[⋆~Omona exclusive~⋆] Gone But Not Forgotten: RAINBOW

[aures.livejournal.com]

In this series I want to go through groups that are gone, but not forgotten. I will go from debut till disbandment or [indefinite] hiatus, remembering the time we had together and look back on their highs and lows.

Rainbow


Rainbow is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by DSP Media. The group is composed of seven members: Woori, Seungah, Jaekyung, Noeul, Yoonhye, Jisook and Hyunyoung. They released their debut mini album Gossip Girl on November 12, 2009. On October 27, 2016, DSP Media announced that Rainbow would disband after seven years because their contracts expired. In November 2019, the group was re-formed for their tenth anniversary.

2009–2011: Formation, Gossip Girl, A, Mach, So Girls, Japanese Debut
During late October and early November 2009, DSP Media released daily teasers in the form of pictures of Rainbow, and then a music video for "Gossip Girl" on November 6, 2009. On November 12, the five-song EP Gossip Girl was released. The EP peaked the Gaon Album Chart at number 2.

On August 12, 2010, Rainbow released the single "A". The song was produced by Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo (also known as Sweetune), who also produced the songs "Rock U", "Pretty Girl", "Honey", "Wanna", "Mister" and "Lupin" for their label-mate KARA.

One month after beginning promotions for the song "A", the "belly dance" or "ab dance" featured in the music video and choreography of the song was banned from broadcast and rated 19+, due to being "too sexually suggestive". The girls slowly lift up their shirts to expose their stomach in the choreography.

A second single, "Mach", was released on October 20. The song was produced by Sweetune (Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo) and written by Song Soo Yun, who also produced their previous single "A". The song does not have a music video. The song debuted at number 38 in the first week and climbed to the number 19 on the following week, which is currently the highest peak of the song, with 925,573 digital copies sold.

In April 2011, Rainbow released their second EP, So Girls.
One song from the EP, "To Me", was released as a single.

A repackaged version of the EP was released in June 22, 2011 with the song "Sweet Dream" as the title track.

On September 7, 2011, Rainbow topped Recochoku's weekly download rankings for the Japanese release of their "A" music video. On September 14, 2011, Rainbow released their debut single in the Japanese market, "A", and reached No. 3 on Oricon's daily single chart, selling 10,141 copies. The single release included a Japanese remake of their debut single "Gossip Girl", as well as an exclusive DVD. Rainbow made their Japanese TV debut on the show Sukkiri, performing "A".
On December 7, 2011, the group released their second Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song "Mach" and reached No. 9 on Oricon's weekly chart.

2012–2013: Rainbow Pixie, Over the Rainbow and Rainbow Syndrome
On January 3, 2012, DSP Media announced that a section of the group will be formed as a trio. On the same day, DSP drops a teaser image with revealing "Rainbow Pixie" as the trio's name. On January 4, 2012, another image revealed the members of the group as SeungAh, Jisook and Hyunyoung. The group released their debut song, "Hoi Hoi", on January 12, 2012, and held their first performance on Show! Music Core.

Rainbow released a Japanese single on March 14, 2012, entitled "Gonna Gonna Go!". Their Japanese debut album, Over the Rainbow, was released on March 28.

The group released the first part of their korean studio album, Rainbow Syndrome, on February 13, 2013, containing six songs. Last year (april 2012), Hyunyoung was diagnosed with a vocal cord polyp and underwent surgery for its removal. The group ended up not promoting together for a year and ten months in Korea, until this album.

"Tell Me Tell Me" was used to promote the release.

DSP confirmed on May 22, 2013 that the group would be returning after almost 4 months with the release of "Part 2" of the album on June 5, 2013. The concept and style of the title track, "Sunshine" was described as "fun and colorful, and perfect for the summer season".

2014–2016: Rainbow Blaxx, Innocent, Prism and disbandment
A second subunit named Rainbow Blaxx, was formed in January 2014 consisting of Jaekyung, Woori, Seungah and Hyunyoung. Their special album, RB Blaxx, was released on January 20, 2014. The music video for the title track, "Cha Cha", was directed by Digipedi and was the fourth-most viewed K-pop music video globally in January 2014. The music video, as well as the song's choreography, drew controversy for being "too sexual". Parts of the choreography got banned and the group had to alter it in order to perform and promote their song.

