Busker Busker 1st Album

Background, release and promotion

Indie band Busker Busker was the runner-up of the televised talent show Superstar K3 in 2011. The band was from Cheonan and consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Jang Beom-jun, bassist Kim Hyung-tae, and drummer Brad Moore. Moore, an American, was a professor at Sangmyung University before the show, and Jang and Kim were students majoring in animation. They were very popular during the show, and the songs they recorded made millions of dollars (USD), but they didn't get to keep any of the profits. After the show ended, they refused the standard record deal offered and accepted by the other contestants. They eventually accepted a six-month contract with CJ E&M Music on condition that they could write their own songs, play they own instruments, choose the production staff, and record in Cheonan instead of Seoul. Busker Busker 1st Album was recorded and mixed in only three weeks, and was released on March 29, 2012, in both CD and digital formats. A song from the album, "Ideal Type", was pre-released the week before on March 22. Before this, the band had only released cover songs.

Busker Busker's debut showcase was held on March 26 at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo. They performed "First Love", "Yeosu Night Sea" and "Cherry Blossom Ending" for the first time at the showcase. The album was then promoted with performances of "Cherry Blossom Ending" on South Korea's music shows. A one-hour special, Busker Busker Show, aired on Mnet on March 30. That same day, tickets went on sale for their first concert, with all 1,800 tickets selling out within five minutes. The concert, titled "Youth Bus", was held on May 5–6.

Composition

All eleven songs on the album were written by Jang Beom-jun and are based on his personal experiences and emotions. They were originally written in an acoustic style, and were rearranged with strings, keyboards, drums and electric guitars for the album. Jang wrote "Yeosu Night Sea" one night after passing by a beach in Yeosu. Some of the songs, including "Spring Wind", "First Love" and "At the Entrance to the Alley", are about "painful but unforgettable" love. "Cherry Blossom Ending" is about wanting to walk in a street filled with cherry blossoms with the one you love. Jang said he got his inspiration from girls he dated and broke up with in the past, and he was also inspired by rock band Sister's Barbershop.

Chart performance

The album was a commercial success, selling 100,000 physical copies and over 13 million digital songs in two months. It sold more than 12,000 copies by April 2, and became hard to find in stores, with employees saying they "didn't know the debut album of a new singer would sell so fast". It entered the Gaon Album Chart at number 3, and topped the chart the following week. It was number 11 on the year-end chart, with 136,234 total copies sold. Songs from the album were also successful digitally, especially "Cherry Blossom Ending", which topped the K-Pop Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks. All eleven tracks from the album charted in the top 23 of the Gaon Digital Chart the week of April 1, with six tracks in the top ten. The top three songs of the week were "Cherry Blossom Ending", "First Love" and "Yeosu Night Sea". All eleven tracks charted in the top 36 of the K-Pop Hot 100 the week of April 14, and six tracks made the top 10 the following week.

The album re-entered the Gaon Album Chart in 2013, peaking at number 10 the week of March 17, and charted at number 62 on the year-end chart, selling an additional 25,161 copies. It also charted the next two years in March, peaking at numbers 25 and 49, respectively. In March 2016, it charted for the fifth consecutive year, peaking at number 22. This is due to the popularity of "Cherry Blossom Ending", which re-enters the Gaon Digital Chart every spring.

Reception and accolades

Singer-songwriter Yoon Do-hyun, singer Hahm Eun-jung and actor Jo Jung-suk all praised "Yeosu Night Sea", with Yoon saying it "sounds like a great song even when someone like me in his forties sings it". "Cherry Blossom Ending" was also praised by critics and musicians, and was one of Billboard's "20 Best K-pop Songs of 2012".

Busker Busker 1st Album won Album of the Year at the 2012 MelOn Music Awards. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards, and "Cherry Blossom Ending" won the award for Best Band Performance. The album also won Best Pop Album at the 2013 Korean Music Awards, while "Yeosu Night Sea" won Best Pop Song.