Kim Tae Won is the leader and guitarist of the Korean rock band, "Boohwal." Long ago, he was famous for his charisma and unapproachable air. Recently, Kim Tae Won started coming out more and more on television shows. At first, I did not understand this because I had thought him to be the last person who would go on air without his guitar. However, he said that he wanted to make Korean rock more approachable to more people. Then it made a bit more sense. Anyway, with his thin frame, long hair, and sunglasses, Kim Tae Won started losing his charismatic image on television (he still has his rocker stuff going on on stage). He earned a new nickname, Kim Hal-mae (Hal-mae means Granny, in Korean), because of the way he looked.
Anyway, a commercial came out that sent me to the ground, laughing. This is the commercial for Mitte, a hot chocolate line.
This is what's happening.
A group of young boys come to a ski resort and see a person with long hair in a pink ski uniform. One guy approaches "her" with a cup of hot chocolate. As it turns out, this person was actually Kim Tae Won. On the ski slope, Kim Tae Won says, "Ah~ You should have come with a girl friend."
Then, the commercial ends with, "When the wind blows cold, hot chocolate Mitte."
Although the Korean music industry appears to be dominated by commercial K-pop idol singers, there is a lot more beneath the surface. Independent and underground, the Korean rock industry is quite interesting too. Of these rock bands, one of them is called "Boohwal." They were first formed in the 80's when a heavy metal boom around Korea started producing major rock bands. After their 2nd album, their popularity rocketed. "Boohwal" means resurrection in Korea and is one of the few rock bands to have lasting popularity until today. They went through many ups and downs and had quite a few change of vocals, but their signature rock ballads have never ceased to soothe the audience with both great music and showmanship.
Recently, for their 25th anniversary, they released their 12th album, titled Retrospect and it came out in two parts. The first part came out late 2009 and recently, their released the second part of the album. Before going deeply into this rock band, I wanted to introduce to you the title songs for Retrospect I and II.
Hello! This is Clare's blog. I will upload a variety of posts relating to events and activities that add joy to my life. I hope you enjoy my blog and I would also love to know what you think about my blog. Please comment on my posts!
