The Wonder Years (Wonder Girls album)

The Wonder Years is the debut studio album by South Korean girl group Wonder Girls. It was released on September 13, 2007, by JYP Entertainment.

The Wonder Years
From left to right: Yeeun, Yubin, Sohee, Sunye, Sunmi
Studio album by Wonder Girls
Released	September 13, 2007
Recorded	December 2006–2007 (Seoul, South Korea)
Genre	K-pop R&B dance pop electropop synthpop
Length	46:46
Label	JYP LOEN GMM Grammy KMP Holdings
Producer	Park Jin-Young (exec.) Woo Seok Rhee "RAINSTONE" Mitchell John Dixon Tae Kwon "SoulAttack" Seo Ui Beom Jang Jun Ho Brian Kim Lyu Hyeong Seom Lee Min Woo Bang Si-hyuk "Hitman Bang"
Wonder Girls chronology
The Wonder Begins (2007) The Wonder Years (2007) The Wonder Years: Trilogy (2008)
Singles from The Wonder Years
"Irony" Released: February 13, 2007 "Bad Boy" Released: March 22, 2007 "It's Not Love" Released: April 27, 2007 "Tell Me" Released: September 13, 2007 "This Fool" Released: December 10, 2007

The album topped the South Korean Albums Chart (MIAK). It was certified platinum by Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK). It produced five singles, "Irony", "Bad Boy", "It's Not Love", "Tell Me" and "This Fool". Also, a music video for a soul track "Wishing on a Star" was released, however it wasn't released as single. Singles "Irony" and "Tell Me" topped various musical charts. Although member Hyuna left two months before album was released and was replaced by Yubin, all tracks on album featured Hyuna's vocals. Only the rap version of "Tell Me" features Yubin's raps. Also, Yubin sings on track "Wishing on a Star". The Wonder Years was a sequel to Wonder Girls' extended play (EP) The Wonder Begins (2007) and a prequel to Wonder Girls' second extended play The Wonder Years: Trilogy (2008). On April 23, 2012, album was re-released through recording label KMP Holdings.

Background

Wonder Girls were formed in 2006 by Park Jin-young during the television reality show MTV Wonder Girls (2006–2010), during which they held their first performances, rehearsals and recording sessions. At first a quartet, the fifth member Park Yeeun, also known as Yenny, joined the group and the group released their successful debut single "Irony" in February 2007. The same month, their debut extended play The Wonder Begins was released and was followed with two more singles "Bad Boy" and "It's Not Love". Latter was used as the soundtrack for film Hellcats, in which member Sohee starred. In July 2007, group's rapper Hyuna left the group due to health problems and was on hiatus until she joined another South Korean girl group 4minute. She was replaced by rapper Yubin who was originally a member of girl group Five Girls but joined JYP Entertainment when the group subsequently went inactive. Their single "Tell Me" was released in September 2007 and became one of their biggest hits. The remix, titled "Tell Me (Rap Version)" was made to include Yubin's vocals and was included on their 2008 EP So Hot. The album was recorded in Seoul from December 2006 (when MTV Wonder Girls first aired) until 2007. The title of the album is The Wonder Years, however on album cover and Discogs it's titled The Wonder Years (The First Album) while on HanBooks it's titled The Wonder Years (1st Album).[1] Also, album cover features a colorful background behind all five members (Yeeun, Yubin, Sohee, Sunye and Sunmi), who are jumping.

Release and promotion

The Wonder Years was physically released in South Korea through JYP Entertainment and LOEN Entertainment on September 13, 2007. The same day, album was released for digital download worldwide and on US iTunes Store through JYP Entertainment. It was also physically released in Thailand through recording label G"MM' Grammy. Almost five years later, album was re-released on April 23, 2012 through label KMP Holdings. Album was promoted with five singles: "Irony", "Bad Boy", "It's Not Love", "Tell Me" and "This Fool. During the promotion, member Hyuna left the group. However, album includes her vocals although it was released two months after her departure. Also, album was promoted with an EP The Wonder Begins in February 2007 and various live performances, including the guest-performance at the 2007 spring festival of the Hanyang University and many others. Later, Wonder Girls embarked on their first Asian tour in 2009 before their world tour following year.

Singles

Wonder Girls who were guest-performing live "Irony" on stage at the 2007 spring festival of the Hanyang University. From left to right: Sohee, Hyuna, Yeeun, Sunye and Sunmi

"Irony" was the debut single from album. Previously, it was released a maxi single, The Wonder Begins. It was released on February 13, 2007 by JYP Entertainment. A music video was produced for "Irony" to promote the song. Wonder Girls showed the first live performance of "Irony" at the MBC TV series Music Core on February 10, 2007. The songs from their debut single that featured Hyuna were left intact with her singing vocals, however, her rap vocals were re-recorded over by Yubin for first studio album, The Wonder Years.

