Andy Kim was born in Montreal in 1952. He is of Lebanese descent (his real name is Andrew Youachim). He left for a singing/songwriting career in New York, but was soon back home. His big break came in 1968 with his hit song, "How'd We Ever Get This Way?" This would soon follow with a string of hits here in Canada. In the US market, he would bubble just under stardom until 1974, when "Rock Me Gently" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.Andy's greatest claim to fame was that he co-wrote the monster hit, "Sugar Sugar" by Don Kirshner's mythical group The Archies. Anybody old enough to remember the Summer of '69 will remember this song OWNED the radio waves, staying at #1 on the beloved CHUM Chart for upwards of 5 or 6 weeks. The common myth was that Andy also sang the lead vocals on this song, and I believed it for years. But in actuality, it was Ron Dante who sang lead. The same Ron Dante who did the lead vocals on "Tracy" by the Cuff Links (also in '69). I'm sure Andy and his writing partner Jeff Barry made enough moolah to retire successfully from that one hit.
This compliation was put together from all his singles, both as himself and also as "Baron Longfellow", a rather interesting stage name. I have an original copy of Andy's Greatest Hits on the DOT label, but there are only 11 songs on it and was released before "Rock Me Gently".
Andy Kim records are hard to find, trust me. Grab this great collection and remember what top 40 pop rock is supposed to sound like!
Andy Kim - Greatest Hits
01 I Hear You Say (I Love You Baby)
02 How'd We Ever Get This Way
03 Shoot 'Em Up Baby
04 Rainbow Ride
05 Tricia Tell Your Daddy
06 Baby, I Love You
07 So Good Together
08 A Friend In The City
09 It's Your Life
10 Be My Baby
11 I Wish I Were
12 I've Been Moved
13 Who Has The Answers?
14 Rock Me Gently
15 Fire, Baby I'm On Fire
16 The Essence Of Joan
17 Harlem
As "Baron Longfellow"
18 Go It Slow
19 Amour
20 Sugar Sugar
21 I'm Gonna Need A Miracle Tonight
22 Hold Me
23 In The Night Machine
Andy Kim Greatest Hits Part 1, Part 2
2 comments:
Andy Kim made a great success in Brazil.
Thanks for this post.
CarlosBH
I've seen this album on your site for a while but I never bothered downloading it, thinking Andy Kim only did a couple of songs I remember.
I finally did and I couldn't believe he's done a lot of songs I wasn't aware of, and ones that I really liked!
thanks so much for this Meester!
Cheers
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