Rainbow's third EP, Innocent, with the title track "Black Swan" were released on February 23, 2015. Rainbow began their promotion from Mnet's M! Countdown on February 26, then continue with various music show.
However, according to DSP Media on March 11 through Rainbow‘s fan café, Rainbow wrapped up their “Black Swan” promotions after just two weeks. The agency said: “With last week’s music show, [Rainbow’s] ‘Black Swan’ promotions have come to an end. Many thanks to all the fans who supported Rainbow’s third mini album, and we’ll work hard to return new and improved. Thank you.”'
The songs were unable to give them a spot in the top 100 and failed to garner significant interest, resulting in the early termination of promotions.

Their fourth EP Prism and the music video for its title track "Whoo" was released on February 15, 2016. They also held their commemorative showcase at the Yes24 Muv Hall in Seoul's Mapo-gu, which was broadcast through the Naver V App on the same day as the album release. Rainbow held their first comeback stage with "Whoo" through SBS MTV's The Show on February 16.

On October 27, 2016, it was confirmed that Rainbow would be disbanded on November 12 as the member contracts were set to end. .

2019: Tenth anniversary comeback
Jisook stated in an interview in 2018 that the members had maintained contact and believed that they would be able to eventually make a comeback.
On October 31, 2019, it was confirmed that the members of Rainbow would release a special tenth anniversary EP with all members participating in the comeback. The members each posted a group photo on Instagram, stating they were serious about returning to the industry.
The album title was confirmed to be "Over the Rainbow", on November 5, with the first single "I Dream of You". The album released on November 14, alongside the MV for Aurora.

Sources: MBCkpop, DSPmedia, rainbow official.
Wikipedia: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Previous: Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel.
Next: hint

They had everything except good management. It's such a shame they never got the spotlight they deserved. What did you think of this week? Do you miss Rainbow?
What is your favorite song, concept, member, album and styling? I say this every week but i still listen to Rainbow's title tracks a lot and they are/were such a charismatic, versatile and talented group. I miss their nonsense lyrics. I'm just glad they are still such good friends, i love that and it really warms my heart.
I hope you are getting excited for next week~ ♥

Comments

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Man I miss them and Melody day so much
Whoo is still an all time fave, I listen to it weekly

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

A is forever a masterpiece and holds a golden ticket in my ipod.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

rolling up my sleeves, ready to go ham in next week's post

My favourite underrated Rainbow song is Bad Man Crying from the Black Swan EP. My also favourite weird thing was the blind item that came out about a girl group having a 'padding war' over who could have the biggest onstage chest and everyone was guessing Rainbow lol.

[aures.livejournal.com]

oh god i forgot all about that blind item, looking back now, do you think it was rainbow? lol

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Rainbow!!! :) This is definitely a group I appreciate now more than during their run. Even though they had songs I really liked, I didn’t learn all of their names till Whoo 😅 But I’m glad I did get into them, as they have something special! When you think of girl groups that are very close - Rainbow is immediately one of the groups that’s comes to mind. They view themselves more than just coworkers, and I think a lot of fans wish for that for their own groups. The members seem really appreciative of their Rainbow fans, even though they no longer promote regularly, I think that’s really sweet Also they gave us a proper reunion!!! They’re a good group of girls :)

Favorite Title Tracks: A, To Me, Whoo, Mach, I Dream Of You/Aurora, Sunshine
Favorite B-Sides: Pretend, Eye Contact, Alright, Black & White, Bad Man Crying, Mr.Lee, Sweet Dream, Kiss, Kiss! Kiss! Disco!

What I learned from revisiting their discography - Prism was such a solid release! I knew only Whoo for the longest time, but I really enjoy the b-sides and the cover art is perfect (their final comeback during their official run was exactly what I ever wanted in so many ways lol, I’ll share that in the next section). But for most of their other albums, every good b-side I found, there was an equally boring or forgettable one.

