Songgolmae
When a band of college students in blue jeans climbed to the top of the pop-chart shows, Korean rock walked off the campus and into the wider world.
At a glance 🔭💭
Some coordinates adapted from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) · Pleiades (CC BY 3.0)
People alongside ⏳🌊
- MemberBae Chul-soo
The leader, who came from Runway, the Korea Aerospace University band, formed the group and kept it going to the end, and has lived as a radio host since 1990.
- MemberLee Eung-soo
The original bassist, who is known to have written the lyrics for several songs even after leaving the band.
- MemberKoo Chang-mo
A vocalist from Black Tetra who wrote "You, Whom I Met by Chance" and "The Moment I First Saw You," leading Songgolmae into its heyday.
- SupportKim Soo-chul
A contemporary musician known for composing "I Will Love Them All," the follow-up hit from the second album.
- MemberLee Tae-yoon
The bassist of the new Songgolmae, who served as music director for the 2022 reunion concerts.
I. Two campus bands · 1978–1979
(Formation) In 1979, in Seoul, South Korea, the band was formed around Bae Chul-soo, a veteran of Hwaljuro, the campus band of Korea Aerospace University. The name refers to a kind of falcon, a bird of prey, and is said to come from Mongolian. In 1975 a marijuana scandal had driven the first generation of group sounds from the stage en masse, and student bands emerging from stages such as the MBC University Song Festival, launched in 1977, were filling the gap. Songolmae was born of that current. (Beach Song Festival) The starting point was the 1978 TBC Beach Song Festival. Bae Chul-soo competed as a member of Hwaljuro, and Koo Chang-mo as the vocalist of Black Tetra, the band of Hongik University. Bae later recalled hearing Koo sing at that contest and taking note of the young vocalist. Hwaljuro was already making a name with songs such as “I Loved You from the Start” and “I Lived Not Knowing the World.” (First lineup) The first Songolmae consisted of Bae Chul-soo on vocals and drums, Ji Deok-yeop on guitar, Lee Eung-soo on bass and Lee Bong-hwan on keyboards. That same year the band released its debut album, “Songolmae, Friend of the Young: New Songs,” which included “The Ways of the World,” with words by Lee Eung-soo and music by Ji Deok-yeop. The response, however, was faint. Koo Chang-mo, who joined later, looked back on those days by saying the music was fine but it just didn't take off. (A face) What the first album lacked was less songs than a face for the band. The leader, Bae Chul-soo, sang from behind the drums, and there was not yet a voice or a stage presence for the public to remember. It was around this time that Bae set out to find once more the voice heard a year earlier at the festival preliminaries.
A song from the debut album the founding members made before Koo Chang-mo joined. The first album failed, but this song survived by reappearing on the second.
- Lyrics by Lee Eung-soo, music by Ji Deok-yeop. It shows that Songolmae began as a band that wrote its own songs from within.
- True to its title, it is a song that steps back to regard the affairs of the world as a whole. Amid the love songs that dominated the pop of the day, it speaks in a different voice.
- Set the 1979 debut-album version beside the 1982 re-recording on the second album, and you can hear how the music's center of gravity shifted as the lineup changed.
- Around the 2022 reunion, Jannabi's Choi Jung-hoon sang it anew, introducing it to young listeners.
