RIP Archie Andrews

Looks like random gun violence to me.

 

Oh, thanks. I always thought Andy Kim provided vocals, inasmuch as he had several hits as himself.

 

Surprisingly, no. I'm not sure why Andy didn't sing the songs himself, but they were instead given to a guy whose only notable achievements as a recording artist were fronting fake bands. Maybe that was it, that Andy didn't want to be an anonymous vocalist.

Same guy also hit with "Leader of the Laundromat" by the Detergents, a parody of "Leader of the Pack," and "Tracy" by the Cuff Links, which happened to be in the Top 10 simultaneously with "Sugar, Sugar." He later went on to produce all of Barry Manilow's big hits, for what that's worth.

 

Andy Kim and Jeff Barry shared writing credits on "Sugar, Sugar."

Kim and "Rock Me Gently" were greatness in the late summer of 1974. He had a modest string of hit singles before that.

 

He also hit the top 10 covering the Ronettes' "Baby I Love You" -- written by Barry.

 

Maybe he ran into this guy again:

 

My dad has a reel-to-reel tape consisting of the moon shot, me doing some toddler jibber-jabber, and some AM DJ who played "Lady Madonna" followed by the intro, "ANDY KIM!!"

All I got.

 

Yeah, he had a prolific relationship with Jeff Barry. Neat story about those early hits - when they were produced, the tape was sped up to, in his words, make him sound like a 5'8" blond surfer type. Kids would show up at his concerts to find that he was 6'2" and dark (his ancestry is Lebanese). "I went over best with their mothers who brought them to the shows."

 

He was a swarthy man ...

 

Yeah, he'd make a better Reggie if they were to do a live-action "Archie" show.

 

Him or Gino Vannelli.

 

He takes a bullet intended for a gay friend:

http://mashable.com/2014/07/14/archie-dies-gay-friend-comic-book/