Battle of the B-Sides:: Baby V.O.X: Summer Story

 Second post of this theme for May! You know, I wish this had a performance I could find. So unfortunately, you're basically just going to get me yapping for this. It's fine though, both because this matches the theme and also because b-sides from first gen are wonderfully plentiful, even if the performances for them are not. Plus, we know that the odds are very good that we're going to get good vocals out of them. There is a group that I know we won't be able to say that about, but when I cover that group, I'll let you know. Like I've said. First generation K-Pop is absolutely wild in a way that is just fascinating to me. This particular group didn't have quite the drama of some of the others, though there was a member who had to leave due to a controversy, and they had a few lineup changes over the years.

Baby V.O.X debuted in 1997 as a five-member group under DR Music (which was founded in 1989 and is also known as DR Entertainment, and still has active groups and artists). They were also one of the first groups to break into the Chinese market and were influenced pretty strongly by the Spice Girls. The lineup for this song was I think their final lineup of Kim E-Z, Lee Heejin, Shim Eunjin, Kan Miyoun, and Yoon Eunhye.

Summer Story is the ninth track of their third album, Come Come Come Baby, released in 1999.  Kim Nam-hee apparently wrote the lyrics, but I'm unsure if they did anything else. And as for No Young-joo, the composer, they've got at least two more artists whose music definitely was because of them. And that's basically all I know about this some in terms of the songwriting. But! Fun fact about this album! It got them their first two music show wins. Not this song, but that's still pretty cool.

I can't decide if the beginning of this song sounds more circus or more carnival, but it's definitely right there in that style of very upbeat, very celebratory music. It doesn't stay around very long, because then it changes to something equally summery, but a little less playful. 

The number of interesting instruments in this song brings me so much joy. We've got the standard drum and synthesizer for first Gen songs, which makes sense considering the love-hate affair the country has had with the guitar (seriously, look it up; the history of the guitar in S Korea is absolutely fascinating). But we've also got an organ, a trumpet, chimes, and bells. It would not surprise me if I'm also hearing a saxophone at some point. And if this sounds like a standard review, well, that's just me enjoying the technical aspect of this because it's so unlike almost anything you're going to be getting in a recent release these days. There have been songs that have leaned into the big celebration, closing-song-of-a-musical energy that I can think of that I covered that have had interesting instruments, but even then you might only have one of those extra instruments, maybe two if the songwriters and composers were feeling a little spicy while they were writing it. And this isn't a big energy song, unlike those, because it doesn't need to be. This isn't the title track. It gets to be settled and comfortable with no obligation to be impressive. 

And that makes it impressive.

It also makes it so first Gen that if a song were to be released that sounded like this and you told me about it, I'd probably call you a liar, and then listen to it, and then freak out because you weren't in fact lying. It's that particularly unhurried relaxedness that comes from a group not knowing what they had to prove. The desperation didn't really start showing up until second gen. That's also funny because even though the song feels so chill and comfortable with some long held notes in the instrumental, it's actually got a pretty high BPM and I think you could do CPR to the beat of this song. It's just a fascinating blend of surprises. 

No, but seriously. We get both chimes and bells in an almost four-minute-song. This song is basically living in the lap of luxury as far as modern K-Pop is concerned.

And vocally, we've got a very first Gen song as well. It's the vocal effects that make them sound a little bit like they're recording in an echo chamber that start dying out in second gen and we never really went back to it. But that also makes it sound like a cross between the 70s and the 90s. It's the kind of thing you'd expect to hear from artists like The Carpenters. 

In the middle of the dance break and the brass instruments and the pulsing beat, then we've got a bridge that takes the song and softens it into a moment of stillness. I could swear I hear a violin there after the bells start back up right there at the very end of the bridge, but I'm not entirely positive which is why I didn't mention it when I was yapping about the types of instruments earlier. What I really appreciate it is that it's an entire texture change from the rest of the song, and even though realistically we simply go back to where the song was before the bridge, it feels slower and softer despite that, which lets the song end on a little bit more of a hug, even though the very end of the song is basically the same as the beginning with less organ and more energy, though to be fair we do have it a time before that, but because that one is pre-bridge, it doesn't feel the same. 

And just for a kick and a giggle, I'm going to include the English translation because it's kind of hard to find, so thank you for the people who are fluent enough in both languages and creative enough to be able to do the color-coded videos. 

And speaking of language, this song is entirely in Korean. Fun, huh? Something else that doesn't happen a lot anymore. 

I think it would be really fun to hear a group like ILLIT or AtHeart or Baby DONT Cry or Hearts2Hearts (which would never happen because Baby V.O.X was one of the rivals for S.E.S and SM keeps it in the family, but a Fangirl can dream) cover this. Actually, you know what group would be fun to hear cover it considering their entire concept is Y2K and this song literally came out in 1999? NewJeans. Or give it to a group like MEOVV or BABYMONSTER or izna and let them show off some  wide versatility. 

Well, that's it, everyone! You got lots of yapping from me about a song that delighted me more and more every time I dug into a new spot for it because of how much deliciousness there was to find. It's a deceptively sweet song. I like this. I'm pleased that the theme for this month gave me an excuse to do this song and share it with everyone.

If you've got a song you'd like me to cover, as always, feel free to leave a comment, or, if you're feeling a bit shy, you can fill out The Form for me. 

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next time!

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