The Canadian Encyclopedia: Andy Kim

Andy Kim (born Andrew Youakim; also known as Baron Longfellow), songwriter, singer (born 5 December 1946 or 1952 in Montreal, QC). Andy Kim is one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters. He started out as a teenager writing songs for a television show and thus drew comparisons to Paul Anka and Neil Diamond. His hugely successfully pop hits — such as “Sugar, Sugar,” “Rock Me Gently,” “Baby I love You” and “How’d We Ever Get This Way” — have sold more than 30 million copies. He was the inaugural winner of the Juno Award for Top Male Vocalist in 1970 and enjoyed moderate success as Baron Longfellow in the 1980s and 1990s. Kim has been inducted into the Billboard Hit Parade Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (for “Sugar, Sugar”), Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

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Andy Kim

Androwis Youakim OC (born 5 December 1946[nb 1]), better known as Andy Kim, is a Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec. He is known for hits that he released in the late 1960s and 1970s: the international hit "Baby, I Love You" in 1969, and "Rock Me Gently", which topped the U.S. singles chart in 1974. He co-wrote "Sugar, Sugar" in 1968 and sang on the recording as part of the Archies; it was #1 for four weeks in the USA and was "Record of the Year" for 1969.

He has recorded under the stage name Baron Longfellow since 1978 or just as Longfellow in the early 1990s. He continues to perform under his original recording name of Andy Kim.

Life and career
Kim was born Androwis Youakim on 5 December 1946 in Montreal, the third of four sons of Lebanese immigrants. In his teens, he moved to New York's Brill Building to pursue a career in music. He recorded as "Andy Kim", using the different last name as a way to obscure his Lebanese ethnicity, though on his earliest releases he used the name "Youakim" in the writing credits.

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Notes
[nb 1] 5 December 1946 is cited by VH1, United Press International, and Rolling Stone, while 5 December 1952 is cited by sources including AllMusic and Billboard Books. Various published interviews with Kim from the mid-1970s support the 1946 dating, while Kim's current biography on his official website offers no specific year of birth.

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The Canadian Encyclopedia: Andy Kim

Andy Kim (born Andrew Youakim; also known as Baron Longfellow), songwriter, singer (born 5 December 1952 in Montreal, QC). Andy Kim is one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters. He started out as a teenager writing songs for a television show and thus drew comparisons to Paul Anka and Neil Diamond. His hugely successful pop hits — such as “Sugar, Sugar,” “Rock Me Gently,” “Baby I love You” and “How’d We Ever Get This Way” — have sold more than 30 million copies. He was the inaugural winner of the Juno Award for Top Male Vocalist in 1970. He enjoyed moderate success as the adult-contemporary singer Baron Longfellow in the 1980s and 1990s. He has also collaborated with the Barenaked Ladies’ Ed Robertson, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, and Ron Sexsmith. Kim has been inducted into the Billboard Hit Parade Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (for “Sugar, Sugar”), Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

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Andy Kim


Andy Kim in 1970

Born: 5 December 1952; Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Website: www.andykimmusic.com

Andrew Youakim, performing as Andy Kim, is a Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec. He is known for hits that he released in the late 1960s and 1970s: the international hit "Baby, I Love You" in 1969, and "Rock Me Gently", which topped the US singles chart in 1974. He co-wrote "Sugar, Sugar" in 1968 and sang on the recording as part of the Archies; it was #1 for four weeks and was "Record of the Year" for 1969.

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Life and career

Andy Youakim was born in Montreal, Quebec, on 5 December in either 1946 (as cited by VH1, United Press International, and Rolling Stone), or 1952 (as cited by sources including AllMusic and Billboard Books). Various published interviews with Kim from the mid-1970s support the 1946 dating, while Kim's current biography on his official website offers no specific year of birth.

Youakim is the third of four sons of Lebanese immigrants. In his teens, he moved to New York's Brill Building to pursue a career in music. If the 1952 birthdate is correct, then he was only 10 when his first single was released in May 1963. He recorded as "Andy Kim", using the different last name as a way to obscure his Lebanese ethnicity, though on his earliest releases he used the name "Youakim" in the writing credits.

In 1968, after minor recording successes over the previous few years, Kim released the single "How'd We Ever Get This Way?" on the Steed label; it just missed the U.S. Top 20, reaching #21. He also co-wrote, with Jeff Barry, "Sugar, Sugar" which was a hit single for the Archies, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and ultimately becoming the RIAA Record of the Year. Kim and Barry wrote more songs for the Archies, and also for the Monkees' album Changes in 1970, which Barry produced.

In 1969, Kim had two hit singles, "Rainbow Ride", which made the US Top 50, and "Baby, I Love You", which got to #9 in the US and #1 in Canada; it was so popular in Canada, it earned 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, including "Be My Baby" and "It's Your Life" (in 1970) and toured North America extensively. In the spring of 1974, he released the self-penned "Rock Me Gently", which went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and 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 person in his music in the vein of a white blond surfer and that fans were shocked to see his dark skin colour and appearance. As well, he had altered his voice on his earlier records to sound younger.

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The Archies - Sugar, Sugar (Original 1969 Music Video)
43,269,182 views • Dec 7, 2010

windsorbear
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"Sugar, Sugar" is one of 16 animated music segments created to be shown on "The Archie Comedy Hour" on CBS-TV in 1969, and the song is included on The Archies' 2nd album, "Everything's Archie," also released in 1969. The single was released in 1969, backed with "Melody Hill," and quickly rose to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for 4 weeks, giving The Archies their first gold record ("Jingle Jangle" was their second gold record), and becoming the #1 song for 1969 according to Billboard magazine. Lead vocals were provided by Ron Dante, with backing vocals by Toni Wine. Music was by session muscians known as The Wrecking Crew.

While this music segment was originally created for broadcast on "The Archie Comedy Hour" in 1969, it also made it's way to the CBS-TV prime-time special "Archie's Sugar, Sugar - Jingle Jangle Show" in 1970, which was mostly a repeat of the earlier CBS-TV prime-time special "Archie And His New Pals" from 1969 with both music clips thrown in at the end. This clip was also broadcast on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1969.

At this time, this music segment is only 1 of 4 music segments from "The Archie Comedy Hour" that have been found. The other found music segments are "Jingle Jangle," "You Know I Love You," and "Get On The Line". The other 12 music segments from this show are still missing and feared forever lost. The music segments from "The Archie Show" and "Archie's Funhouse" still survive. Only the segments from "Comedy Hour" are missing.

For anyone interested, these are the "Comedy Hour" music segments that are still missing... "Melody Hill," "Bicycles, Roller Skates & You," "Hot Dog," "Inside Out - Upside Down," "Everything's Alright," "She's Putting Me Through Changes," "Whoopee Tie Ai A," "Nursery Rhyme," "Get On The Line (without the credits from "Archie & His New Pals)," "Senorita Rita," "Look Before You Leap," "Sugar And Spice," and "Archie's Party." If memory serves (it's been over 40 years), neither "Justine" nor "Who's Your Baby?" were ever made into animated segments for "Comedy Hour".

This music clip was included in the "Archie's Funhouse" DVD boxset from Genius Products. While it was not a clip broadcast on "Archie's Funhouse", the boxset included some content from "The Archie Comedy Hour" as well.

This music segment, along with the rest of the original Archies' cartoon material from Filmation, is currently owned by Classic Media, formerly Entertainment Rights.

"Archie" is owned by Archie Comic Publications, Inc.