I confess [I don't like 'Gangnam Style'].

[Evil_Captor]

@YogSosoth

You have no idea how wrong you are! … Gangnam Style is mankind’s contribution to galactic lore and we have given more than enough for our child-like ape-race deserves

(Ellipses mine)

So … you liked it?

[Inner_Stickler]

@Shagnasty

Gangnam Style is just a new iteration of an old art form that only seems new because kids today don’t have the background to compare it to everything else. It is like they went into music video starvation mode and will ravenously eat up anything now even if it isn’t that great.

A)Most of the videos from your era were crap.
B)Vevo streamed roughly 40 billion music videos last year.

[Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank]

@Indian

Sometimes you get something after multiple viewings. I have appreciated movies this way.

I didn’t think much of Gangnam-style the first time I saw it, but it grew on me.

I’m kind of fond of this dance number from a 1965 Bolllywood movie called Gumnaam. Something about it. Maybe it’s the horns, the frenetic dancing, the twangy 60’s guitar, or the way the one woman seems to be trying to shake water from her ears and tries to keep smiling while doing it. Maybe it’s all of it, I don’t know but I like it.

[SCAdian]

Gotta go with the USNA version…

[wonky]

I love dance music, so I like it. The “Dragostea din tei” dance is a lot harder, though.

[chacoguy]

@zombywoof

Maybe Shagnasty has been watching too much MIT Gangnam Style

At the 3:20 mark is awesomeness.

[Bryan_Ekers]

I haven’t seen it myself, and since I’m utterly unfamiliar with whatever it is it purportedly spoofs, I’m sure its charms will be lost on me.

[lshaw]

@Shagnasty

Baby Got Back by Sir Mixalot from 1992 has a similar style but it is a superior song and dance.

Really? As a trained dancer, I’d like to know what makes those moves in that video “superior”.

[chizzuk]

I’ve watched it twice. I found the horse-riding dancing motions funny and ridiculous, so the video was kind of enjoyable. but I didn’t think the song was all that catchy. Maybe I’d like it more if I understood any of the lyrics.

Of course I’ve watched Numa Numa Guy probably 30 times, so my opinion isn’t worth much.

[drewtwo99]

The only thing surprising about Gangnam Style is that it transcended internet phenomenon and became an outright radio hit, featuring on many pop stations and I’m sure it’s still playing around the US today on pop radio.

That’s surprising to me because I think it’s the first time I remember a primarily non-English song becoming such a big hit, or getting any radio airplay at all. There probably have been a couple, but I can’t really remember them.

The song is decent but I’m not much a big fan of rap so I don’t like it. I also really like understanding the lyrics in my music so I can’t appreciate it much from a lyrical POV. But the tune is catchy. The video did absolutely nothing for me. In fact, after I watched it was like, “so that was it?” I didn’t find anything about it interesting.

[HazelNutCoffee]

@Throatwarbler_Mangrove

Nothing remotely interesting culturally has ever come out of Korea (North or South). I don’t understand how South Korea is apparently the heart of culture in East Asia.

Wow. Just out of curiosity, how familiar are you with Korean culture in general?

[Shagnasty]

@drewtwo99

The only thing surprising about Gangnam Style is that it transcended internet phenomenon and became an outright radio hit, featuring on many pop stations and I’m sure it’s still playing around the US today on pop radio.

That’s surprising to me because I think it’s the first time I remember a primarily non-English song becoming such a big hit, or getting any radio airplay at all. There probably have been a couple, but I can’t really remember them.

99 Luft Balloons - Nena
La Bamba - Ritchie Valens
Macarena - Los del Mar
Mr. Roboto - Styx
Rock Me Amedeus - Falco
Un, Dos, Tres - Ricky Martin

[Bryan_Ekers]

’O sole mio likely predates them all, if the Italian version was popular in North America.

[Throatwarbler_Mangrove]

@HazelNutCoffee

Wow. Just out of curiosity, how familiar are you with Korean culture in general?

I’m not. Why? I’m quite familiar with China and to me Korea is largely just a slightly less shitty version of China.

[Johanna]

Domenico Modugno’s “Volare” and Kyū Sakamoto’s “Sukiyaki”* were foreign language hits in America many years ago, a time when Americans were even more hopeless about learning foreign languages than they are now.

*Actual title was “Ue o Muite Arukō” (While walking, I look up). Despite its renaming, no foods were mentioned in the lyrics… only tears.

[ZipperJJ]

@Shagnasty

99 Luft Balloons - Nena
La Bamba - Ritchie Valens
Macarena - Los del Mar
Mr. Roboto - Styx
Rock Me Amedeus - Falco
Un, Dos, Tres - Ricky Martin

Not all of those are all foreign language…but “Gangnam Style” has some English in it too “Hey sexy lady!”

@Bryan_Ekers

’O sole mio likely predates them all, if the Italian version was popular in North America.

and…

Dominique 1963
Sukiyaki 1963
Eres tú 1974

ETA: Johanna beat me to it while I Googled!

[Time_Stranger]

@Throatwarbler_Mangrove

I’m not. Why? I’m quite familiar with China and to me Korea is largely just a slightly less shitty version of China.

What a weird thing to say. I think they are two distinct cultural entities, and you shouldn’t count out South Korea just because you don’t like China. The Korean film industry, especially in the last 10 or 20 years, has been on fire. Modern Korean literature is also getting translated in greater quantity and has a lot to offer - I think it’s a lot more accessible than a lot of Chinese (or Japanese) lit. Plus Korea is pretty much king of the dramatic TV series. I am not a fan of K-Pop, but they excel in just about every other art form.

[Johanna]

[QUOTE=ZipperJJ;15875944[Dominique]
(Dominique - Wikipedia) 1963

ETA: Johanna beat me to it while I Googled!
[/QUOTE]

You’re right—I forgot about “Dominique.” Zut alors.

[HazelNutCoffee]

@Throatwarbler_Mangrove

I’m not.

Okay.

[Throatwarbler_Mangrove]

@Time_Stranger

What a weird thing to say. I think they are two distinct cultural entities, and you shouldn’t count out South Korea just because you don’t like China. The Korean film industry, especially in the last 10 or 20 years, has been on fire. Modern Korean literature is also getting translated in greater quantity and has a lot to offer - I think it’s a lot more accessible than a lot of Chinese (or Japanese) lit. Plus Korea is pretty much king of the dramatic TV series. I am not a fan of K-Pop, but they excel in just about every other art form.

@Time_Stranger

What a weird thing to say. I think they are two distinct cultural entities, and you shouldn’t count out South Korea just because you don’t like China. The Korean film industry, especially in the last 10 or 20 years, has been on fire. Modern Korean literature is also getting translated in greater quantity and has a lot to offer - I think it’s a lot more accessible than a lot of Chinese (or Japanese) lit. Plus Korea is pretty much king of the dramatic TV series. I am not a fan of K-Pop, but they excel in just about every other art form.

Name some good Korean films that might have some appeal outside of Korea? Or TV shows that appeal to people other than Korean teenagers? Where is Korea’s The Wire or The Big Lebowski?

I’ve seen some Korean films that were ostensably popular in Korean and they are decades away from catching up with Uwe Boll. Aside from not being literally communist propaganda they are at the same level as the garbage from China, maybe that’s why it’s so popular there.