Turbo (South Korean band)

Turbo (Korean: 터보) was a South Korean dance-oriented group, mostly popular during the late 1990s to early 2000s. The group was originally a duo consisting 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 new member Mikey. They became one of the biggest stars in the Korean entertainment industry during their active time 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]

Turbo
From left: Kim Jung-nam, Kim Jong-kook, Mikey, KCON LA 2016.
Background information
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop dance hip hop
Years active	1995–2001 2015–2017
Labels	GM Agency (1995–2001) The Turbo Co. (2015–present)
Members	Kim Jung-nam Kim Jong-kook Mikey

Career

1995–1996: Formation and early years

Prior to Turbo's formation, Kim Jung-nam was a DJ while Kim Jong-kook was the vocalist for a high school band. With Jung-nam taking up rap and choreography and Jong-kook in charge of vocals, the group released their first album, 280 km/h Speed, in August 1995. The album sold over 300,000 copies by December of that year.^[2]

Just a year after their debut, Turbo returned with their second album, New Sensation. The album sold 800,000 copies within the first two months. After "Twist King" Turbo performed "Love Is...(3+3=0)" and "어느 재즈 바... (At the Jazz Bar...)". However, during the album's promotions, their company's CEO was revealed to have assaulted its singers and stolen hundreds of millions of won in profits, and Turbo went into seclusion.^[3] Kim Jung-nam, unable to reconcile his differences with the management, left the group, leaving Kim Jong Kook looking for a new partner.^[4]

1997–2001: Addition of Mikey and disbandment

Auditioning against 3,500 other hopefuls, California resident Mikey was the one to become part of Turbo.^[5] With his addition, 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 fourth single "Just the Two of Us".^[6]

In September 1998, while preparing for their 4th album, Kim Jong-kook injured his hip, hampering the album's release.^[7] After a month-long rest, Kim returned to activities, and the album, entitled Perfect Love, was eventually released in October 1998.^[8]

On December 30, 1998, Turbo was invited to participate in the Asia Superconcert 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. Kim Jong-kook received criticism for his lack of effort while lip-syncing and leaving without bowing during Turbo's performance. Due to this incident, Kim Jong-kook and Turbo's company were strictly warned and put under strong sanctions.^[9] The ban was lifted in October 1999, and 4 months later in 2000, Turbo returned with their 5th album Email My Heart.^[10]

On April 7, 2001, Turbo's agency Star Music announced that Kim Jong-kook had left the company due to contract expiration.^[11] To end their career, Turbo released one last album titled "History" revisiting all their hit songs from previous albums and including 3 new songs. A music video for "History" was also released, featuring transgender model and singer Harisu.

 

On stage KCON LA 2016, July 30.

Reunion

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", "Twist King", "Love Is (3+3=0)" and "White Love". However, in this performance Kim Jung-nam is with Kim Jong-kook instead 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 time Mikey is performing with Kim Jong-kook instead of Kim Jung-nam.

In celebration of the group's 20th anniversary, all three previous members reunited for the first time in nearly 15 years in 2015. The group released their comeback album on December 21, featuring all three members. Their title song track "Again" features comedian Yoo Jae-suk, and the music video has many guest appearances, including Lee Kwang-soo and Cha Tae-hyun. On July 25, 2017, they released their first mini-album Turbo Splash, with "Hot Sugar" serving as the album's title track. They also appeared on many television variety shows like SBS's Running Man and KBS 2TV's Happy Together. Kim Jung-nam and Mikey also appeared on KBS 2TV's Hello Counselor.

Members

• Kim Jung-nam (김정남): 1995–1997, 2015–2017
• Kim Jong-kook (김종국): 1995–2001, 2015–2017
• Mikey (Jo Myung-ik) (마이키 (조명익)): 1997–2001, 2015–2017

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR ^[12]^[13]
280 km/h Speed	Released: September 6, 1995 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette	—*
New Sensation	Released: August 14, 1996 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette		KOR: 800,000+^[14]
Born Again	Released: October 22, 1997 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette		KOR: 800,000+^[14]
Perfect Love	Released: October 17, 1998 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette	23*	KOR: 562,478+^[15]
E-Mail My Heart	Released: January 26, 2000 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette	3	KOR: 595,401+^[16]
Again	Released: December 21, 2015 Label: The Turbo Company Format: CD, digital download Track listing 다시 (Again feat. Yoo Jae Suk) 숨바꼭질 (Hide and Seek) 댄싱퀸(Dancing Queen) prod. by 주영훈 잘 지내(Are You Living Well? feat. Lena Park) ... is Love 나비효과(Butterfly Effect) 하얀거리(White Street) prod. by 윤일상 어느 째즈바 2015(Some Jazz Bar 2015) 악몽(Nightmare) 가요 톱 10(Top 10 Songs feat. Lee Ha Neul, Jinu & Lee Sang Min) 행복했으면 좋겠다(I Hope You Will Be Happy feat San.E) 우리 (We feat. K.Will & Jessi) Sunshine (feat.Soya) Happy Birthday To You (Bagagee Viphex13 Remix)	3	KOR: 12,543+^[17]
* The Recording Industry Association of Korea album chart was launched in January 1999.

