Battle of the B-Sides: Country Kkokko- Copacabana

I'm sure that most people, when they think of first generation K-Pop, think of the likes of H.O.T, g.o.d, Sechskies, S.E.S, and BABY V.O.X, most of whom debuted in the latter half of the 1990s, but there were almost seventy groups that debuted between 1988 and 2002, which is fewer than the number of groups that debuted in 2022 alone. While we could have a discussion on oversaturation of a market, I'd instead rather talk about the group Country Kkokko, a duo that was introduced to each other by a member of the co-ed group, Roo'ra.

The other thing is that it's very hard to get a lot of information on first generation K-Pop in general, especially for groups that didn't survive to later generations where information became a lot more accessible. This duo debuted two days after Seonghwa of ATEEZ was born, not that one has any bearing on the other, but in terms of the timeline and perspective, that's an important thing to know. Although apparently they are still performing together because I found a fancam from last year for a different song. Huh. The world is a wild place.

Copacabana is the eighth track of their fourth album, High Society, released in 2001. It's actually the shortest song on the album by at least ten seconds, and while I am having difficulty finding information, I did find some, but I can't cross-check it. Lyricist is apparently Kim Youngah (BoA, Fin.K.L, Un, Paul Kim, Sechskies, Brown Eyed Girls, Lee Hyori, Kim Jong Kook, Sunny Hill, and Click-B). Composer is Yang Joonyoung, although the only other thing that I can find he did was a Fin.K.L song. Also, it looks like this may technically be a solo from Tak Jaehoon (who I just found out was in Heavenly Idol, and also debuted as a soloist a couple of months before I was born). Instead, I'll tell you that apparently the BPM is 134 and it's in the key of C#. Fun, huh?

Buckle up, boyos, because this is gonna be a lot of me talking. The problem with a song this old is, well, the odds are not great that there are recordings of it being performed anywhere unless someone recorded it on a VCR and then uploaded it years later on YouTube. 

Which, this was uploaded years later on YouTube because for some reason YouTube Music is one of the few you can't find this album. 

You know what this song kind of reminds me of? 

Glinda's part in "Dancing Through Life" from Wicked.

This is an intensely latin song. The bright red flamenco dresses with the roses and the dancing is all I can see in my head. I dare you to try not to at least shoulder wiggle for this song because this is such a vibe. And before you start thinking that this is a happy song, this is not. It sounds like it could be, but it's a song about heartbreak and trying to get over it even though you know what you're doing is wrong. It's a very lonely song.

You can find the lyrics here, but you'll have to scroll down to this one. It's the eighth song.

 That electric guitar is the standout star of the song. It's incredible, and it is a bold statement considering the fraught history the guitar has in South Korea, but you'd never know that for how prominent and clear it is. 

And can we talk about his voice? Tak Jaehoon has an incredible one. I'm honestly half tempted to go check out that album from before I was born so that I can get more of it. I wish there was a performance of this somewhere so I could get a look at how he sings. I suppose I could extrapolate based on performances of songs we do have, but this would be such a fun song to perform.

Imagine the drama!

Imagine the flair!

Imagine the guitarist getting to totally and completely strut his or her stuff!

Alas.

Oh, well. At least we still get to listen to it. It's the hard part of enjoying songs and groups that are pre-YouTube. 

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you got a nice introduction to this group if you, like me, hadn't heard any of their songs before. This was a bit short, and I apologize for that, but at least you had a quick little read this time. It's a good song and a good addition to your own playlists. 

If you have a song you'd like to over, I'll always accept suggestions and submissions, so feel free to leave a comment or toss a message my way. And if you're the kind that wants a little bit more structure, you can always send me the suggestion via The Form.