Andy Kim - Baby I Love You: Greatest Hits

16 of the best from the Canadian-born, Lebanese pop singer/ songwriter's commercially successful run from the late '60s to the mid '70s. Contains hits for both the Capitol and Steed labels, including the #1 smash 'Rock Me Gently' & the top 10 'Baby, I Love You', as well as top 40 hits like 'Be My Baby' & 'Shoot 'Em Up, Baby'. 1996 Capitol/ EMI release. Album Description

Rip-off, Deception. Buyer beware.

Do not download the MP3 version of this CD if you are looking for the title song, Baby, I love You. It is not there. If you notice, when you click to the MP3 version, not only does the CD not have the title song, but the title changes to simply, Andy Kim's greatest hits, instead of Andy Kim's Greatest Hits, subtitled, Baby I love You, as on the CD you must purchase for a large amount of money.

Amazon is not alone in this little game of deception. ITune's does it, also. Always look at what you are buying before you click the mouse button, as I almost did. June 25, 2008

Incomplete but a wonderful collection

Yeah, it's incomplete, but this is an EMI/Capitol compilation and generously includes almost all of his output for that label including some rare single-only releases such as "Baby You're All I Got" from 1976, a catchy shoulda-been hit. It also has the taste to leave OFF the awful "Longfellow Serenade" rip-off "The Essence of Joan". In order to get the earlier, non-Capitol hits that are here they had to pay big licensing fees, so they took the ones they thought were best, "Baby I Love You", "Shoot "Em Up Baby", and "Be My Baby", and presented them in sterling crystal clear sound, the best you'll find anywhere, and that particularly suits the gorgeously made "Baby I Love You". You won't find stunningly clear remastering like that on the questionable bootlegs. All the Capitol songs are very good and, appropriately, ear candy from the co-writer of "Sugar Sugar", without being bubblegum. I agree a complete compilation of the early Steed hits is long overdue, but this CD is thoroughly enjoyable for what it is. Highly recommended for the "Rock Me Gently"-era fans, and for those who prefer only the earlier hits, the sound quality of "Baby I Love You" alone is worth the price of this CD.

My only problem is the Neil Diamond thing. Not only does he imitate Neil Diamond's voice and slavishly try to duplicate his songwriting style on many songs, but even the cover PHOTO of the original "Rock Me Gently" LP had him posed and dressed and hair-styled exactly like Neil Diamond on the cover of "His 12 Greatest Hits". It's a little strange. A scan of the Internet reveals that many, many people who have "Rock Me Gently" on their computers have the artist listed as Neil Diamond! So I guess Andy achieved his goal of imitating his hero, but one or two songs would have been enough. Instead, he did it on at least a dozen songs over a period of three or so years. I like Andy Kim best when he's being Andy Kim. But who is Andy Kim? When "Rock Me Gently" hit he was asked in dozens of interviews why his voice was so much higher on his earlier hits, and he claimed the records were all speeded up. Huh? He did around five albums worth of material with his voice speeded up? Is that any way to begin a career?

Enigmatic, I think, and a little stange, but very talented. The music is wonderful. I highly recommend it to fans of melodic pop-rock. June 16, 2008

Andy Kim

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
Great variety of oldies. January 12, 2008

Depends On Where It's Imported From!!

In turning out this Andy Kim collection EMI International may have relied on chart performances in Lebabon - the birthplace of his parents [Andy was born Andrew Joachim in Montreal on December 5, 1946]. At last count he had, after all, sold 30 million records worldwide. However, most of the contents are not only pretty obscure in North America, other than the five charted hits [tracks 1 to 4 and 9] the others - with the exception of Rock Me Gently Part 2 - weren't even B-sides.

Missing hits are How'd We Ever Get This Way? [# 21 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in 1968], Rainbow Ride and So Good Together [# 49 and # 36 Hot 100 in 1969], A Friend In The City and It's Your Life [# 90 and # 85 Hot 100 in 1970], and I Wish I Were and I Been Moved [# 40 Adult Contemporary/# 62 Hot 100 and # 97 Hot 100 in 1971].

Incidentally, ALL of his hits at Steed were written and produced by Jeff Barry, and YES he was a voice, albeit not the main one, on some of The Archies' hits, including Sugar, Sugar [which he co-wrote] as well as on the animated TV series. The two non-Steed hits, Rock Me Gently Part 1 (# 1 Hot 100/# 40 AC and Fire, Baby I'm On Fire ( # 28 Hot 100) were recorded on the Ice label he formed in Montreal with his brother Joe and picked up by Capitol in 1974.

We would have been much better served had they included some his offerings as Baron Longfellow which at least got some air play in his native Canada for the Ice label. Songs like Go It Slow [Ice 001], Amour [Ice 002 and nominated for a Juno Award as Single of the Year in Canada], Sugar, Sugar [Ice 003] - all in 1980, along with I'm Gonna Need A Miracle Tonight [Ice 004], Hold Me [Ice 005] and In The Night Machine [Ice 006] - all in 1984. In 1991, as simply Longfellow, he cut Powerdrive, which also received decent airplay in Canada.

I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer who says there is a market out here waiting for a decent Andy Kim compilation. Come on Rhino - or Ace - get with it. September 2, 2007

Andy Kim: Where are You?

I was very young when I listened to my brother's vinyl albums blasting out of his room. The fact is he piqued my interest in music to begin with- the first of which seemed to be the Canadian pop singer, Andy Kim.
Kim's Greatest Hits is a delightful package of early 70's bubblegum material at its peak.
Such songs as "Baby I Love You," "Rock Me Gently," and "Be My Baby" are just a few of the catchy numbers included.
Andy Kim sounds at times like Neil Diamond, yet a sultry blues style can be heard throughout the CD.
I am proof that one does not have to be a teenager of the 1970's
to enjoy Andy Kim, regardless of where he is today.
Was this review helpful to you? March 18, 2006

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