“I have a philosophy for life. You are born with only a certain amount of heartbeats. You don’t know how many you have, so use them wisely. Do what you love to do and do it with the people you love. You will always run into assholes, but make those encounters brief because they are stealing your heartbeats and you can never get those back.” - Andy Kim
I’ll never forget an interview with Chip Taylor years ago discussing what makes a great song. The writer of the Troggs’ 1966 hit “Wild Thing” explained that, for him, a song had staying power when it gave him “chills.”
For many songwriters — this out-of-body feeling is common. Ideas and melodies arrive from beyond the ether and these artists must grab these gifts before they are gone. Canadian Music Hall of Fame 2019 inductee Andy Kim, who has sold more than 30 million records, rarely knows where these musical gifts come from. All the 77-year-old knows is music heals. And, this gift dared the Montreal-born kid, the son of Lebanese immigrants, to dream an impossible dream. Pulled by melodies and far-away rhythms he heard on his tiny transistor radio, Kim was only a teenager when he boarded a bus and left home. The destination: New York City’s famed Brill Building where he learned from the “godfathers” of songwriting: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, along with Jeff Barry. Kim never forgot the following sound advice learned at this music mecca at 1619 Broadway in Manhattan where some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century were born: “You are only as good as your last two minutes and 30 seconds.”
Kim was 16-years-old when he wrote his first Billboard hit: “How’d We Ever Get this Way?” — the first of nine Top 40 hits that included a pair of No.1 songs: “Sugar Sugar” (1969) and “Rock Me Gently” (1974).
May 10, 2024, marks the 50th anniversary of “Rock Me Gently.” A half century since Kim penned this catchy pop song, it still brings the artist joy. “I have not had a hit in a long time, but every time I get out there and sing any of these songs they feel like brand new,” he says. “I’m honoured that an audience still comes and listens to me sing.”
In 1974, “Rock Me Gently” was a massive hit. The song went to Number 1 in the U.S. and Number 2 in the United Kingdom as part of a staggering four-month chart run. I chatted with the songwriter about the amazing journey of this timeless composition that no major label was interested in; he always believed the song was destined for greatness. In a conversation that at times turned philosophical, I came away with a reminder of the importance of gratitude, living in the moment, and following your chosen path. For, as Kim told me:
“You are born with only so many heartbeats and you don’t know how many you have so use them wisely … This is your one and only life. There is no sequel.”
All Alone in Los Angeles
After achieving incredible major-label success in the early 1970s with “Baby I Love You” and “Sugar, Sugar,” by 1974 Andy Kim was at a crossroads. Seeking a change, the artist moved from New York to Los Angeles. He hoped this new milieu might spark something and it did. Kim recalls the moment “Rock Me Gently” arrived.
It was six o’clock in the morning and I picked up my guitar. After making a Turkish coffee, I just started playing. I wrote the song in like 20 minutes. I ran to get my cassette player because I knew I was onto something … for me. I never think everybody else is going to love this song. All I know, is I’m feeling something on the inside. With this song, I felt I had captured what I was looking for except the bridge. I had just come back from a great time in Malibu and was driving up the hill to my place when Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” comes on the radio. I said to myself: ‘That’s it!’
It was a rainy Friday night, and since I did not know anyone in town, I called up the local musicians’ union and asked them to send me five musicians to properly record the song. After I finished recording “Rock Me Gently,” I stayed in the studio for three more hours just listening to it over and over and over again. I could not believe the song was mine. It truly was an out-of-body experience.
While Kim loved the final song — especially the clavinet solo in the bridge, which was inspired by Stevie — not everyone he shared “Rock Me Gently” with was as enamoured with this instrument’s inclusion.
The last person to hear the song and give me their opinion was a former RCA A&R guy I knew. I called him up and he was excited to get my call. I arrive at his office and we talk about the old days first; then, I tell him I just made this record. He puts it on the turntable in his office, listens and immediately gives me a thumbs up. But when the clavinet solo comes in, he takes off the needle and asks: “What is that shit?”
The record man gets on the phone, calls one of his employees, and says: ‘Hey Dave! Andy Kim is here and I think he has written another hit song, but I want you to take that thing in the middle out, so I can listen to it again after you’ve cut it that way.
After he hung up the phone, I stared at him, took back my acetate and walked out the door without saying a word. I got on the elevator, and when the doors opened at the lobby, I strolled straight to my car and immediately called my parents. My mom answered and I told her I was coming home. She started to cry and could not stop. I told her that I was going to start my own label, write all of the radio stations in Canada and send them my new song and eventually someone in the U.S. was going to play my record.
True to his word, upon his return to Montreal, Kim founded Ice Records and as its first single independently released “Rock Me Gently.” The record started to get noticed and climbed the Canadian charts, beginning with Toronto’s powerhouse and tastemaker at the time: CHUM-FM. Then, just as suddenly, it stalled and dropped off the charts. Kim panicked. Was this the end of this song’s journey? Instead, serendipity intervened in the form of an unknown caller from south of the border.
I get a call from this guy in Detroit. I still remember everything about that conversation. He says, “It took me a long time to get a number for you. Every place I go: every local radio station and every single record store, everyone is talking about ‘Rock Me Gently.’ You have to get some records here!” I told him a truck was delivering 5,000 units in the next couple of weeks and he replies, No! You need 20,000 units here by Monday. Take the master and send it to Capitol Records. I asked him, ‘Do you want to sign me?’ And he says ‘No, I don’t want you to miss this record, it’s going to be No.1!’ By Monday, Detroit had 20,000 units of “Rock Me Gently” printed and shipped and when the next Billboard charts were released, the song had gone from nowhere to 88 with a bullet on the Hot 100!
Fourteen weeks later — September 28, 1974 — the song hit the top spot. This song, written in just 20 minutes fuelled by Turkish coffee, went on to sell more than six million records. With this milestone, Kim became the first artist with a No.1 single written, produced and released independently. When the songwriter was presented a Gold Record for “Rock Me Gently,” in the office of Bhaskar Menon, the chairman of Capitol Records,1 John Lennon did the honors.
“That song was truly a gift,” says Kim. “That record was born to do something and take me somewhere. I’ve never taken any of it for granted and I feel blessed with all of my success.”
Capitol Records helped distribute the single in the United States and England.
Great Article David. Love the music history and particularly the songs and artists from the mid 60's to the late 70's. Hope this message finds you well and enjoying life. All the best!