Biography
During the 1960s and 1970s Andy Kim attained substantial chart prominence as a vocalist, composer, and record producer, only to witness a revival of his career once the new millennium arrived. Andrew Youakim came into the world as the child of Lebanese immigrants who had established themselves in Montreal, Canada, operating a grocery business there. From childhood onward Youakim cultivated a strong affinity for music, and at sixteen he departed his family home carrying just forty dollars, traveling to New York City in hopes of entering the recording industry. After issuing several singles on assorted labels without notable results, he encountered the established songwriter and producer Jeff Barry, who together with Ellie Greenwich had created numerous major successes for Phil Spector.
Impressed by a composition the young artist had created titled “How’d We Ever Get This Way,” Barry placed him under contract with Steed Records, the label he himself directed. Adopting the simplified professional name Andy Kim, he watched the track reach the Top 20 in both the United States and Canada during 1968. That same year Barry joined a team of writers and producers assembled to supply material for the Archies, the fictional band featured in an animated television series drawn from the well-known comic books. Partnering with Barry, Kim helped compose two of the Archies’ biggest successes, “Sugar Sugar” and “Jingle Jangle,” while also contributing vocals to certain sessions, although Ron Dante remained the principal lead singer. In 1969 Kim secured another solo success with “So Good Together,” and the next year he entered the Top Ten with his version of “Baby I Love You,” a song Barry had co-written for the Ronettes.
By 1974 Kim climbed to the summit of the Billboard charts with the single “Rock Me Gently,” yet his straightforward, clean-cut pop approach—shaped by both bubblegum and Brill Building traditions—was losing currency, making this his final major American hit. Persuaded that his established image was limiting further progress, he issued a 1980 album under the pseudonym Baron Longfellow, which achieved modest results, followed by a second Longfellow release, Prisoner by Design, in 1984.
A turning point arrived in 1995 when Kim performed at Toronto’s Kumbaya Festival, an annual benefit for AIDS charities, where he met Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies and learned that a member of Canada’s leading band had long admired his work. Through Robertson he discovered widespread esteem among prominent Canadian musicians, leading him to write songs with both Robertson and Ron Sexsmith while also appearing onstage with the indie rock collective Broken Social Scene. Having maintained a longstanding commitment to charitable causes, Kim founded the Andy Kim Christmas Show in 2005, an annual fundraising concert at Toronto’s Mod Club that regularly featured fellow Canadian artists ranging from Luke Doucet to Rush’s Alex Lifeson performing seasonal numbers.
Returning to the studio in 2010, Kim released the comeback album Happen Again, which contained several tracks he had written with Robertson and Sexsmith. His enduring association with Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew eventually produced a collaborative album. The resulting It’s Decided displayed a pronounced indie-rock character and included contributions from Dave Hamelin of the Stills, John McEntire of Tortoise and numerous other projects, and Ohad Benchetrit of Do Make Say Think. Arts & Crafts issued the album in early 2015.
Impressed by a composition the young artist had created titled “How’d We Ever Get This Way,” Barry placed him under contract with Steed Records, the label he himself directed. Adopting the simplified professional name Andy Kim, he watched the track reach the Top 20 in both the United States and Canada during 1968. That same year Barry joined a team of writers and producers assembled to supply material for the Archies, the fictional band featured in an animated television series drawn from the well-known comic books. Partnering with Barry, Kim helped compose two of the Archies’ biggest successes, “Sugar Sugar” and “Jingle Jangle,” while also contributing vocals to certain sessions, although Ron Dante remained the principal lead singer. In 1969 Kim secured another solo success with “So Good Together,” and the next year he entered the Top Ten with his version of “Baby I Love You,” a song Barry had co-written for the Ronettes.
By 1974 Kim climbed to the summit of the Billboard charts with the single “Rock Me Gently,” yet his straightforward, clean-cut pop approach—shaped by both bubblegum and Brill Building traditions—was losing currency, making this his final major American hit. Persuaded that his established image was limiting further progress, he issued a 1980 album under the pseudonym Baron Longfellow, which achieved modest results, followed by a second Longfellow release, Prisoner by Design, in 1984.
A turning point arrived in 1995 when Kim performed at Toronto’s Kumbaya Festival, an annual benefit for AIDS charities, where he met Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies and learned that a member of Canada’s leading band had long admired his work. Through Robertson he discovered widespread esteem among prominent Canadian musicians, leading him to write songs with both Robertson and Ron Sexsmith while also appearing onstage with the indie rock collective Broken Social Scene. Having maintained a longstanding commitment to charitable causes, Kim founded the Andy Kim Christmas Show in 2005, an annual fundraising concert at Toronto’s Mod Club that regularly featured fellow Canadian artists ranging from Luke Doucet to Rush’s Alex Lifeson performing seasonal numbers.
Returning to the studio in 2010, Kim released the comeback album Happen Again, which contained several tracks he had written with Robertson and Sexsmith. His enduring association with Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew eventually produced a collaborative album. The resulting It’s Decided displayed a pronounced indie-rock character and included contributions from Dave Hamelin of the Stills, John McEntire of Tortoise and numerous other projects, and Ohad Benchetrit of Do Make Say Think. Arts & Crafts issued the album in early 2015.
Albums