Going over their timeline from my experience:


So Gossip Girl was just kinda there as a debut for me, I vaguely remember when I was younger this song being made fun. I don’t think it’s bad but not really worth revisiting.

But A???? Omg one of my favorite kpop songs ever. It’s so damn catchy! I can visualize their styling from the MV in my head easily, it left such a strong impression. And that choreography? 😮 this is when I was still trying convince myself I was completely straight, but I loved rewatching the scandalous pulling up shirt move lmaoooo.

Then to follow up with To Me...another great song! I really don’t know how I didn’t know all the membets after being so into A and To Me. I remember To Me being included in some great remixes. Mach I must’ve completely missed it’s release initially, maybe because it had no MV but I didn’t ever see any of their stage performances for it either. I do like it now, but yea previously I always thought To Me was their direct follow up song.

Tell Me Tell Me and Sunshine is where I checked out for awhile. Maybe the concept change from what they were doing previously to cute was too jarring for me, but at the time I reallyyyy wasn’t feeling these releases. Now I appreciate them more as I do like cute concept songs, but yea for awhile I was like Rainbow what’s going on :/ lol

Black Swan I liked quite a bit back then, but replaying it now - it’s a little boring for me nowadays, though I think the visuals from that era were lovely . But I didn’t know it did that poorly 😬 it deserved better!

Whoo - ahhhh this comeback was everythinggg. I love the commitment to their name, with each girl representing their color. My magical girl loving days makes me eat shit like that up lmao. Whoo is such a great song! What a fun song to end their main run with. The stages were by far my favorite to watch too.

Over The Rainbow was such a pleasant surprise, I know it’s not exciting but for sentimental reasons, I really like Aurora and I Dream of You :)

I must’ve skipped their subunits initially. Pixie’s song is nothing special but I appreciate the OC like visuals lol! Blaxx’s Cha Cha is actually quite good, that and their b-side Last Word, I’ll have to listen to these more often! That stage though - damnnnn😯 also rewatching the MV, yea my girls look amazing but the male gaze is strong with that one with the multiple ass/leg shots. Though the pulling up shirt move in A is also for the male gaze, so it’s interesting that I have different reactions to them.



My favorite members were Jaekyung and Woori, but I think the whole group is lovely and wow, they’re so damn pretty! Such a visual group. I see Yoonhye has a youtube channel, I followed her lol.

Next week, 2NE1....haha I have mixed feelings, some good some bad, that’s all I can say right now lol

[myungung.livejournal.com]

Sweet Dream was a b-side? I always thought it was a follow up/repackage of To Me!

[myungung.livejournal.com]

I loved Rainbow's more mature tracks, and while Tell Me Tell Me and Sunshine were fun, they did not impress me as much as A/To Me/Black Swan. Pity they didn't promote Bad Man Crying, it could have been nice. A would forever be my fave track from them, and their dance was iconic. It was the track that got me into looking out for them (albeit in 2011), and I would say it's pretty popular among males haha.

DSP wasn't good at managing them, and tbh I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. while they could have been bigger after A and To Me, I'm not sure if it would have affected the group dynamics. It's great to see them still as friends and it might have been hard if the group was more popular but members were lagging behind. Also a pity Noeul and Yoonhye were always shafted during title tracks.

Jaekyung was really an all rounder and she should have gotten a bigger career! There was talk about the company undecided over pushing her or Woori, and it caused them to lose their momentum so that's sad. But I'm glad Jaekyung is kinda doing stuff as an actress, so hopefully greater things for her!

[myungung.livejournal.com]

oh forgot about their subunits! Rainbow Pixie was kinda not well executed and felt too similar to OC, and then they reused some of the members for Rainbow Blaxx, which was??? But I felt Rainbow Blaxx could have been bigger if better promoted and given a follow up song!

also, next week damn it's gonna be a lot of opinions I foresee. the amount of work to include in the post, OP fighting!

