5.Korean Popular Music and Yodel (2000s~ present)

▶ In the 2000s - Yodeling vocalization became a hybrid on Korean popular songs

In the 2000s, a new emotional team emerged in yodeling.
리키Ricky, one of the members of the hiphop band named "거리의 시인들The Street Poets" famous for his unique and resilient ',빙Bing', formed a 5-member band called "조이박스JOYBOX".

In the album "Welcome to the Joy World", their debut album, I found a monumental yodeling song called "스페셜Special".
Joybox - special 2001.01.27 Welcome to the Joy World (Ricky, Vocal/Guitar), (Johnny, Keyboard),
(Tazz, Drum), (Andy, Bace), Miro(Vocal) / Illustration : Han Eun-jung

Special

by Joybox

 
I feel good
I feel nice I feel beautiful
cause you`re my special
until now I was blind
But I`m so much of a wiser person than before
 
cause you`re my special,
 
and this is for you baby
 
 
yo lay yo lay yo lay lay yo
yo lay yo lay yo lay lay yo
yo lay yo lay yo lay lay yo
 
 
and this is for you baby
I feel great
and I feel so fine
and I feel like I can do anything I want to
 
 
cause you`re my special,special,special yeah yeah ~
Baby I can do anything
can`t you see my love is realI want to fill your soul complete
 
 
Because you make me feel so sweet
Close your eyes & feel the beat
My love is all you need~
My love is all you need~
 
anything for you baby(Ending cho) yo lay~ lay yo lay lay~~~
sta~ statata talala~~~~

the "Special" is the song not a contemporary folk music sensibility but a modern rock music sensation based on yodeling songs, moreover, I think the "Special" shows one of the most well-made popular songs with yodeling-vocalization in Korea so far.
The joys of yodeling were resurrected in popular songs in the 2000s with modern vocals, new musical instruments and multinational chords.

Unfortunately, this band is short-lived in the controversy of plagiarism. And the "Special", which was a meaningful song, was forgotten except for some enthusiasts.
However, the fact that the yodel are in perfect harmony with modern rocks, we have the brilliant example like the Cranberries, and I think it have been the remarkable correlations yodel and modern rocks.

▶ Challenges and limitations of yodeling-vocalization as popular music

우승민Woo Seung-min, leader of one-man band called "All-Lies Band", appeared in the early 2000s as one of the presenter of the entertainment program called "무릎팍도사Murup-Pak Dosa", and he released some album named, "Radio Logo-song series" on September 12, 2006. This album have two weird yodel songs named ' "간식이레이요Gansigireiyo" and "호로밥밥개밥밥Horobabbabgebabbab".

Frankly, the lyrics of this song are strictly non-logical, rather than metaphysical. Thus, since the 2000s, the vocalization of Yodel has been used in a wide variety of genres in Korea.
Woo Seung-min / Illustration : Han Eun-jung


In August 2007, we hear unexpected yodels from unexpected singers. It is a song named "가라 사랑아Go away, My lover" by 장혜진Jang Hye-jin's special album 'Tomboy'.

According to the promotional article of the promoter, "Go away, My lover" is called "Hybrid House-Dance Music that crossed over house and Yodel genre. The song was also the first dance music of Jang Hye - jin's attention.

Jang Hye-jin  /  Illustration : Han Eun-jung

This song was heard quite often at places such as street vendors, coffee shops, as well as television and radio at the time.

"Go away, My lover" is a song that matches not only the popular songs but also the hybrids tendencies that are spread throughout the popular culture such as drama, advertisement, and movies.

It is a song that the yodeling vocalization mixed to the most general theme of popular song. Maybe it seems to be the first attempt in Korea.

The feeling of yodel in "Go away, My lover" is not the commonly known "joy" but rather the lament of love pain and bitterness. In fact, yodeling has a tendency to provide a wide variety of imagination, future I wish the more artists will be used yodeling- vocalization in their music.



Nowadays, a lot of Korean music makers seem to use "repetition". In fact, the meaning of the lyrics is not so important, but the melody, the beat and the repeated lyrics that stick to the mouth are important. In this situation, unexpectedly, the development potential of our yodeling-vocalization is likely to be more numerous than any other genre.

And there was also such an attempt in the Korean 'Idol' groups. The famous Idol, 카라Kara, sang some yodel named '요를레이Yoreullei" on Pretty Girl, the second mini-album of them, is the most recent version of Yodel-vocalization in Korean pop music.

KARA / Illustration: Han Eun-jung


This album, which was released on December 4, 2008, is also featured in Kara's mini album, Pretty Girl. In this album, we can find their big hit song '허니Honey' and '프리티 걸Pretty Girl'.

The joy of yodeling and the beauty seems to have already come to the attention of many creative musicians. On the other hand, the songs that are appearing nowadays also make the limits of yodeling vocalization at the popular music.

 It is true that the yodeling -vocalization itself interesting , but it takes a relatively long time to master, and the personality of the voice itself is so strong that it is very difficult to use other music or use it as a sauce. Many music makers say that yodel is generally negative about the possibility of popular music, and that yodel is the most suitable for Alps folk-music.

 In addition, after leaving the Alps, yodel were not succeeded as popular music worldwide except for American country music. yodel maintain their tradition as a traditional music in the mainland Switzerland, but few are attracted attention as popular music.

 There is only Kim Hong-chul has succeeded as a popular yodel singer in Korea. So, for many people, the image of yodel is like this; The beautiful Swiss girl in the mountains of Berner Oberland.
However, as mentioned earlier, in the popular music of Korea, there were so many yodels in various genres over time.

 Yodel are still present with us with various possibilities. I look forward to seeing more musicians based on yodeling- vocalization to open up new possibilities for Yodel.

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7.Kim Hong-chul, the father of the Korean yodel

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Since the 1990s, Kim Hong-chul left Canadian immigration. There were short-terms records and writing works in 1997, but his activities in Korea were very limited. In fact, he had been living in tough immigration and busy business so he almost forgot the yodels. Then one day he accidentally heard his old yodel again, and Kim Hong-chul comes back to Korea with the longing for the yodels and the homeland. And finally in 2003, "김홍철과 친구들Kim Hong-chul and his friends" were reorganized with new members. At last, "Kim Hong-chul and his friends" resume their performances and broadcasting activities in Korea. The Last Yodeler(1997) In 1997, "The Last Yodeler" was released, and Kim Hong-chul came back again in Korea. This new album was also based by his former hit yodels, but he mixed up the new genres as like hip-hop, jazz, pop, rock and so on. So the contemporary folk sensibility yodels in the 70s were reborn by the new atmospheres of the 90s. In ...
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1.Korean Popular Music and Yodel (30~40s, Japanese Colonial Period)

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There is no exact record of the time when the 'Yodel' came down to Korea, but it is estimated to be around the 1920s and 1930s. Some of them are believed to have come from Manchuria through climbers, and some of them came from Japan. I have met & listened the good yodelings of 이인범Lee In-bum, Korean veteran tenor-singer during his lifetime, and talked yodel with him. I've heard that when he attended  연희전문대학Yeonhee College[1] , he occasionally sing yodelings and he was popular with the girls of the 이화학당Ewha Hakdang[2].  Also, 황문평Hwang Mun-pyeong, Korean music critic said ,"In Korea, There was two yodelers in Korea during the Japanese colonial period and after independent days" But I am saddened that there is no records or something about it.  Anyway, I can see the history of Korean yodel is never short. - 김홍철Kim Hong-chul, the father of Korean yodel  ▶ 30s - Korean Yodel in Japanese colony days The same yodel songs as those of  "山の人気者(...
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