Turbo ( korean : 터보 ) is a south korean duet active in the mid to late 1990s. The couple in the first place consisted of Kim Jong-kook and Kim Jung-nam. In early 1997, Kim Jung-nam left the group and Kim Jong-kook later continued promotion with modern extremity Mikey. They became one of the biggest stars in the korean entertainment industry during their active meter between 1995 and 2001 and sold millions of albums and records across Asia. In 2015, they made a comeback as a trio after 15 years with “ Again ”. [ 1 ]
career [edit ]
early years [edit ]
Turbo was formed in October 1994 to compete against the then popular dance group, Deux. Leader and former DJ Kim Jung Nam was responsible for the rap and stage dancing while Kim Jong-kook, erstwhile singer for a high school band, took worry of the vocals. This jazz band proved to be well matched, as Turbo ‘s mention soon became synonymous with dance music. They launched their first album in August 1995, titled “ 280 km/h speed ”. Living up to their group identify and album title, Turbo took the dance populace by storm debuting with the song “ 나 어릴적 꿈 ” ( My Childhood Dream ). The ill-timed death of Deux member Kim Sung Jae fair one calendar month after Turbo ‘s debut, made Turbo the successor apparent to become the kings of the korean dance fit. Following up with songs “ 검은 고양이 ” ( Black Cat ) and “ 선택 ” ( Choices ), Turbo was labeled as “ dance music ‘s chilling kids ” for rising in popularity thus firm.
merely a year after their introduction, Turbo returned with their irregular album, “ New Sensation ”. Reaffirming their popularity, the album sold 800,000 copies within the beginning two months. After “ wrench King ” Turbo performed “ Love Is … ( 3+3=0 ) ” and “ 어느 재즈 바 … ( At the Jazz Bar … ) ”. By the goal of their moment album promotion, Turbo was firm entrenched as a premier dance group. This condition was short lived however, as Turbo broke up just months later. Citing problems with their management, Turbo went into privacy. Their hide was thus effective that police were brought in to investigate their whereabouts. finally, ascribable to populace demand for Turbo ‘s revert, half of Turbo returned. Kim Jung Nam, unable to reconcile his differences with the management, left the group. He late joined the 5 member group SNAP in 1999. This left Kim Jong Kook looking for a fresh partner .
Auditioning against 3,500 other aspirant, California nonmigratory Mikey was the one to become function of Turbo. [ 2 ] With his summation, Turbo returned in October 1997 with their 3rd album, “ Born Again … ”. During this time, Turbo sang with american singer and movie star Will Smith for the korean version of his one-fourth single “ equitable the Two of Us “. In September 1998, while preparing for their 4th album Kim Jong Kook injured his hip, hampering the album ‘s release. [ 3 ] The album, entitled “ perfective Love ”, was finally released in October 1998. But once again Turbo faced dissolution. Turbo was invited to participate in the Asia Superconcert on the 30th of December 1998 to represent South Korea. This concert featured singers from all over Asia including Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan and was to broadcast live to South Korea, China and Japan. Due to arguments with management before the concert, Kim Jong Kook protested his character in the concert by not performing his section of the concert and leaving without bowing. due to this incident, Kim Jong Kook was banned from appearing on television. While the prohibition in South Korea was active, Turbo largely became active in Taiwan. The prohibition was lifted in October 1999, and 4 months late in 2000, Turbo returned with their 5th album “ Email My Heart ”. [ 4 ]
Read more: Cha Bum-kun – Wikipedia
disbandment [edit ]
After releasing the 5th album, Kim Jong Kook left the management due to contract passing. Kim Jong Kook belated pursued his solo career. Mikey, with his visa run out, besides took leave to New York City to study music under Paul Bay. To end their hanker career, Turbo released one concluding album titled “ History ” revisiting all their hit songs from previous albums and including 3 modern songs. A music video recording for “ History ” was besides released, featuring for the first gear time transgender model and singer Harisu. Amid all the ups and downs Turbo faced in their career and their premature dissolution, they have always remained enormously democratic. Attributing to this popularity is the fact that every Turbo album has been a million seller. Kim Jong Kook besides has a major solo success, releasing 7 albums and winning many accolades, including all 3 of the best artist awards in 2005, a feat which has n’t been matched since Cho Yong Pil did it in the 1980s. Mikey was a function of the K-pop group M3 .
return [edit ]
prior to the reunion, the group performed in many television shows like MBC ‘s Infinite Challenge “ Saturday, Saturday ‘s : I Am a Singer Special ” on December 27, 2014, on which they performed “ My childhood Dreams ”, “ construction King ”, “ Love Is ( 3+3=0 ) ” and “ White Love ”. however, in this performance Kim Jung Nam is with Kim Jong Kook alternatively of Mikey. The group then performed again on January 25, 2015, one month after their last performance, on SBS ‘s Inkigayo 800th episode special, performing “ December ” and “ White Love ”. however, this clock time Mikey is performing with Kim Jongkook alternatively of Kim Jung Nam. In celebration of the group ‘s twentieth anniversary, all three former members have reunited for the first time in closely 15 years. The group had a comeback album on December 21, 2015, featuring all three members, their title song track again is featuring comedian Yoo Jaesuk and the music video has many guest appearances including Lee Kwang Soo and Cha Taehyun. On July 25, 2017, they released their foremost mini-album Turbo Splash with “ Hot Sugar ” service as the album ‘s style traverse.
Read more: Cha Bum-kun – Wikipedia
They besides appeared on many television variety show shows like SBS ‘s Running Man and KBS 2TV ‘s Happy Together. Kim Jung-nam and Mikey besides appeared on KBS 2TV ‘s Hello Counselor. however they appear to talk about how Kim Jongkook is treating them causing netizen recoil against both of them .
Members [edit ]
discography [edit ]
studio albums [edit ]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [5][6] |
|||
| 280 km/h Speed |
|
N/A* | |
| New Sensation |
|
|
|
| Born Again |
|
|
|
| Perfect Love |
|
23* |
|
| E-Mail My Heart |
|
3 |
|
| Again |
|
3 |
|
| * The Recording Industry Association of Korea album chart was launched in January 1999. | |||
compilation albums [edit ]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [5][6] |
|||
| History |
|
7 |
|
| Reboot: The Best |
|
11 |
|
EP [edit ]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo Splash |
|
Remix albums [edit ]
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| X-Mas Dance Party Mix with Turbo |
|
| Turbo Summer Remix |
|
| Millennium Turbo Dance Megamix |
|
Singles [edit ]
Awards and nominations [edit ]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Sports Seoul Music Award | BonSang Award (Main Prize) | Turbo 2nd Album | Won |
| SBS Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| KBS Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| MBC Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| Golden Disk Awards | Turbo 2nd Album: Twist King | Won | ||
| 1997 | Turbo 3rd Album: Goodbye Yesterday | Won | ||
| SBS Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| KBS Music Award | Turbo 3rd Album: Born Again | Won | ||
| MBC Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| 1998 | SBS Music Award | Turbo 4th Album: Perfect Love | Won | |
| KBS Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| MBC Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| 2000 | Golden Disk Awards | Turbo 5th Album: E-mail My Heart | Won | |
| SBS Music Award | Won | |||
| KBS Music Award | N/A | Won | ||
| MBC Music Award | N/A | Won |