II. The leader who went to a hermitage · 1979–1981
(The hermitage) After the Beach Song Festival, Koo Chang-mo had resolved to give up music and had gone to a hermitage near Osaek on Seoraksan to study. In the winter of 1979, Bae Chul-soo sought Koo out in person with an invitation to make music together. Koo later said the gesture was moving and impossible to refuse. (Scattering) Meanwhile, the founding members left the band one by one. In 1981 guitarist Ji Deok-yeop entered the military, and bassist Lee Eung-soo is said to have left to focus on studies. For a while Songolmae effectively came to a halt. Lee, however, stayed connected to the band through lyrics, which appeared on many songs on the second and third albums. (Regrouping) Bae Chul-soo brought in Koo Chang-mo of Black Tetra and guitarist Kim Jung-sun, and with drummer Oh Seung-dong and bassist Kim Sang-bok joining, the lineup later called the golden age took shape. Koo took vocals and keyboards, while Bae moved from drums to guitar and vocals. In effect, the campus bands of two schools, Korea Aerospace University and Hongik University, had merged into one. (The times) Broadcasting was changing around then, too. Color television broadcasting began in December 1980, and with the launch of KBS's “Gayo Top 10” in the early 1980s, the race up the pop charts moved onto the living-room screen. The new Songolmae went into the studio in 1981 to record the second album. The record came out the following year.
III. You, Whom I Met by Chance · 1982
(The top) The second album, “Songolmae,” came out in 1982. Its title track, “You, Whom I Met by Chance,” with words·music by Koo Chang-mo, held No. 1 on KBS's “Gayo Top 10” for 5 weeks, and the follow-up, “I Will Love Them All,” is said to have topped the chart for 4 weeks as well. A band that had tasted failure with its debut now stood, with its second album, at the center of Korean pop. (Collaboration) Hands from outside the band also went into the record. “I Will Love Them All” is known to have words by Kim Jung-sun and music by Kim Soo-chul. “Us” is known to have words by Lee Jong-myung and music by Lee Jung-sun. The band also re-recorded “The Ways of the World” and “It Was Not a Long Time” from the first album, and the track joining “It Was Not a Long Time” to Koo Chang-mo's “The Flower of My Heart” is said to have been heard by many listeners as a single song. (Blue jeans) The image on television was new, too. The members recalled that Songolmae took the stage in jeans and long hair, giving young audiences a sense of rebellion. On chart shows dominated by singers in suits, the sight of a band dressed like college students, guitars slung over their shoulders, was in itself a marker of a generation. Yet color TVs had not yet reached every household, and many viewers watched these performances on black-and-white screens. (Recognition) Songolmae is said to have won honors such as the rock group award at the KBS Music Awards for several consecutive years from 1982. The album was named among the 100 greatest Korean pop albums selected by the Kyunghyang Shinmun. In an era when LPs and cassette tapes sold side by side, Songolmae proved that campus rock could succeed commercially too.
Written and composed by Koo Chang-mo, the singer Bae brought back from the hermitage, this song placed an unknown band at the center of Korean pop overnight.
- At its heart is the short, repeating guitar·bass phrase (riff) that drives the song. It is talked about as one of the great riffs in the history of Korean popular music.
- The funky resonance of the bass technique of thumping and plucking the strings with the thumb (slap) is so striking that the song is known as a favorite practice piece for beginning bassists.
- Koo Chang-mo's clear high voice, the one that famously captivated Bae Chul-soo at the festival preliminaries, lifts the whole song into brightness. It is also counted among the songs hardest to sing in the original key at karaoke.
- In a short song of just over three minutes, intro, verse and chorus follow one another with nothing wasted, a form well suited to radio and TV chart shows.
- It held No. 1 on “Gayo Top 10” for 5 weeks, and many singers later covered it.
The follow-up single from the second album, with words by guitarist Kim Jung-sun and music by Kim Soo-chul. Its back-to-back No. 1 showed that Songolmae was no one-hit band.
- A melody shaped by the hand of composer Kim Soo-chul. It reflects a time when rock musicians of the same generation traded songs with one another.
- As the title suggests, it is a song of generous, bright spirit, extending love not to one particular person but to the whole world.
- Its chorus is made for singing together, and at the 2022 reunion concerts it was sung as an encore with the audience.
- A remake by EXO's Suho carried it to the idol generation as well.
