Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard!
August 2010 Overall Thoughts
Though both teams had been creating songs for years, the summer of 2010 was the point where super producers Sweetune and Brave Brothers started to become ubiquitous. Their hands are all over the releases this month, and each has a song within my top three.
This was a pretty competitive month, with a handful of very solid tracks. Infinite followed up their excellent debut with the flawless summer track She’s Back, while BoA dropped a great album and electro-charged title track.
Unless you’re a ballad fan, you might not be familiar with the name Jo Sung Mo. But, this talented vocalist reinvented himself by pairing with Brave Brothers for the fantastic (and awkwardly-titled) I Wanna Cheat. Apart from the obnoxious producer tag at the end, this song actually pulls some of Sweetune’s tricks, harnessing that edgy electric guitar I tend to love.
Battling for a close fourth place are Rainbow and Narsha. A is another Sweetune track that was a big hit for Rainbow and launched them to stardom. I personally prefer Mach, but A is no slouch either. Meanwhile, Narsha’s Mamma Mia is just bonkers fun. There’s so much going on in this track.
August also delivered a great single by Secret and a solid follow-up for Taeyang. Finally, it gave us the first taste of another soon-to-be-great act (Nine Muses) with a ho-hum debut (No Playboy). With few exceptions, “underwhelming debut singles” seemed to be a hallmark of 2010!
Honorable Mentions
HybRefine – Cosmic Dance (video)
Narsha – Mamma Mia (video)
Nine Muses – No Playboy (video)
Rainbow – A (video)
Secret – Madonna (video)
Sistar – Shady Girl (video)
Supernova – On Days That I Missed You (video)
Taeyang – I’ll Be There (video)
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
She’s Back always puts me in a good mood.
LikeLike
I absolutely love A, hooks upon hooks upon hooks. A + Mach + To Me is just a flawless singles sequence.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Looking Back: The Top Three K-Pop Songs of August 2010 | Rap Star Media
For me, Hurricane Venus is number 1, so massive, even the autotune can’t hurt it. Rainbow’s A is number 2, and She’s Back is number 3.
LikeLike
Apparently this was the month Katy Perry “Firework” was released. So near, and yet so far.
It is interesting to go back in time to the SM sound of 2010. As much as we like to go on about how SM has the characteristic sound they use for all the NCTs and Wayv and SuperM, and perhaps even the recent Shinee single, SM also had another characteristic robot future world sound in 2010. Mr Simple, Bonamano, Lucifer, Nu Abo. I hadn’t heard the BoA track before., but it fits squarely into that year of sound. It sounds like it could have been an f(x) track, which isn’t a bad thing, but somehow it landed with BoA.
I also have Subin’s album (who now goes by DALSoooobin), which sounds to me like Donna Summer was transported in space and time. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8WbROToF4I
Xeno is a big fan of Rainbow, so I will mention that “A” is high on my list too for the month. I love the part where they go “Aaaaaayyyy oh oh oh oh oh oh oooooooooh”, its just clever pop songcraft.
Nick, you have managed to miss Super Junior “No Other from July 2010, again. I will repost it here, again, with large thumbnail too, again. Yah, only the song that made Kyuhyun my bias.
LikeLike
Not a big fan of ‘No Other.’
(runs and hides…)
LikeLike
I am genuinely frustrated that people can dislike No Other. Interesting to see a differing opinion. To me, it is probably the best song of July 2010.
Now, to redeem yourself Nick, update your Suju and TVXQ countdowns ASAP!
no pressure
LikeLike
I don’t hate it or anything. It just doesn’t do anything for me.
LikeLike
For shame, for shame! (I keed, I keed)
You can atone for your sins by finally getting around to a revised Super Junior top 15.5 in time for their 15.5 year anniversary and 10th album release next week. Today’s teaser was a new remix of Superman “Super Junio, the Last Men Standing!” with extra horns in the fanfare. It was *great*!
While you are at it, work on the TVXQ one too.
LikeLike
She’s Back is probably my favorite INFINITE song. There are plenty of things to love in that song but the main highlight is the beltings. SHE’S BAAAACK!!!
LikeLike