I'm back! a.k.a. I just wrote the toughest exam of my entire study program and I have time to breathe. Damn. Formal languages...PDA… DEA.. Regular expressions… Turing machines… CYK Algorithm… 3CNF - SAT… I wrote it already! Why am I still thinking about it?

aaaahh get me out of here!

Anyways, today, we’re looking at a forgotten/ overlooked album from a pretty famous 80s singer yet again, and this time, it’s the “Genius Girl”, the late Jang Deok, with her 2nd album “Yeah Yeah/Call Me / The Story Of My Dream", released in 1988.

It hurts me to write “the late” in front of her name, given how much I love the songs she’s made and written and sung. If you’re curious, here’s a humble eulogy I wrote for her, on her death anniversary this year.

There’s so much personality in her songs, and this album, I know for a fact, is not gonna be different. Or at least so I hope. So, lets jump right in.

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1. Yeah Yeah 얘 얘

Composer - Kim Pa (1/3rd of a popular disco band, Kim Trio), Lyrics Jang Deok

Rating : 9.5/10

Review : We’re starting off with nothing short of a banger. GIRL. She sat in the studio that day and said “we’re cooking a bop today” ISTG. It starts off with a simple clap beat and a brass synth, and then the GUITARS COME IN??? and it just goes on a different level. Like, it just gives me a serotonin surge, and the classic “ba ba bammmm” synths (is it those staccato orchestra synths? I remember owning an old 80s keyboard with the same synths) is in here too doing the most.

The lyrics are as simple and as cute as can get, and ofc Deok has a sweet voice. There’s nothing for her to have a hard time at all. The melody is CATCHY catchy, and despite being simple, it’s so complete. Idk how to explain it, it just feels like it starts and ends right idk. The background vocalists are doing their best here and it works so well.

The one negative point is that it’s waaay to short. Barely touching 3 minutes… girl pleaseee. I know in 80s dance songs it was common to just repeat the first verse in the second verse and there were no bridges, but we deserved a longer chorus for sure! It’s like, what, 3 lines long? And a better, longer outro. But well, it’s what the modern songs do too, and at least, it feels like a complete song. Damn. Jang Deok was ahead of the streaming era here. Futuristic queen.

All in all, this must have been so fun to perform. If it were me in the audience I’d belt my heart along to this.

2. Getting Closer 점점 더 가까워줘요

Lyrics, Composition : Jang Deok

Rating : 6/10

Review : Was it an 80s staple to put a ballad directly after the biggest bop on the album? idk. But the opening instrumental is absolutely beautiful. I can hear that she used the same keyboard as before for the synths in here ( shoutout to the flute! Beautiful!), especialy the orchestra stabs. It’s a classic RnB ballad, with a lot of orchestra (duh but also it’s really prominient). And wow, the flute is doing the most here. Solo standout moment, a 100% deserved. I think more than the melody on the actual song, the instrumental is more majestic and more of a thing to show. As expected of a girl nicknamed “Genius composer”!

TBH, because the melody and the chorus kinda falls a little too flat (also on the vocal delivery… sorry girlie), Deok herself takes kind of a backseat while her composition is the big focus here. Literally the saving grace for me. It’s even easier to enjoy on whats going on in the background than the actual song. (also shoutout to #FluteGang)

3. Call Me 나를 불러줘요

Lyrics, Composition : Jang Deok

Rating : 7/10

Review : Flute back at it again! And the synths are much more “sparkly” and I can hear those vox synths in the pre-chorus too! Deok is basically whispering in the verses, but that was again a popular way to sing ballads in those days, because damn, when the chorus hit, she goes off! That is a classic 80s-90s Korean ballad moment, with that orchestra in the back.

The second verse sounds much better and more “louder”. I have to be honest I’m a fan of these type of “classic” ballads, so I like this song a lot, it isn’t everyone cuppa tea though. What I’ve noticed about a bunch of Deok’s ballads (like “Girl And The Streetlamp” or “In foreseeable times”) is that for slower songs she often has a whole orchestra in the back, while for dance songs (”After you left me”), it’s basically synths over synths over a beat (again made by percussion synths, not even a drumset or so LOL). Idk I personally like it a lot.

4. Listen To Me 내 말좀 들어요

Lyrics, Composition : Kim Beomryung

Rating : 8.5/10

Review : Sparkly synths at it again! And Deok has a very trot-y feel to her voice this time? No wonder, when fellow singer Kim Beom-ryeong is cooking up the song, you’re bound to sound a little trot/chanson-y. Proof : Yang Sookyung’s “Where are you, my darling?”, which gives me chanson vibes in the best way, but if you look at it in that way, it’s as “pop-trot” as it can get. No traditional trot, but a trot vibe mixed with pop.

And Deok, having debuted in the 70s, has that in her voice since the beginning. I feel like her vocals are shining really well her. Stable high notes with a good vibrato over shaky ones all day! Literally levitating here. It’s a beautiful, soaring song, that also fits Deok’s composing/song style well. That’s probably why they put it on the album, duh.

Fun fact, Kim Beom Ryung respected Deok not just as a fellow singer but as a composer a lot, and so he wrote this song and asked her to just give her opinion on it. It’s said she liked it so much she recorded it right there and promised him to “give back” another song - which is “Empty Heart” on Kim Beomryung’s 4th abum “Last Kiss”. Both of their albums came out in the same year with each other’s compositions on it - isn’t that kinda cool?

He was verz close to her, and also contributed to her 1990 Tribute album which was released after she passed, singing a song from this album - Telling You Goodbye

It’s not a change of pace, but another way of putting a ballad in an album. I’m obsessed with the chorus and the sparkly af synths chilling in the back - and we haven’t even talked about the key change in the end that just ELEVATES you. This is what happens when you get two great minds in the studio, ig.