IV. The busiest days · 1983–1984
(Back-to-back hits) In 1983 came the third album, “The Moment I First Saw You.” Koo Chang-mo's title song drew attention for its funk rhythm and brass arrangement, while “Rainwater,” with words by Lee Eung-soo and music by Bae Chul-soo, endured as Songolmae's signature ballad. “A Ray of Light,” composed by Bae Chul-soo, was also put forward as a title track. It was another hit on the heels of the second album, and many say the playing and sound had grown tighter still. (Two composers) The third album set two composers, Bae Chul-soo and Koo Chang-mo, side by side on a single record. “To My Baby,” composed by Koo Chang-mo, is known to have lyrics by the actress Lim Ye-jin. (The schedule) Popularity soon turned into a breathless schedule. Accounts tell of a breathless round of broadcasts and concerts. That same year, during a live broadcast of “March of Youth,” Bae Chul-soo was electrocuted while straightening a crooked microphone, and Bae later spoke calmly of the incident on stage and on air. (Crossroads) In 1984 the fourth album, “I Really Don't Know,” was released. Right after its release, Koo Chang-mo chose a solo path and left the band. Years later, the two recalled this time with a touch of humor. In 1985 Koo Chang-mo achieved great success as a solo singer with “Heenari.”
The title track of the third album, released in the band's busiest year and written by Koo Chang-mo. Another consecutive hit, it cemented Songolmae's golden age.
- Underneath lies a funk groove, its rhythm chopped into fine 16th notes, that sets the body moving. Its rhythm is said to be much tighter than on the second album.
- The arrangement for horns such as trumpet·saxophone (brass section) adds flash to the song and is counted as a hallmark of the album.
- It lightly confesses the flutter of love at first sight. It sounds like a Koo Chang-mo-style love song of youth, continuing from “You, Whom I Met by Chance.”
- Its sound, horns layered over an analog band recording, captures the early 1980s, when rock bands entered the mainstream of the pop chart shows.
A ballad with words by Lee Eung-soo and music by Bae Chul-soo, it showed that Songolmae was not a band that played only upbeat rock.
- A slow-tempo ballad that contrasts with the funky title track of the same album. It is counted as Songolmae's signature lyrical song.
- Because Lee Eung-soo, a founding member who had left the band, kept contributing lyrics, it is also a song that links the first and second Songolmae lineups.
- Its mood is the loneliness and longing of a rainy day, unspooled quietly as if in a murmur to oneself.
- A song that reveals leader Bae Chul-soo's instincts as a composer. Heard alongside Koo Chang-mo's songs, it shows how differently the two songwriters' grains run.
V. Bae Chul-soo's Songolmae · 1985–1990
(A new start) After Koo Chang-mo left, Bae Chul-soo took on guitar and lead vocals together. The fifth album, Haneullara urinim, released in 1985, set aside the breeziness of the earlier records for a deeply lyrical, earnest mood. Its title song is said to have reached number one on Gayo Top 10, and it is often counted as Songgolmae's last heyday. (Change) The sixth album, Ohae, in 1986, produced no hit to speak of. It was a time when heavy metal bands were pouring out and ballads filled the charts. Around then Kim Sang-bok and Oh Seung-dong left the band, and with Lee Jong-wook on keyboards, Lee Tae-yoon on bass and Lee Geon-tae on drums, the lineup known as the new Songgolmae took shape. (The new Songgolmae) From the seventh album, Insaengiran ireumui yeolcha, in 1987, “Saega doeeo nareuri” won listeners' affection, and the eighth album, Eoihana geudaeyeo, followed in 1988. From 1989 into the following year the band served as house band for KBS's The Johnny Yune Show, appearing steadily on television. (Radio) On March 19, 1990, Bae Chul-soo began hosting MBC FM's Bae Chul-soo's Music Camp. “Moyeora” became a hit from the ninth album, Geudae tteonan ireun achim, released the same year, but that record turned out to be the last studio album by the original Songgolmae. As Bae turned wholly to radio, the band effectively stopped around 1991. The leader who had once sung now moved to a seat introducing other people's music.