[chikage-chan.livejournal.com]

Rainbow had consistently great songs and they always brought such freshness and energy to their stages! A lot of their choreographies stuck to my memory too, I caught myself dancing in my seat tons of times when watching the videos on the post lol
And Jaekyung keeps being one of the most beautiful idols of all times, her smile is just radiant <3

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

i didn't follow them super closely but A is such a good song! i also loved black swan and whoo! as a release

[annayism.livejournal.com]

Mach is one of the best songs in kpop PERIOD

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[pikapika217.livejournal.com]

their one of my best friend's ultimate bias groups and I always associate them with him.

Truly they didn't get their proper due but I'm glad their bond is so strong

[tsubaki874.livejournal.com]

A is that song! I still find myself doing the ab dance during my workouts, the song gets stuck in my head very often. I remember when they performed it for their 10th anniversary radio show appearance I cried they all sounded and looked so goooood

rip my heart out for next weeks group why don't ya, the timing with you know who making a comeback ;~;

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

I have a very specific memory associated with Rainbow - I was on a long (like 10+? hours) bus journey and I listened to their full discography on repeat and fell in love with their music. long bus rides are really comforting to me so thinking about them will always allow me to relive that moment :)

as if their songs weren't catchy enough on their own, so many of their best tracks have Kim Boa's (really obvious) backing vocals in them so it's like a bonus :')

can't pick between A and Mach for my fave, and To Me is also CLASSIC.. and I remember being obsessed with Cha Cha, I even bought the album ugh that subunit was SO GOOD!!

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

wow! I didn't know Boa sang the backing vocals for their tracks! Did Boa ever talk about it in an interview? I knew she did backing vocals for idols but not Rainbow

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

I actually only got into Rainbow recently (the only songs I had heard of theirs before looking into their music recently were A, Whoo, and Aurora). I'm honestly amazed at how much I like their title tracks (I haven't gotten into their b-sides yet). Even the ones I didn't like at first managed to grow on me.

[nudrive.livejournal.com]

I remember really hating gossip girl but then ofc it grew on me.

I LOOOVED A though. such a good song and Mach tooooo

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

I loved their rainbow concept and how each member had a color. and also mach is their best title song tbh. that motor sound in the song just adds to it. i also loved "to me" and the revenge concept in the music video. i'm sad they didn't get bigger but I'm glad they have a great relationship amongst each other like 9muses do

also is jisook still making and releasing music? i liked some of her solo songs like "the way we were", etc.

[spread.livejournal.com]

I don't care what anyone says, this dance practice intro is iconic!
It made me take Rainbow seriously, and respect them as a group of young ladies.
Turned into a instant fan of them...

[ginger-star.livejournal.com]

Rainbow <3 <3 <3 The poor management of this group remains a fucking travesty.

This is another group that debuted right around the time I started paying attention to groups outside of the SM label. I remember dancing around to Gossip Girl and sending the song to my sister who was not into kpop and being so happy when she too got sucked in by the song lol.

When A came out I literally drove home on my lunch break during work just so I could download it. That song is iconic.

To Me is still one of my favs and just represents 2010/2011 kpop SO WELL imo.

They lost me a bit with Sweet Dream and I didn't actually care for Tell Me Tell Me or Sunshine much either so I was super sad about that. Tell Me Tell me has since grown on me a LOT but I still can't get really hooked on Sweet Dream or Sunshine.

Justice for Black Swan and the entire Innocent era. I really enjoyed all of that and was so excited when it came out. My signed copy of Innocent was the first signed kpop merchandise I ever bought. I really REALLY wish we'd gotten a show performance for Bad Man Crying.

I really enjoyed Whoo but I remember the whole thing being tinged too much with sadness because it was definitely going to be the last thing they did and that was just so upsetting. I love any time a group has rainbow colors and wears their assigned color though.

Favorite Title tracks: A, To Me, Cha Cha
Favorite B sides: Bad Man Crying, A Little More, Not Your Girl

I'm still holding out hope that one day we'll get more songs from them. The 10 year anniversary stuff hit me right in the feels but its very hard for me to get interested in a ballad enough to listen to it more than once :(

[yakuniku-8.livejournal.com]

I listened to A so many times! Those ponytails were perfect.