5. Yeah Yeah (Instrumental)

Rating : 6/10

Review : Interesting they put the Instrumental at track 5, but then, it was probably spolit in Side A and Side B on vinyl and they put it oon end of Side A.

As I had mentioned before, the orchestra stab synths and the background vocalists are doing the most here. The melody is as standard just played by a synths so it doesn’t sound too unfamiliar. I feel like the vocals give the song the energy needed, and the instrumental itself is kinda... idk? here and there?

6. Seoul Night Streets 서울의 밤거리

Lyrics : Jang Deok, Composition : Kim Pa

Rating : 9/10

Review : It’s something upbeat… or? is it? It has a very interesting vibe from the beginning, this song. It starts out in a major scale, goes to a minor…Are we sampling the Mission Impossible theme there? aha. I see ya! As expected from a disco composer, samples are supposed to be as tasteful as here!

This song has a sort of city pop/ funk vibe to it, but way more upbeat than your average city pop song. Written in a minor scale, which reminds me of a lot of 70s psychedelic/folk songs from Korea who were often written in minor scales. This song is a perfect movie soundtrack though, very energetic (the bass as usual, immaculate), and full of action, but also very melancholic and kinda nostalgic. The guitars and bass are as usual going off! This is such a spy movie-esque song, I’m thoroughly enjoying this LMAO. It’s on repeat for the next few minutes for sure. The energy goes up and down in exactly the right moments. The melody sounds happy and sad at the same time, and all in all it’s a masterpiece and I now have to check out the Kim Trio’s work if one third of them has this amount of talent for upbeat songs imagine the other 2 like hellooo???

7. Telling You Goodbye 너에게 안녕을 고할때

Lyrics, Composition : Jang Deok

Rating : 7.5/10

It’s an upbeat Jang Deok song actually composed by her whoop whoop

It’s giving Bollywood vibes? Is it the minor scale again? Idk, the synths are back at it again and it sounds a lot like her hit “After You Left Me”, which is not a bad thing cuz I love that song, but this song is giving way more upbeat Trot vibes than dance pop vibes. Or maybe the Trot people saw Jang Deok and decided to copy her style. Idk. It just has this very “traditional” vibe to it, in the instruments especially. Maybe because it’s in a 2/4 time signature? The melody? I can’t place it at all. It’s not anything big and special, as I said, the little sister of “After you left me", but a pleasant track nonetheless.

The lyrics though... man. 80s artists really knew how to package the most heartbreaking shit in the most upbeat way possible. It's said that Deok had a hard time writing happy songs because she just had way too much sadness in her life up until then - kinda hard to write about love when you don't know it.

8. The Story Of My Dream 나의 꿈 이야기

Lyrics : Jang Deok, Composition : Kim Pa

Rating : 8.5 / 10

Review : The last of Kim Pa’s songs he wrote for this album. This song is a simple, light, dreamy song that almost sounds like a children’s song imo. Starting off with one hell of a catchy “lalala” is always a good thing, Sparkly bell synths are back!

The acoustic guitar in the background sounds beautiful, it reminds me of folk songs from the 70s. In general, I think this album has a lot of influences from the era of Deok’s childhood. Even the lyrics about being a bird and flying free and high are from that genre, and so endearing. As I said, it’s super dreamy and lovely. The melody flows much better than in some ballads, and I can just imagine a classroom full of primary school children singing along to this song while their music teacher plays the guitar along. I wish there would have been that orchstra/strings action in here because it would have fit in so so well… But it’s so pretty. really. So nostalgic for a reason. This one’s going on repeat, man. I’m in my feels. They did right in choosing this song to be on the album cover. Ah, my heart-

9. Feeling Of Love

Lyrics, Composition : Jang Deok

Rating : 6/10

Review : this has a very interesting vibe with that brass going on, but again, it matches Seoul Night Streets with the minor scale, the nostalgic, wistful feeling. It also feel very much Trot (2/4 beat) just without the crazy vibrato. I think a lot of pop in the 80s were very much Trot adjacent.

The song is a good ending to the album, imo. It has a lot of what was already heard in the album, and the melody isn’t as “catchy” but solid nonetheless. Idk, nothing really much to say about this.

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Aaand we are done with the album! The average rating for this one is a 68/90 which is an exact 0,75, which makes it a 7.5 rating. It was not a perfect album by any chance, there were filler tracks on it, but that's okay. There were obviously the three standout songs and some three songs I liked a lot. I feel like that's more than enough.

Melon has two more songs on it, the background tracks of Story Of My dreams and Call Me, but they're only available on the record and not on streaming TT.

Jang Deok is one of the most influential female artists of Korea, and I don't even have to put a "imo" in that sentence because it does not need an opinion. The respect she earned in her times, as not just a "pretty girl" but as a brilliant, creative and hardworking young singer-songwriter, by her fellow singers and society directly translated into the doors for female composers and producers opening wide in Korea - and the product of that being all female self-producing idols, and the hits we enjoy that are written by them. Giving a voice to women to express themselves in music and not always having to rely on a male counterpart for it - even better, working in harmony with them as equals, is something that is very necessary and important in the music industry.

I feel like just because she's not alive anymore and she was active in the 70s - 80s, generally a "dark period" in international fans' consciousness, we don't ever acknowledge her or even care to know her. And I admit, it is hard to find out about her, and even if, there's not much to be done - she's left no children or family members except her father and aunt (her brother passed away of cancer 6 months after her passing), nothing but her music and legacy behind.

But the least we can do is not let her memory die out.