The first hit Bae Chul-soo released as lead vocalist after Koo Chang-mo's departure, it is often counted as Songgolmae's last heyday.
- With Bae Chul-soo's distinctively rough, husky voice out front, a face of Songgolmae emerges that is utterly different from the days led by Koo Chang-mo's clear high register.
- The title song appears on the album in two versions with different arrangements and emotional contours. They are worth hearing one after the other and comparing.
- Its earnest, lyrical longing for a departed love, set somewhere beyond the sky, contrasts with the breeziness of the earlier albums.
- It was also performed at the 2022 reunion concerts. It was a scene of the two singing together a song that came out after the band had split.
A hit from the ninth album, the last studio album by the original Songgolmae. It became the last song to win wide affection just before Bae Chul-soo moved over to radio.
- True to its title, it is a song like a cry calling people together in one place. It has the character of a chant, made for singing along in a concert hall.
- Played by the new Songgolmae, with Lee Jong-wook·Lee Tae-yoon·Lee Geon-tae on board, it lets you hear a rhythm-section texture unlike that of the early-1980s lineup.
- As befits a recording from around 1990, the keyboards seem to step to the front. It is a sound straddling the band era and the synthesizer age.
- Counted among the signature songs of the later Songgolmae, it was played again in concerts after the reunion.
VI. The falcon flies again · 1991–2026
(Separate paths) After the band went quiet, Bae Chul-soo settled in as a radio host. Bae Chul-soo's Music Camp marked its 36th year on the air in March 2026. Koo Chang-mo carried on a solo career with songs such as “Banghwang” and “Apeun mankeum seongsukhaejigo” before turning to business, and has spoken of living abroad for more than 20 years. (2010) In 2010 a Songgolmae centered on founding members Lee Bong-hwan and Kim Jung-sun released a tenth album, 2010. But with Bae Chul-soo and Koo Chang-mo absent, the record drew little public interest. (Reunion) The bond between the two endured. They even went together to see the Japanese music festival Summer Sonic. Talk of a reunion is said to have gone back and forth for years. (Yeolmang) On September 11–12, 2022, the concert “Yeolmang” was held at KSPO Dome in Olympic Park, Seoul. It was the first time in 38 years that the two had shared a stage under the name Songgolmae. Lee Tae-yoon served as music director and kept the original arrangements alive, and some 20,000 people gathered over the two days. On that stage Bae Chul-soo recalled the electrocution accident as a joke and announced that this tour would close a life in music. On Lunar New Year 2023, KBS 2TV aired Songgolmae Concert: Flight After 40 Years. (Honors) In February 2026 the 23rd Korean Music Awards gave Songgolmae a lifetime achievement award. In July of that year Koo Chang-mo released Memory & Future, a first new album in 36 years, including “Ttodasi majuchin geudae,” a sequel of sorts to “Eojjeoda majuchin geudae.” Remakes by the next generation followed too, with Jannabi's Choi Jung-hoon singing “Sesangmansa” anew and EXO's Suho “Modu da saranghari.”
Lesser-known stories
Founding bassist Lee Eung-soo left the band in 1981 but wrote the words for many songs on the second and third albums. “Sesangmansa” and “Binmul” are among the lyrics known to be Lee's. Lee is said to have later worked as a recording engineer and producer at Jigu Records. Much of the feeling the public remembers from golden-age Songgolmae came from the hand of this person, who never stood on the stage. “Saranghaneun iyeo nae jugeumyeon,” sung by Bae Chul-soo, shares its title with ‘When I am dead, my dearest,’ a poem by the 19th-century English poet Christina Rossetti. It shows the literary reader behind the image of a rock band leader. From 1989 the later Songgolmae served as house band for The Johnny Yune Show, and the band is also said to have composed and played the later opening music for the KBS comedy program Humor No. 1. Even as the hits grew scarce, the band kept working on the front lines of broadcast music.
