5 Decades of Korean Girl Bands

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

The Kim Sisters were arguably the first girl group in the history of Korean popular music. They debuted in their teens in the early 1950s, and were extremely popular among U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea. They played many instruments and danced, and enjoyed substantial success in the United States when they debuted there in 1959. After returning to Korea in 1970, they released a number of hit songs.

Hoping to emulate the Kim Sisters' success, there were many new "sister" groups from the late 1950s.


The Kim Sisters [Being badass]

When did this transmute into the current manufactured girl band format of four or five girls singing cute songs and pleasing mainly the eyes of male fans? Renowned pop critic Im Jin-mo says, "Since girl groups are normally the product of an entertainment management agency in all aspects of the making -- from the appearance of each member of the groups to every song they sing, the first girl 'idol' group in Korea would have been S.E.S."



S.E.S. enjoyed enormous popularity among men with their pretty faces, sweet voices and cute dance moves. They were the first to break the stereotype in the K-pop scene that girl groups do not sell. Their third album sold 780,000 copies, and S.E.S. remains the girl group that sold the most albums in K-pop history.


S.E.S (left) and Fin.K.L.

Next was Fin.K.L. who distinguished themselves from the upscale image of S.E.S. by making themselves look more approachable and eventually became their chief rival. The snow-white dresses that all members of Fin.K.L wore in their debut season were one of the best-selling fashion items in 1998, and thousands of women in their teens or twenties played their songs for their boyfriends.

In 1997 came Baby V.O.X. and in 2001 Jewelry. Girls' Generation debuted in 2007 and consists of nine multi-talented members who are fluent in English, Chinese and Japanese and are capable of singing, acting, and presenting. The journey leading to the group's debut was covered on cable channel M.net, and since then, many idol groups that followed have made the process into a reality show.


Girls' Generation

The Wonder Girls, who also debuted in 2007, became famous before they had even made their official debut through a reality show on MTV Korea. They had a huge success with "Tell Me" in 2007 and are currently in the U.S. trying to make a name there.

The year 2009 has been the heyday of girl groups, with a huge number of such groups bursting onto the scene. 2NE1, Kara, After School and 4minute are some of the most recent additions. Half a century since the debut of the Kim Sisters, girl singers are born, grow, bloom and die depending on the public's fantasies.



The Chosun Ilbo

Comments

TL;DR? LEMME SUM IT UP FOR YOU.

[princess-momo.livejournal.com]

Boobs sell.

Re: TL;DR? LEMME SUM IT UP FOR YOU.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

[drmsr.livejournal.com]

I miss S.E.S and Fin.K.L those were the days :/ if they were to reunite they'll pretty much own every girl group at the moment <3

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

[dorkbunny.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the post! It was an interesting read :) Never heard of the Kim Sisters before but they seem pretty interesting. (but that might just be because I play the xylophone for my school band *geek*)

Man, I miss those days of SES and Finkl.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :)

I love them~

[iheartdarkblue.livejournal.com]

ah i love xylophones

[loveariddle-16.livejournal.com]

2NE1, Kara, After School and 4minute are some of the most recent additions.

wat kara debuted in '07.

[fauxflair.livejournal.com]

lol ikr

[fuuism.livejournal.com]

The Kim Sisters do look like they were a whole load of fun.

[meccamputech.livejournal.com]

no csjh :(

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

I know WTF, they deserve more love

[onerainysunday.livejournal.com]

i like the kim sisters the most

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

S N S D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fauxflair.livejournal.com]

love the wonder girls ♥

[-ochre.livejournal.com]

Wow, did no girls debut between Jewellery and SNSD? Maybe they did, but they all faded into obscurity :(

[https://users.livejournal.com/--slasher/]

there were a lot that did, but their common fate was indeed obscurity. sugar was definitely a major one that debuted, and one of the first kpop girl groups, other than S.E.S. and Jewelry, to have moderate success in Japan. and of course, csjh, as someone already mentioned.

[honeydewkist.livejournal.com]

Girls' Generation debuted in 2007 and consists of nine multi-talented members who are fluent in English, Chinese and Japanese

Not Korean?

[atarashiiyoake.livejournal.com]

LMAO.

[splendidlure.livejournal.com]

Where's Big Mama? Not an idol group, but still a girl group.

They were a big hit in Kpop.

I like SES the best in terms of uniqueness.

[callmeliyah.livejournal.com]

I like SES best too...I'm not one for girl groups at all but SES is win <3

[cynicalsnark.livejournal.com]

This was a really neat read.

I was looking for Chakra on it though. Them and Jewelery.

Re: is it strange that when i see finkl i think of...

[sexi-panda.livejournal.com]

OMG AWWW WHAT IS THAT THING?

[dumortierite.livejournal.com]

I had no idea Jewelry were that old!
I think the Kim sisters could own most of these newbies, ngl.

also NO BROWN EYED GIRLS EXCUSE ME WHAT

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

Lol of course, I used to really like Jewelry back in the day :(

Before the slutiness started :(



:(

[cherrypop.livejournal.com]

This made me realize something. We've all been complaining about how many girl groups keep emerging, but when you look at this 1997 - present history... it doesn't seem like that many girl groups debuted.

[downpour.livejournal.com]

they're missing a ton of bands that they didn't mention because it'd be tl;dr. they only mentioned the fairly ~popular~ ones.

[finalfantasyo13.livejournal.com]

wow.. this post really makes me appreciate all the girl groups before SNSD and 4Minute and all of them, seriously.

[dominique-franc.livejournal.com]

nice read

[atarashiiyoake.livejournal.com]

BEG?!

[steeele.livejournal.com]

They're always overlooked, and they debuted in 2006. :/

[stopthedisco.livejournal.com]

born, grow, bloom and die depending on the public's fantasies.

Oh Korea.

FAIL

[seidy.livejournal.com]

Where are CSJH?????

REPRESENT

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

Re: REPRESENT

[callmeliyah.livejournal.com]

rofl I thought of you when I saw this comment and then I looked at the name. xD

OH AND

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

Re: OH AND

[invisibelle.livejournal.com]

MTE. since 1997 and I always see their videos in the noraebang heh

[cloud-honey.livejournal.com]

Hello, CSJH debuted way before SNSD.