begin with, and almost everyone who was engaged in mainstream entertainment aligned (whether voluntarily or not is a separate question) with the establishment, but for a handful of notable exceptions. Artistes on the periphery singing a revolutionary tune is ‘normal’, but not when they are top billed commercial artistes. That is what makes this especially interesting.
The AAK list is so well done. I’ve been working my way down the list and slow-listening to all the music, and loving it thoroughly. Thanks once again for the pointers and the explanations. This has been an enlightening and enriching and very enjoyable conversation 🙂
pickleddragon
April 21, 2020 at 10:42 PM
@pakalanapikake You might want to give this version of the song a listen, if you haven’t already – I thought this was, melodically, the best version of this gorgeous song I have heard so far. The improvs add a lot of character to the minimalist melody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSE-kVZF0zY
KIM BUMSOO – A City Hall Front Subway Station
PakalanaPikake
April 22, 2020 at 2:06 PM
@pickleddragon,
Thanks for the pointer. Alas, it was unavailable when I tried to listen to it just now, so I dug around and found what I think might be another copy by the same artist. Is this the one you meant?
김범수 Kim Bum Soo 시청 앞 지하철 역에서 @ Memory of Soul 서울콘서트 050327
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPhPGiiW1fM
Kim Bum-soo has a lovely, warm voice. Very soothing. This is indeed a beautiful rendition of the song, right down to the la-la-las. Thank you for another taste of that earworm. 😉
pickleddragon
April 22, 2020 at 10:08 PM
The version you’ve linked to is a live version, and has a lovely raw feel to it. I had linked to a studio recording, which seems to be from the album Kim Bum-soo Again. Live is always better than recorded, IMO. He’s got a beautiful voice, and gives it a new spin. I like how. the original singer doesn’t really sing the song well (and/or doesn’t have a good voice generally), but the melody is just so enchanting, you forget the singing quality, and just enjoy the music. Earworm is the perfect word for this!!
PakalanaPikake
April 16, 2020 at 12:56 AM
A PIECE OF YOUR MIND, Ep. 7-8
Sandy Denny & The Strawbs: Who Knows Where The Time Goes (All Our Own Work LP, 1973; rec. ’67)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ycaoV0WXfk
Segue from “Northern Sky”
PakalanaPikake
April 16, 2020 at 1:24 AM
Another version:
Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” (Unhalfbricking LP, 1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkOB57UcYk8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unhalfbricking
PakalanaPikake
April 16, 2020 at 12:26 AM
A PIECE OF YOUR MIND, Ep. 7-8
Nick Drake: “Northern Sky” (Bryter Layter LP, 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3jCFeCtSjk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Sky
Listen all the way through.
PakalanaPikake
April 15, 2020 at 10:38 PM
A PIECE OF YOUR MIND, Ep. 7-8
John Martyn: “May You Never” (Solid Air LP, 1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi_wxypeGc
“May you never lay your head down without a hand to hold…”
Lyrics below
PakalanaPikake
April 15, 2020 at 10:38 PM
(MORE)
https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/john-martyn/may-you-never