"Bad Boy" was the B-side song from the maxi single, The Wonder Begins. Later, it was released as the recut single on March 22, 2007.

"It's Not Love" was the B-side song from the maxi single, The Wonder Begins. Later, it was released as the recut single on April 27, 2007. The format was a digital download that title was "It's Not Love ~Tears~" (미안한 마음 ~Tears~).

"Tell Me" was the lead single from released from the album and became the group's first number one hit. Due to the last-minute addition of rapper Kim Yubin to the group, her rap is not on the album version."Tell Me (Rap version)" was included in the second mini album, So Hot (2008).

The last single from the album was "This Fool (이 바보)", which debuted on MBC's show Music Core on December 10, 2007. This song was used to promote the South Korean film Hellcats which features Wonder Girls member Ahn Sohee.

Track listing

The Wonder Years – Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Wanna"	J.Y. Park "The Asiansoul"	Park Woo Seok Rhee "RAINSTONE"	3:46
2.	"This Fool" (이바보 Ibabo)	Park	Park	3:48
3.	"Tell Me"	Park Mitchell John Dixon	Park Mitchell John Dixon RAINSTONE	3:37
4.	"Friend"	Tae Kwon "SoulAttack" Seo Ui Beom	Kwon Beom	4:00
5.	"Headache"	Kwon	Kwon Jang Jun Ho	3:31
6.	"So What" (뭐 어때 Mwo Eottae) (featuring David Kim)	Brian Kim	Kim	4:04
7.	"Wishing on a Star"	Bag Chae Won	Lyu Hyeong Seob	3:57
8.	"Move" (featuring Lee Min Woo)	Woo	Woo	3:30
9.	"Take It" (가져가 Ga Jyeo Ga)	Park	Park Kwon	3:46
10.	"Good Bye"	Park	Park	3:32
11.	"Bad Boy"	Park	Park Bang Si-hyuk "Hitman Bang"	3:11
12.	"It's Not Love" (미안한 마음 ~tears~ Mianhan Ma-eum ~tears~)	Park	Park Kwon	4:00
13.	"Irony"	Park	Park	4:04
Total length:				46:46

Personnel

• Min Sunye – vocals (all tracks)
• Park Yeeun – vocals (all tracks)
• Ahn Sohee – vocals (all tracks)
• Lee Sunmi – vocals (all tracks)
• Kim Yubin – vocals (tracks 1-10)
• Kim Hyuna – vocals (11,12,13), background vocals (tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13)
• Park Jin-young – songwriting, production (tracks 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13), background vocals (track 3)
• Woo Seok Rhee – production (tracks 1, 3)
• Won Hyeon Jeong – background vocals (tracks 2, 13)
• Mitchell John Dixon – songwriting, production (track 3)
• Tae Kwon – songwriting, production (tracks 4, 5, 9, 12)
• Seo Ui Beom – songwriting, production (track 4)
• Jang Jun Ho – production (track 5)
• Brian Kim – featured artist, songwriting, production (track 6)
• Bag Chae Won – songwriting (track 7)
• Lyu Hyeong Seob – production (track 7)
• Lin Jeong Yeon – background vocals (track 7)
• Lee Min Woo – featured artist, songwriting, production (track 8)
• Bang Si-hyuk – production (track 11)

Charts

The chart positions are based on data from Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK). Unlike Oricon and Billboard, the charts are released monthly, not weekly.

Chart (2007)	Peak position
South Korean Albums (MIAK)[2]	1

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
South Korea (MIAK)[3]	Platinum	80,685

Release history

Region	Date	Edition	Format	Label	Catalog	Ref.
Worldwide	September 13, 2007	Standard	Digital download	JYP	N/A	[4]
South Korea			CD	JYP LOEN	SDL-0025	[5]
Thailand				G"MM' Grammy	AVCD172	[6]
South Korea	April 23, 2012	Reissue		KMP Holdings	JYPK0125	[7]

References

1. hanbooks.com. "[CD] Wonder Girls - The Wonder Years (1st Album) - HanBooks". HanBooks. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
2. (in Korean)2007. 12월 – 가요음반 판매량 Archived 2008-11-12 at the Wayback Machine. Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK). Retrieved July 18, 2008.
3. (in Korean)6월 가요음반 판매량집계 Archived 2008-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK). Retrieved July 16, 2008.
4. itunes.apple.com (September 13, 2007). "Wonder Girls - The Wonder Years (Korean Version) by Wonder Girls". US iTunes Store. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
5. Discogs.com (September 13, 2007). "Wonder Girls - The Wonder Years (The First Album) on Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
6. Discogs.com (September 13, 2007). "Wonder Girls - The Wonder Years (The First Album) on Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
7. Discogs.com (April 23, 2012). "Wonder Girls - The Wonder Years (The First Album) on Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved August 7, 2016.