Andy Kim

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Andy Kim's Bio: Andy Kim was born in Montreal, Quebec. He is the third of four sons of Lebanese immigrants. He moved to New York at age 16 to pursue a career in music.

In 1968 under the new stage name Andy Kim, he released the single "How'd We Ever Get This Way?" o n the Steed label. He used the different last name as a way to obscure his Lebanese ethnic ancestry. "How'd We Ever Get This Way?" just missed the U.S. Top 20.

Still in 1968, with Jeff Barry, Kim co-wrote "Sugar, Sugar" which was a hit sin gle for The Archies, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and ultimately becoming the RIAA Record of the Year. Kim/Barry wrote more songs for the Archies, and also for Changes, by The Monkees in 1970, which Barry produced.

In 1969, Kim had two h it singles, "Rainbow Ride," which made the U.S. Top 50, and "Baby, I Love You," which got to #9 and was popular enough in Canada to earn him a Gold Leaf (Juno) Award in 1970 as his country's Best Male Vocalist. "Baby, I Love You" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in October 1969.

Over the next few years, Kim recorded a few minor hits (such as "Be My Baby" in late 1970) and toured North America extensively. In the spring of 1974, he rel eased the self-penned "Rock Me Gently", which went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and rose to #2 on the UK Singles Chart. "Rock Me Gently" sold three million copies globally, earning Kim his second gold disc.

Kim had shied away from touring for years before then, when he was working with the Steed label. He has said that he had created a persona in his music in the vein of a white blond surfer and that fans were shocked to see his dark skin color and appearance. As well, he had altered h is voice on his earlier records to sound younger.

By the end of 1976, Kim stopped recording and disappeared from public life. He returned under the stage name 'Baron Longfellow' with a self-titled album Baron Longfellow in 1980 and, also under the same pseudo nym, in 1984 released Prisoner by Design. Both of these albums met with moderate success. In 1991, Kim again went by the name 'Longfellow' and recorded the single "Powerdrive", which received radio airplay on several radio stations across Canada.

In 1995, Kim played at the Kumbaya Festival at which the Barenaked Ladies were also performing. Nearly a decade later, the band's Ed Robertson convinced Kim to come out of retirement. Robertson co-wrote the song "I Forgot to Mention" with him and offer ed to produce the track. The single was released on a 5-track EP in 2004 which included a re-recording of "Powerdrive".

More recently, Kim's music has again come into the public eye, as "Rock Me Gently" was sped up slightly and used by Jee p for their Jeep Liberty commercial ("Pouring In"). His name can be seen on the radio display near the beginning of the commercial.

In 2009 Andy Kim was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In March 2010, E1 Music Canada released Happen Again , Kim's first album in over 20 years. … Read more