Evolution of K-pop Series – 1950’s and 1960’s

Kalbi Pop culture, Pop music, , , , , , , , , ,

Tomorrow (5 March 2015) is the Jeongwol Daeboreum (Great Full Moon Festival) in South Korea.  Wishing you a happy Jeongwol Daeboreum!  If you wish to know about the rituals and celebration events related to Jeongwol Daeboreum, you can read my blog post dated 2 March 2015.

In this blog post, I will continue with the Evolution of K-pop Series and talk about the K-pop in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This period was heavily influenced by Western pop music and some Korean singers who performed well in Western pop music even went overseas to give shows.

In the 1950’s, after the Korean War, a large number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and American pop music was introduced to South Korea through various channels.  For example, superstars like Nat King Cole, Marilyn Monroe and Louis Armstrong held shows in South Korea for the U.S. army.  In 1957, the U.S. troops began their radio service, American Forces Korea Network, and in 1959, television service followed.   Open auditions were also held to recruit musicians to perform at the U.S. army clubs.  Since South Korea was impoverished after the Korean War, skilled Korean singers regarded performing for the U.S. troops as a good means to earn money.  The shows at the U.S. army clubs became so popular that there were 264 clubs at one point.  Earnings by Korean artists at these shows reached as much as US$1.2 million a year, which was almost equivalent to the total value of all South Korean exports at that time. The performance at U.S. army clubs provided an opportunity for Korean artists to gain exposure to Western pop music like country, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll and this paved the way of assimilating the Western pop music into the creation of Korean pop music.

In the late 1950’s, some Korean musicians who performed for the U.S. army in South Korea went overseas to give shows.  For example, in 1959, the Kim Sisters went to Las Vegas and became the first Korean artist to release an album in the U.S. pop market.  The cover of “Charlie Brown” sung by the Kim Sisters reached No.7 on the Billboard Single Chart.  The Kim Sisters also appeared on TV programmes and radio programmes and held tours in the U.S. and Europe.  In fact, the Kim Sisters appeared 25 times on The Ed Sullivan Show (a popular variety show in the U.S.A.) which was more than other American stars like Patti Page and Louis Armstrong (who appeared 18 times each). Another Korean singer, Patti Kim, performed in Las Vegas, Tokyo and Southeast Asia.

You can appreciate the singing and performing skills of the Kim Sisters and Patti Kim by clicking the links below:

“Charlie Brown” sung by Kim Sisters

Kim Sisters performing in The Ed Sullivan Show in 1960

“Yesterday (Korean/English version)” sung by Patti Kim

In the 1960’s, the Korean artists who previously performed for the U.S. army clubs reached out to the Korean public, e.g., Shin Joong-hyun, Pearl Sisters and Patti Kim. In the mid-1960’s, due to the influence of the legendary British group, The Beatles, there was rise of “group sound” in South Korea, for example, the Add4 and the Key Boys.  The Add4 was Korea’s first rock group formed by Shin Joong-hyun in 1962 and produced Korea’s first rock song, “The Woman in the Rain”(빗속의女人）which is a form of light rock reminiscent of the early Beatles.   Shin Joong-hyun was so instrumental in the development of Korean rock music that he is regarded as the “godfather of Korean rock” in South Korea.

You can hear the music of the Add4 and the Key Boys by clicking the links below:

“The Woman in the Rain” (빗속의女人）sung by the Add4

“My Love is Distant” (멀어져간 사랑) sung by the Key Boys

On the other hand, Shin Joong-hyun sponsored other Korean artists and composed songs for them.  For example, the hit light pop songs, Nima (님아 – Darling) and Keopi Han Jan (커피한잔 – A Cup of Coffee) sung by Pearl Sisters were composed by Shin Joong-hyun.  The Pearl Sisters also became a new urban culture icon, for example,  drinking coffee and (preceding Girls’ Generation by more than three decades) making their exposed legs something of a trademark.

You can hear the hit songs of the Pearl Sisters by clicking the links below:

Nima (님아 – Darling)

Keopi Han Jan (커피한잔 – A Cup of Coffee)

During this period, with the rise of Western pop music and Korean rock music, trot became less popular in South Korea.  However, trot singers like Lee Mi-ja still managed to attract a certain level of popularity. You can hear one of the hit songs of Lee Mi-ja, “Lady Dongbaek” (동백아가씨), by watching this video.

In sum, during the 1950’s and 1960’s, Western pop music, Korean rock music and trot co-existed in South Korea.  In the next blog post, we will explore the 1970’s and 1980’s in which the authoritarian government of Park Chung-hee became a dominant influence in the evolution of K-pop.

Reminder: The next blog post will be published on 6 March 2015. Watch this space! 

