ABBA

Singer-songwriter from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who moved to the Big Apple when he was sixteen years old and enjoyed chart success throughout the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

He scored his first top-forty hit stateside in 1968 with “How’d We Ever Get This Way?”. It was followed by a trifecta of hits the following year: “Baby I Love You” went to #9 in the States; “Rainbow Ride” rode into the Billboard top 100; and, “So Good Together” became an intercontinental hit, peaking at #36 in the States and #37 in West Germany. To sweeten the pot, “Sugar, Sugar”, a song he co-penned with Jeff Barry, became a #1 hit for The Archies. Andy himself returned to the charts in 1970 with “Be My Baby”, another bilateral hit that reached #24 in West Germany and #17 in the U.S. He re-emerged in 1974 with his biggest hit to date, “Rock Me Gently”, which topped the charts in the U.S., topped out at #2 in the U.K., and cracked the top forty in West Germany.

In 1976, after his dad passed away, Andy suspended his music career and exiled himself for about four years. When he did record again, it was with a different nom de plume, Baron Longfellow. “Baron Longfellow” released a self-titled LP in 1980, Prisoner by Design in 1984, and “Powerdrive” in 1991.

A chance meeting with Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies at a music festival in 1995 encouraged Andy to record “I Forgot to Mention”. Ed co-wrote and produced the track and it became a top-ten hit in Canada in 2004. In 2005, Andy won the Indie Award in his home country in the category of “Favorite Solo Artist” and started an annual Christmas concert which benefited charities such as Children’s Aid Foundation and CHUM/CITY Christmas Wish.

In 2010, he released his first full-length album of new material in nearly two decades, aptly titled Happen Again. The title track was released as a single on 2^nd February in Canada. Add this to his multitude of record sales, which number above thirty million. He has twice been honoured with his nation’s most prestigious musical prize, the JUNO award.

For more information on one of Canada’s most beloved musicians, please see his website, listed below.

Stars on 45 recordings

Medley: Intro “Venus” – Sugar Sugar – No Reply – I’ll Be Back – Drive My Car – Do You Want to Know a Secret – We Can Work it Out – I Should Have Known Better – Nowhere Man – You’re Going to Lose That Girl – Stars on 45 (Jeff Barry/Martin Duiser/Jaap Eggermont/Andy Kim/Robbie van Leeuwen/John Lennon/Paul McCartney)

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