Compilation albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR ^[12]^[13]
History	Released: June 19, 2001 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette	7	KOR: 101,869+^[18]
Reboot: The Best	Released: November 24, 2015 Label: Ogan Entertainment Format: CD, digital download	11	KOR: 1,598+^[19]

EP

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR ^[13]
Turbo Splash	Released: July 25, 2017 Label: Turbo Company Format: CD, digital download	8

Remix albums

Title	Album details
X-Mas Dance Party Mix with Turbo	Released: November 29, 1996 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette
Turbo Summer Remix	Released: June 24, 1997 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette
Millennium Turbo Dance Megamix	Released: July 15, 1998 Label: GM Agency, Doremi Media Format: CD, cassette

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Sales (Digital)	Album
		KOR ^[20]
"My Childhood Dream" (나 어릴적 꿈)	1995	15	KOR: 125,917^[21]	280 km/h Speed
"Black Cat Nero" (검은 고양이 네로)		94	KOR: 16,386^[22]
"Love Is... (3+3=0)"	1996	12	KOR: 95,367^[21]	New Sensation
"Twist King"		69	KOR: 40,452^[23]
"Forbidden Games" (금지된 장난)	1997	—		Born Again
"December" (회상)		71	KOR: 20,989^[22]
"X (The Greatest Love)"	1998	—		Perfect Love
"White Love" (스키장에서)		34	KOR: 98,280^[21]
"D.D.R"	2000	—		Email My Heart
"Cyber Love"		—
"Again" (다시) (feat. Yoo Jae-suk)	2015	1	KOR: 359,393^[24]	Again
"Hide and Seek" (숨바꼭질)		16	KOR: 68,046^[25]
"Hot Sugar" (뜨거운 설탕)	2017	—	KOR: 17,270^[26]	Turbo Splash
"—" denotes release did not chart. Note: The Gaon Music Chart was established in 2010.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1996	Sports Seoul Music Award	Bonsang Award (Main Prize)	Turbo 2nd Album	Won
	SBS Music Award		—	Won
	KBS Music Award		—	Won
	MBC Music Award		—	Won
	Golden Disk Awards		Turbo 2nd Album: Twist King	Won
1997			Turbo 3rd Album: Goodbye Yesterday	Won
	SBS Music Award		—	Won
	KBS Music Award		Turbo 3rd Album: Born Again	Won
	MBC Music Award		—	Won
1998	SBS Music Award		Turbo 4th Album: Perfect Love	Won
	KBS Music Award		—	Won
	MBC Music Award		—	Won
2000	Golden Disk Awards		Turbo 5th Album: E-mail My Heart	Won
	SBS Music Award			Won
	KBS Music Award		—	Won
	MBC Music Award		—	Won

References

1. "Turbo returns after 15 years as trio, tops charts". m.koreaherald.com. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
2. "신인 댄스듀오「터보」 가창력 겸비한「파워댄스」그룹". NAVER Newslibrary. 1995-12-09. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
3. "가요계 非理도 전면수사-매니저社 대표 수배". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 1996-11-29. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
4. 김대령. "[20년 전 오늘] 김종국, 가요-예능 모두 평정한 터보 엔진". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-08-23.
5. 엔터팀. "터보 두 번째 멤버 마이키는 누구？". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-10-15.
6. "미국 음반사,우리가수와 '밀월'". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 1998-06-22. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
7. "댄스가수는 '춤기계'인가…무리한 연습 부상 속출". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 1998-09-22. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
8. "만성 디스크 딛고 활동재개 '터보' 김종국". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 1998-10-15. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
9. "터보 김종국 불성실 무대매너 제재". NAVER Newslibrary (in Korean). 1999-01-22. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
10. "댄스듀오 터보, 5집 들고 컴백!". 중앙일보 (in Korean). 2002-02-25. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
11. . 스타뮤직 (in Korean). 2004-04-07. Archived from the original on 2001-04-17. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
12. (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
    • . Archived from the original on 2007-07-18.
    • . Archived from the original on 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
    • . Archived from the original on 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
13. "Gaon Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
    • "Turbo Splash charting".
    • "Again charting".
    • "Reboot: The Best charting".
14. [1999 Domestic Music Market Roundup]. Imaeil. 1998-12-14. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
15. . Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on July 18, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
16. . Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
17. Again total album sales:
    • "2015 Yearly Album Chart (See #121)".
    • "June 2016 Album Chart (See #157)".
18. (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on 2016-10-21. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
19. "January 2016 Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
20. "Gaon Digital Chart "터보" Search". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
21. "2015년 01월 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
22. "2015년 1주차 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
23. Cumulative sales of "Twist King":
    • "2015년 1주차 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
    • "2015년 2주차 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
24. Cumulative sales of "Again":
    • "2015년 12월 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
    • "2016년 01월 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
25. "2015년 53주차 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
26. "2017년 30주차 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 23, 2020.

External links

•   Media related to Turbo (South Korean band) at Wikimedia Commons