Cho Yong-pil is still Korean king of pop
By Baek Byung-yeul
Cho Yong-pil
While Psy is a worldwide YouTube sensation again, the chubby, galloping rapper might not be the most popular singer in his own country.
That title has long belonged to Cho Yong-pil, the 63-year-old singer-song writer of iconic status, and he doesn’t seem too interested in giving it up.
Cho Tuesday released ``Bounce,’’ his first new song in a decade that will be included in his upcoming album, ``Hello,’’ which will be the 19th of his career that spans over four decades. Music fans reacted explosively to Bounce, which has topped all the major download charts aside of Melon and leaving ``Gentlemen,’’ Psy’s follow-up to his viral hit ``Gangnam Style,’’ a distant second.
The last time Cho released an album, CDs were still relevant. The popularity of Bounce proves that his music is resonating with the generation of music listeners that grew up on iPods and peer-to-peer music sites.
Cho’s voice and style of music has virtually stayed the same over the years and so have his lyrics about emotional troubles involving love, loneliness and death. While Bounce seems to be another work that is fully occupied by Cho’s moodiness, music critic Yeo In-hyub said it was evident that he was trying to give his new song a contemporary edginess.
``I can’t jump to conclusions at the moment because Bounce is only one song from a new album that has yet to be released. Nonetheless, the song still shows that Cho is avid listener of contemporary music and sensitive to new trends,’’ said Yeo, chief editor of online reviewing site IZM (izm.co.kr).
``Cho’s decision to liberally use computer-programmed sounds on Bounce was surprising as he has mostly been about the piano and guitar. In some parts of the song, he even used the computer to alter his vocal sounds, a process using Auto-Tune software, to strengthen his pitch and range. You rarely see singers as old as him boldly embrace technology like this.’’
Beginning his career in 1968 as a guitarist of rock band “Atkins,” Cho performed in several bands such as Five Fingers and the Kim Trio before going solo.
His breakthrough came in 1975 when ``Come Back to Busan Port’’ became a nationwide hit and one of the country’s most beloved pop songs of all time. He followed this with ``The Woman Outside the Window,’’ which was included in his first studio album released in 1979 and considered by many critics as the best song of his career.
Cho’s other hits include ``The Leopard of Kilimanjaro,” “Short Hair” and “Let’s Go on a Trip.’’ He has sold over 10 million copies of his albums in Korea and also has a large following in Japan.
The release of Bounce was met with excitement on the music scene.
``How could I be compared to the King of the singers? I am simply honored anytime I am mentioned in the same sentence with him,’’ Psy tweeted after his new single, ``Gentleman,’’ rose to No. 12 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart after its first week.
Cho will perform at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Olympic Park in southern Seoul from May 21 to June 2, and will kick off a nationwide tour that will stop off at Daejoen, Uijeongbu, Jinju and Daegu.