 

Related Blog Posts:

“Evolution of K-pop Series – An overview” dated 25 February 2015

“Evolution of K-pop Series – Birth of K-pop to 1940’s” dated 27 February 2015

“Evolution of K-pop Series – 1970’s to 1980’s” dated 6 March 2015

“Evolution of K-pop Series – 1990’s (Rise of Modern K-pop) dated 9 March 2015

“Evolution of K-pop Series – 2000’s and beyond” dated 11 March 2015

 

References:

John Lie, K-pop: popular music, cultural amnesia and economic innovation in South Korea, Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2015

Daniel Tudor著， 胡菀如譯，《韓國： 撼動世界的嗆泡菜》，台北市： 聯經出版事業股份有限公司，2013年版, 267-269頁

John Lie, “What is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry and National Identity”, Korea Observer, Vol. 43, No.3, Autumn 2012, pp.339-363

Korean Culture and Information Service, K-pop: A new force in pop music, Republic of Korea, 2011

 

 

38 thoughts on “Evolution of K-pop Series – 1950’s and 1960’s”

  1. Hi this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.

    I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with
    experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!

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    Reply

    • Thanks for your comments. I create this website myself using the wordpress free template – although I am not so knowledgeable in IT matters, as the wordpress is very user-friendly so set-up is quite easy for me. You may also read books on setting up and designing blogs from which you can get more advice.
      Cheers
      Kalbi

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    • A great site and very helpful to this American learning Korean language. I really enjoy the “pop” music of the 1950s and pre-Beatles 1960s no matter which country it’s from!

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      • Thanks for your comments – glad that you enjoy my blog posts. If you like Korean “oldies”, you may watch the variety show “Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend” in which you can hear many Korean oldies being covered by current singers.

        Cheers,
        Kalbi

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      • Kim sisters were so talented. I remember them on TV variety shows mid 1960s. Are they still concertizing? Also: Do you know the name of the song & artist that introduces The Men of the Laurel Tree Tailor Shop K-drama. Great show and the song sets the mood perfectly.

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      • While the full team of Kim Sisters are not concertizing these days, the vocalist Mia Kim appeared in some performances and interviews from time to time. You may refer to the website: http://www.thekimsisters.com/. On the other hand, for the K-drama The Men of the Laurel Tree Tailor Shop, are you referring to the opening music? The opening music is from a famous duet from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “La traviata” called “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (which means “Let’s drink from the joyful cups”). You can watch an excerpt of the opera with this song by clicking the link below:

        Cheers

        Kalbi

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      • Thank you for your reply but I refer to the pop song playing during opening credits as boy (who will grow up to be president) runs through the streets. Keep up the good work and where can I see pansori in Chicago?

        Best,

        Jim Smetana

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      • Hi Jim – thanks for your comment. I’m also not sure about the name of the pop song you referred to. For pansori performance, I’m not familiar with the Chicago situation but the Korean National Gugak Center’s youtube channel has nice videos of pansori performances.

        You can also contact the Korea Tourism Organization’s US office to see if they can help with your questions- please see the linnk below for their contact details:

        http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/KOO/KOO_EN_10_1.jsp#

        Cheers

        Kalbi

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    • Thanks for your comments. I have been running this blog since November 2014 and glad to know that you like it. I believe the most important thing is to write something I am interested in and am passionate about so as to keep up the writing.

      Cheers

      Kalbi

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    • Thanks for your comments. Glad to know that you find my post good. It is always difficult to make a start but once started, it becomes much easier – that’s what I learnt from my experience of setting up this blog. You may schedule a time slot of, say, 30 minutes to 1 hour each day to do a bit of the work you have been procrastinating and it may help.

      Cheers

      Kalbi

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  7. Greetings! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through
    your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover
    the same subjects? Many thanks!

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    Reply

    • Thanks for your comments. You may refer to the materials listed under the “References” section of my posts and the “Resources” page of my web site.
      Cheers
      Kalbi

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    • Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Please try to click the “Subscription Options” link at the bottom of the notification email to modify your subscription status. See if this helps.
      Cheers
      Kalbi

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  11. Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an e-mail.

    I’ve got some creative ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
    Either way, great site and I look forward to
    seeing it expand over time.

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    • Thanks for your comments. You may refer to the materials listed under the “References” section of my post and the “Resources” page of my web site.
      Cheers
      Kalbi

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    • Thanks for your comments. You may follow my blog by clicking the “Follow” button under the “Follow Blog Via Email” in the sidebar and providing your email address. Look forward to your continued support.
      Cheers
      Kalbi

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  16. My brother suggested I might like this website. He used to be totally right.

    This post actually made my day. You can not imagine simply how a
    lot time I had spent for this information! Thanks!

    Like

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  20. Hi

    Was any girl group or female singers active in 1950s or 1960s? Besides Kim sisters. Thank you so much for answer.

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    • There were some girl groups in 1950s and 1960s, for example, Silver Bell Sisters (은방울자매) who sang Korean trot songs, and Pearl Sisters (펄시스터즈) who sang Korean pop songs which reflected Western influence and Pearl Sisters even did a Korean cover of Beatles’ song “Yesterday” – you may refer to links below for the songs of these girl groups. Hope you enjoy!

      Silver Bell Sisters:

      Pearl Sisters:

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