"A" is a song by the South Korean girl group Rainbow. It was released on August 12, 2010, and was later included on their second mini album So Girls.
Background A teaser photo with the concept of the song was released on August 4. A teaser of the music video was released on August 10 and the full music video on August 12, along with the release of the single.
Composition The song was produced by Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo (also known as Sweetune), who also produced the songs "Rock U", "Pretty Girl", "Honey", "Wanna", "Mister" and "Lupin" for their label-mate KARA.
Promotions The promotions of the song started on August 13 in the KBS's Music Bank. It was also promoted on MBC's Music Core, SBS's Inkigayo and Mnet's M! Countdown.
Track listing
Chart performance In the first week, the song was at number 50 and climbed to the number 11 the following week. The peak position was 9, in the week of September 4. The song ranked number 80 in Gaon's yearly chart with 337,665,388 points and with 1,617,074 digital copies sold.
Charts Chart (2010) Peak position Gaon Weekly singles9 Gaon Monthly singles13 Gaon Yearly singles80
Japanese version
The song was re-record in Japanese as the group's first single in Japan. It was released digitally on September 7, 2011, and physically on September 14 in four different versions: three limited editions (CD+DVD, CD + 32-pages photobook and CD only with a bonus track) and a regular edition.
Composition The Japanese version remains some lyrics written by Song Soo Yoon and was translated by Yu Shimoji and nice73. The B-side is a Japanese version of the song "Gossip Girl", previously recorded in Korean. The song is the lead single from their first EP Gossip Girl.
Promotions In Japan, Rainbow performed the song on the shows Happy Music, Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ and Music Japan. The group held their first event in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo with a crowd of 2,000 fans. They performed "A" and had a 15-minute talk session.
Track listing
Chart performance The physical single began at number 3 in Oricon's daily chart and also number 3 in Oricon's weekly chart with 24,082 copies sold in the first week. After hearing about their position in Japan, the girls said, "When we first heard that we were ranked in third, we were all surprised because we had no idea that they’d take such an interest in us. There were even some members who cried. There’s also a lot of pressure in that we have to work harder and do better. We’re still very grateful and thankful for our position on the charts. Since we’re already receiving so much love, we’re really not anticipating a rise in the weekly charts. For the remainder of our stay here, we’re just going to do our best."
Charts Oricon Oricon ChartPeakDebut salesSales totalDaily Singles Chart324,08244,858Weekly Singles Chart3Monthly Singles Chart18Yearly Singles Chart172
Other charts Chart Peakposition Billboard Japan Hot 100 4 RIAJ Digital Track Chart weekly top 100 15
Ab dance controversy The "ab dance" in Rainbow's choreography was banned from broadcasting on September 8, 2010, because it was "too sexually suggestive". The dance move involves the group lifting their shirts up to the point where their abdomen or stomach can be seen before taking them down again which was deemed similar to a strip tease. The music video was also age restricted on YouTube, but DSP retired the restriction. They started promoting the song without the "ab dance" on September 11.
However, when the group promoted the song in Japan they were allowed to perform the dance, and referred to it as the "belly dance".
Release history Country Date Format Label South Korea August 12, 2010 Digital download, Promotional single DSP Media Japan September 7, 2011 Digital download Universal Sigma September 14, 2011 CD single
References
External links "A" (Japanese) music video teaser (DSP version) on YouTube "A" (Japanese) music video teaser (Universal Music Japan version) on YouTube "A" (Korean) music video on YouTube "A" (Korean) music video teaser on YouTube