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Dec.5 - Dec.12, 2004 |
The rebirth of Andy Kim
Former '60s pop idol back on the charts with new album
By Kerry Doole
Originally Published: 2004-11-28
The name Andy Kim may evoke just a faint flicker of recognition. If a radio station played a set of music of such songs as "Rock Me Gently", "Baby I Love You", "How'd We Ever Get This Way" and "Sugar Sugar," however, chances are you'd be humming along.
They all have an Andy Kim songwriting credit, and have helped him become one of Canadian music's best-selling pop artists ever (record sales of over 30 million). Those tunes were smash hits for both Andy and artists like The Archies and Wilson Pickett, back in the late '60s and early '70s, and they guaranteed Kim a place in the pop history books.
Refreshingly, the Montreal native isn't sitting on his laurels (and royalty cheques). Very few artists from that era are having hits now with new material, but, after a very long absence, Andy Kim is back.
Tandem chatted with Kim recently in his current Rosedale abode. A refreshing interview subject, he displayed not an iota of arrogance over his current comeback. He had long been written off by a recording industry obsessed with youth, but he has defied the odds by returning with a new hit single, "I Forgot To Mention."
This melodic pop song, co-written with and produced by the Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson, is introducing Andy Kim to a new generation of listeners. Who knows, some of them may even have been conceived by parents listening to one of his songs!
"At a concert in New Zealand recently, the promoter told me about being at a high school dance and being too nervous about asking a girl he fancied to dance. Then 'Rock Me Gently' came on and he got up the nerve."
His current 'comeback' thrills Andy. "I had no concept there would be such an overwhelming response. You hope that people will hear your music. That is all an artist can hope for, to create the art and hopefully have an exhibition of it that people will come and see. If they respond to it, then wonderful. If you don't, well at least you have created something and it is there. I am just very flattered and honoured that this is going on now."
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