T-ara in 2012

Well here I am on Christmas Day and it's a relaxing part of the day. I thought I would just chill out and listen to some music. As often happens when i do that, out comes the K-pop!

It dawned on me that the year is over and I've barely covered many of the songs that were released this year. I really enjoyed this year in the industry and I'll have to stay on top of it more next year if I want this blog to liven up a bit. So I've made a promise to myself to post more.

So on that note I better try and catch up a little bit here and I'll do so by discussing T-ara and their activities in 2012. T-ara has been one of the more prolific bands of the last couple years. I featured their 2011 song "Cry Cry" in a previous post. And their year ended with a leadership change as Hyomin stepped down in favor of Soyeon.

They opened up the new year of 2012 with an album release called "Funky Town". On this album was a single track called "Lovey-Dovey"

The song became their third consecutive number 1 hit on the Gaon charts. With a music video featuring zombies taking over a nightclub and joining in for some dancing fun. Ah yes even the living dead need to get down once in a while :D

In May and June - Core Contents Nedia announced they would be adding two new members to create a nine member group. And in June off they were in Japan with their first Japanese album and tour. However only Areum had arrived by the time they released their Extended play "Day by Day" in July.

The song reached number 2 on the Gaon charts and a full length music video story was released as well. But I'll only show you the Dance version :D I'm not personally into korean drama stories though they can be quite good.

Then came the drama. The cyber bullying and contract termination of Hwayoung in July. Once again they were reduced to a seven member band. Which is fine by me, these large girl groups are a bit unwieldy and hard to follow when you're trying to know each individual as a performer.

And so after rumors of comebacks being postponed indefinitely they returned in September with the extended play "Mirage" featuring the single "Sexy Love"

The song reached number 4 on Gaon . Not my favorite theme for a song by them but musically it's my favorite of the year.

Anyways i hope this isn't the end for T-ara. Let's see what 2013 does.

A Secret History - Part 4 2012

And so i come to my final installment of a Secret history chronicling the girl band Secret.

For most of the year 2012 Secret was absent from the Korean industry, while most of my favorite girl bands like Kara, 4 Minute and Sistar were releasing songs I was waiting to see if they'd do something. What no more Secret? I thought.

Well they were off in Japan having huge sucess with japanese versions of their songs. And then in September finally they came out with a new song for their third extended play called "Poison" This song continued with the retro sounds but returned to their sexier image.

The song peaked at number 4 on Gaon

Then in December they rounded out the year with a single called "Talk That" which reached number 8 on Gaon

This one I found interesting because it was a bit more serious for them and not like their other stuff. More of a mature electronic sound to it.

And so that concludes the career of Secret 2009-2012 as they make their way into my list of all time best Korean girl groups. based on their late start this year I don't expect to hear from them again until late in 2013 but hopefully I will hear from them again.

시크릿

A Secret History Part 3 - 2011

Time for the third installment of a Secret History!! I know you're all excited :P

Secret opened up the new year with the release of a retro track called "Shy Boy" in January. This time instead of the swing jazz elements in their hits from 2010 they introduced a 50's retro sound into their single and even costumed up :D

the song reached numero 2 on the all mighty Gaon chart.
This isn't one of my favorite songs but what the heck let's see it anyways.

They followed this up with a single called "Starlight Moonlight" in June which is way too cutesie for my taste. it reached number 2 as well.

They spent the summer gaining japanese sucess becoming only the third girl group tio reach the top 10 on the Japanese Oricon chart.

Then it was back to Korea for the first ever full length studio album by the girls ( a sure sign of success in this industry). The album was called "Moving in Secret" and was released in october and off of it came one of my favorite tracks by Secret called "Love is Move"

Time to bust a move :D This one hit number 3 on Gaon.

Besides these releases. lead singer Jieun released a single called "going crazy" in March featuring fellow label member Bang Yong Guk, the rapper of B.A.P.  A song that reached the number 1 spot

So a very busy year for the girls. Continuing their success of 2010. Can they keep this up in 2012? Well we'll see. (actually I already have seen xD)

A Secret History - Part 2 2010

Time for my next installment in A Secret History.  2010 was Secret's breakthrough year.

In april they released their first mini album..."Secret Time" .

The mini-album reached number 4 on Gaon while the hit single "Magic" hit number 2. The music video gaining wide views thanks to Hyosung's suspender dance. And the mini album's title has given rise to the fan club's name - Secret Time.

Time for a little "mazic".

Then in August, Secret released their second mini-album of the year called "Madonna". The title track landed them in the number 1 spot on Gaon while the mini-album peaked at 5th.  Again their video garnished numerous views as Hyosung busts a move. 

These two songs launched their more sexy look and dance moves and introduced the retro sounds that would become part of their sound as they mixed it with dance pop and R&B.

And so 2010 launched the Secret Sucess as they also walked away with the Newcomer Award at the Golden Disk Awards (Korea's Grammys).

A Secret History - Part 1 2009

I want to try something new with this blog. Something along the lines of writing about the history of artists in little short segments. So I'll start with a Korean girl band called Secret.

In 2009 TS Entertainment formed the girl group called Secret and they entered the K-pop scene in October with a single called "I Want You Back"

left to right intros:
Jieun - she was 19 at the time and had worked for JYP from 2007-2008 eventually leaving them after her debur in a gril band was delayed. She is the main vocalist of the group and is introduced in the intro to the video for this song.

Zinger - she's the rapper and I've always liked her punch rap delivery. She was also 19 at the time and came from a bodyguard father and a singing mother

Sunhwa - the pretty maknae of the bunch who had just turned 19. Coming from a poor family and inspired by the k-pop artist BoA she struggled on talent shows until eventually TS Ent took her on.

Hyosung - my personal fave. She celebrated her 20th birthday on the day of the singles release. She is the main dancer in the group and you;ll see why she is my fave later on. She also came from a struggling family background and went the talent show route.

so here it is the single that launched the career of Secret reaching number 27 in the gaon charts.

This was one of the bands that debuted during the year i fell in love with K-pop and the r and b mixed with a bit of bubble gum pop appealed to me. And then they came out with a bang in 2010 but that's for my next post.