Rock Me Gently was a song that was a Billboard #1 hit for
Andy Kim in 1974. Despite the sexual innuendo of the title and
verse, it has been called the "ultimate bubblegum teen-pop
radio entry" of its time.
The Canadian singer, who had achieved several hits from 1968
to 1971, had not had a Top 100 single since September 1971, and
had been without a record label since early 1973. Nevertheless,
he said in a 1974 interview, "I never mentally admitted defeat
in spite of three years off the charts". He formed his own
label,
Ice Records, and personally financed the recording
session that produced "Rock Me Gently". He could only afford to
record two sides, and deciding the second side was good enough
to be the A-Side of another single, he put an instrumental of
Rock Me Gently on its B-Side.
The single impressed Capitol Records executives, who signed
Kim to a deal. The "Rock Me Gently" single debuted on the Hot
100 on June 22, 1974, and took 14 weeks to reach #1 on
September 28. It also rose to #2 on the UK Singles Chart. Even
the instrumental B-Side received substantial airplay on R&B
stations. It would be Kim's last top 10 hit in either
country.
In 1989, Canadian country singer, Michelle Wright released
at version as a single on her debut album,
Do Right By Me, and reached #7 on the Canadian RPM
country singles chart.
The song resurfaced in 2007 in a television commercial for
Jeep Liberty.