Notes on terms 📚🔎
Group sound
(Etymology) A Japanese-style coinage made by joining the English words group and sound. It is hardly used in the English-speaking world but caught on in Korea and Japan. (In Korean popular music) The name for bands of the 1960s and 1970s that sang while playing electric guitar·bass·drums. First-generation group sounds, including Shin Joong-hyun's, grew up on Eighth U.S. Army stages and in music listening halls, and Songgolmae's generation followed after them. Picture four or five classmates each taking up an instrument and standing together on the stage of a school arts festival. The key is that the whole team makes a single sound, rather than one singer alone being the star.
Campus band
(In Korean popular music) A band active as a university club. In the late 1970s the College Song Festival and the Beach Song Festival brought these bands before the public. Songgolmae, too, reached its peak after two campus bands, Hwaljuro of Korea Aerospace University and Black Tetra of Hongik University, joined together. It is like a school broadcasting club or festival band earning recognition and becoming real singers. (Elsewhere) Campus originally means the grounds of a university, and companies also use it for a large complex of corporate buildings.
Song festival
(Etymology) Gayo (歌謠) means song, and je (祭) means feast·festival. The word means a festival opened with song. (In Korean popular music) A contest in which broadcasters take songs from amateurs and newcomers and stage a competition. Contests such as the 1977 MBC College Song Festival and the 1978 TBC Beach Song Festival were the debut routes for college bands. Bae Chul-soo and Koo Chang-mo first took notice of each other at the preliminary round of the Beach Song Festival. It is a bit like a friend who stood out at a school talent show later getting a call from an upperclassman in a club.
Gayo Top 10
(In Korean popular music) A pop chart program KBS broadcast from the early 1980s. Every week it ranked the popular songs and announced the number one, and how many weeks in a row a song held the top spot was the measure of popularity in those days. “Eojjeoda majuchin geudae” is said to have held number one for five straight weeks. Think of classmates checking every week how many weeks someone has kept first place in a game ranking. Except that these rankings were announced on television, for the whole nation to see.
Riff
(Etymology) From the English riff. A jazz·rock term for a short phrase that is repeated. (In Korean popular music) A short figure repeated by the guitar or bass that serves as the backbone driving the whole song. Listeners sometimes recognize a song by this sound before its lyrics. “Eojjeoda majuchin geudae” is counted among the classic riff songs of Korean popular music. Like the beat that repeats while jumping rope on a schoolyard, it keeps coming back and lets you give your body over to the song.
Slap
(Etymology) The English slap means to strike with a smack of the open palm. The technique's name describes the playing motion itself. (In Korean popular music) A technique of striking the bass strings with the thumb and hooking and snapping them with the other fingers to produce a crisp, popping, percussive sound. It developed in funk, a form of Black music. The bass on “Eojjeoda majuchin geudae” is famous for this feel. Think of the game of smacking a desk with your palm and flicking it with your fingers to make a rhythm. It is the same thing, done on an instrument's strings. (Elsewhere) In everyday English it means a smack across the face.
House band
(Etymology) House means a home; here it stands for that stage or broadcaster. The term means a band belonging to that house. (In Korean popular music) A band attached full-time to a broadcast program or venue, handling the opening music and accompaniment. Songgolmae was house band for KBS's The Johnny Yune Show from 1989 into the following year. Think of the school wind band that accompanies the national anthem and the school song at every school event. It is not the star of the event, but it holds the event up from beginning to end.
Remake
(Etymology) The English remake means to make (make) again (re). (In Korean popular music) The re-recording and release of an older song by a different singer in a new arrangement. The original composer and lyricist stay as they are, while the sound and interpretation are made new. “Modu da saranghari” was sung anew by EXO's Suho, and “Sesangmansa” by Jannabi's Choi Jung-hoon. It is like taking a dish Mom loved as a child and making it again yourself with new ingredients. The backbone of the flavor stays the same, but it changes to suit the times. (Elsewhere) In film and games, too, making an old work anew is called a remake.