Regular readers of Way Back Wednesday know that I like to try and match the theme of my articles to holidays throughout the year and it just so happens that Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday of them all. Since I'm taking a break next week, I thought I'd get a head start to the festivities.
Whether a new fan or an older one, we're all here because we enjoy K-pop in our own way but there are some things that only the older heads can appreciate. That mainly stems from the fact that we saw what K-pop was like in an earlier stage of its development and have witnessed change of the music over the past 20 years. Without getting all sappy, today's WBW is all about the 10 Things I'm Thankful for as an Old School K-pop Fan. I tried to focus on the experience rather than specific songs or artists (although those are mixed in as well) and hope that one day 20 years from today, someone else will be writing an article just like this one (or maybe writing will have been replaced with directly connecting to each other's brains 'Avatar' style...).
Buying CD's
*I'm going to go old man on everyone for a minute*
These young kids today with their phones and digital gizmos don't know the excitement of rushing into a store to buy the latest CD of your favorite artist (Tower Records or your local mom & pop Korean store). It was all about the unknown. Without websites and the internet, there weren't teasers on YouTube or previewing the songs on iTunes, it was about trust and having faith that your favorite groups would deliver with some good music. Especially living outside of Korea, you couldn't even listen to the songs on the radio or watch the music shows on TV (you had to wait a few weeks for the VHS tapes to arrive) so it really was like going on a blind date... Sometimes you meet the love of your life and other times you've wasted your money and end up feeling let down, but it was all part of the experience.
Watching the International Spread of K-pop
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the number of fans from around the world who are now fans of K-pop. It's been amazing to see how far and how fast this fandom has spread. Back in the day it was almost embarrassing trying to explain to my non-Korean friends why I was listening to a group called g.o.d but no longer! K-pop is as ubiquitous as nearly any form of popular music and today not knowing K-pop is the embarrassing part.
The Analog Factor
Forget playlists, iPods, and digital videos. It's all about mix tapes, recording from VCR to VCR, and cassettes (later Discmans). Nothing showed your love of K-pop more than spending two hours putting together the best mix tapes and playing them for months until you had enough new CDs to make a new one. You might think that this was a total waste of time but I have fond memories of playing DJ and creating the perfect road trip soundtrack (man, I am old).
The Original Idols
I totally get that the new groups out today are supremely talented and good looking but nothing beats the sheer awesomeness of the groups of the late 90's like H.O.T, Sechskies, and Fin.K.L. When a new girl group debuts today, they may be pretty and have great skill but it feels like a slight variation of something that's already out there. When the first generation of idols debuted, there was nothing like them before and they were a revolution for the entire K-pop industry. Thank you SM and DSP.
'Gayo Top 10'
Imagine a show that was the epicenter for all things K-pop. It was a repository for the best groups and the latest tunes. While there was competition, none could stand up to the might of what would become ground zero for the K-pop explosion. 'Gayo Top 10' was that show and while it looks totally cheesy today, that was the only way many of us knew what was going on in the world of K-pop.
Hyori
Korean music is littered with sexy sirens but Hyori is in a league of her own. When Fin.K.L and Hyori hit the scene back in 1997, I guarantee that fan boys like me were staring at the CD cover wondering where this girl had been all our lives. There isn't a girl grouper out there that can hold a candle to the queen and I doubt we'll see anyone like her again for a long time.
Idol Fan Wars
Growing up in America, we didn't have the same fan culture as in Korea but somehow, the clash between fans still made its way across the Pacific. Maybe it was the influx of recent immigrants bringing over those influences or maybe it was a law of nature that you can only like one group in a rivalry but whatever the reason, watching fans fight over groups they've never met before was awesome. Older groups may not have had the same volume of fans as today's super groups but what they lacked in numbers, they made up with in grassroots, organizational skills.
The Best K-dramas Ever
I am a fan of today's K-dramas but the old school ones were just the best. While the stories were trite and predictable, there was something about that moment in time when the right stories met the right actors and it was some of the most addicting entertainment ever created. Let's also not forget that dramas like 'Full House' helped create that Hallyu wave and was a huge factor as to why K-pop has spread so rapidly.
The Best Songs Ever
I fully admit that today's K-pop is far more sophisticated and technically advanced than anything that was created back in the day and I think that's why, for me, it's lost a little of its charm. New songs sound too much like regular popular music out there that can be found in the U.S., Europe, and across Asia. Old school K-pop was quirky and weird with English raps that were terrible but it gave it character. That's not to say it was totally original because it wasn't. Korean entertainment companies were taking the sounds popular at the time but gave it a different twist. I can't honestly say that the older K-pop songs were better because they weren't; but they were the best. Maybe it's more because that's what I grew up with... kind of how your mom's food is always the tastiest even though she may not be the best cook.
Reminiscing with Friends
It's harder and harder to take trips with my friends these days because we've all got jobs, many have started families, and time just isn't as free as it used to be. But on the rare occasion that we do get to head out and get away, the conversation will inevitably turn to the old days and K-pop is one of the first topics that gets mentioned. That music was a part of a past life when we were all younger and more carefree and it brings up the fun times and sometimes the bad. Someday, all of you will be older and hopefully will feel the same way about the K-pop music you're listening to today.
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