[paige-nevaeh.livejournal.com]

Rainbow - I adore them!! Mach, A & To Me were all such BOPS. There’s not been a group like them again.

I cried like a lil baby when they released Aurora - and that medley they did of all their old songs 😭

Once again would like to promote Jisooks song Big Dipper that came out last year - its gorgeous.

And since we’ve all been sharing fave B sides - Mr Lee!!! One of my most played songs of all time

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

I love this Jisook appreciation 🥰

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

I got into them when they were already disbanded but their post-disolution friendship makes it a little less terrible... im actually in the "success could ruin any relationship" ship so im glad they couldnt make it big but instead kept a great friendship


Most kpop top-tier groups have proven over the years that a real bond is kinda imposible specially if you add members ego + individual success + individual royalties to that mix

[fadeintoyou.livejournal.com]

They were unappreciated and could’ve gone so much further. A was and remains a favorite.

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

A was such a damn bop, they deserved more

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Forever grateful for Rainbow for giving me my username lol

To Me and Black Swan are my favorite songs, especially the latter deserved much more

[frequency.livejournal.com]

i really hated "gossip girl" when it was released and thought "not your girl" should've been the title instead, lol. now i actually kinda like the former.

favorite songs for me... "a", "mach", and "black swan". easily.

they had some really great tracks! i love that they all still hang out. ;___;

oh wow, i'm gonna have some things to say during next week's post...

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

I really love the thought of everyone typing out long, essay-level comments in advance of next week's post lol

[aeries-amethyst.livejournal.com]

Whoo! I actually got the group right for once lmao XD *cheers*

The only Gossip Girl song I acknowledge is the one by Soshi lol >.<

Ahhhhhh, I really did like Rainbow. A, To Me, Mach and Sweet Dream are all my fave songs by them. Honestly, Mach is legit one of my fave tracks ever, I always wonder what would have happened if they had released it as a title track in SK.

I enjoyed Whoo and Tell Me more than I remembered O_O I loved the outfits for both eras because those are styles I actually do wear when I go out :3 Sunshine is cute but I don't really care much for it *shrugs*

Obligatory #JusticeForBlackSwan! That song was iconic! Everything about that era was perfect yet it was still so underappreciated T_T

I wish these girls had a better career, but I'm happy that they're all still on good terms with each other and got to celebrate their 10th anniversary ^-^

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Rainbow! I miss them so much.

Gossip Girl is really good. I especially love the video, it's cute.

A is iconic! The controversy around the dance was so silly, there were boy groups doing worse that year.

I love Mach so much. It was my favorite Rainbow single until To Me. I wish it could have had a music video. I loved the hoodies they wore for the live performances.

Everything about To Me is amazing. My favorite Rainbow single and concept. I put that song on repeat! Anyone who doubts Rainbow's vocals really should listen to this song. The video, the live performances (especially the one you posted.) Same for Sweet Dream. The music and aesthetics were great for that whole era.

I love Rainbow Pixie lol, it was so weird. Hoi Hoi is a cute little song.

I'm in the group that didn't really like the singles for Rainbow Syndrome, but the album tracks were FANTASTIC - Kiss Me, Don't Touch, Let's Dance? They all hold up really well. Don't Touch is my favorite Rainbow song (really love Woori's rap - "I don't want to stop"!)

I felt so much dread when they ended Black Swan promotions so early. It was such a good concept. I seem to be in the minority - I like Privacy more than Bad Man Crying 😅 Black Swan was still a good single, though. I hate that they couldn't promote it fully. I was glad they got to come back with Whoo! I was worried we wouldn't see anything after Black Swan. Eye Contact was my favorite song from Prism.

I'm so, so grateful they got to do a reunion single - many disbanded groups don't get to do that, so I really appreciated it. I feel like it gave me some closure.

I'm so excited for next week! It's 2NE1, right? I'm sure a lot of us have thoughts we want to express in that post, lol

[aures.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for your long reply, i love reading them! <3
next week's going to be busy lol bring your own lightstick