Turbo (South Korean band)

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.

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. Kim Jung-nam, unable to reconcile his differences with the management, left the group, leaving Kim Jong Kook looking for a new partner.

1997–2001: Addition of Mikey and disbandment

Auditioning against 3,500 other hopefuls, California resident Mikey was the one to become part of Turbo. 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".

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

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. The ban was lifted in October 1999, and 4 months later in 2000, Turbo returned with their 5th album Email My Heart.

On April 7, 2001, Turbo's agency Star Music announced that Kim Jong-kook had left the company due to contract expiration. 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.[[File:Turbo - 20160731-P1010006 (29049672125).jpg|thumb|right|On stage [[KCON (music festival)|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

Compilation albums

EP

Remix albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "Turbo returns after 15 years as trio, tops charts".
2. (1995-12-09). "신인 댄스듀오「터보」 가창력 겸비한「파워댄스」그룹".
3. (1996-11-29). "가요계 非理도 전면수사-매니저社 대표 수배".
4. 김대령. "[20년 전 오늘] 김종국, 가요-예능 모두 평정한 터보 엔진".
5. 엔터팀. "터보 두 번째 멤버 마이키는 누구？".
6. (1998-06-22). "미국 음반사,우리가수와 '밀월'".
7. (1998-09-22). "댄스가수는 '춤기계'인가…무리한 연습 부상 속출".
8. (1998-10-15). "만성 디스크 딛고 활동재개 '터보' 김종국".
9. (1999-01-22). "터보 김종국 불성실 무대매너 제재".
10. (2002-02-25). "댄스듀오 터보, 5집 들고 컴백!".
11. (2004-04-07). "## [중요공지] 터보 '김종국' 스타뮤직을 떠나고.. ##".
12. (1998-12-14). "98년 국내 음반시장 결산".
13. "January 1999 K-pop Album Sales Volume". Recording Industry Association of Korea.
14. "2000 K-pop Album Sales Volume". Recording Industry Association of Korea.
15. "June 2001 K-Pop Album Sales Volume". Recording Industry Association of Korea.
16. "January 2016 Album Chart". Korea Music Content Industry Association.
17. "Gaon Digital Chart "터보" Search".
18. "2015년 1주차 Download Chart".
19. "2015년 01월 Download Chart".
20. "2015년 53주차 Download Chart".
21. "2017년 30주차 Download Chart".