Andrews, by his mid teens, had formed his own group, and was playing at Soho venues which included The 2i's Coffee Bar (pronounced two eyes) and Flamingo Nightclub.[citation needed] On 14 March 1959, he made his UK television debut, performing on the "Oh, Boy!" show. He would later return in April to perform a cover of Cliff Richard's, "Move It".

Andrews wrote "The First Time" for Adam Faith (number 5, 1963), and then a string of hits for Sandie Shaw. They included "Girl Don't Come" (number 3, 1964/65), "I'll Stop at Nothing" (number 4, 1965), "Message Understood" (number 6, 1965) and "Long Live Love" (number one, 1965). It remained a chart topper in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks.

"Girl Don't Come" was covered by Cher on her debut album, All I Really Want to Do.

Also in 1965, Andrews as a solo artist, got to number 3 in the same listings with "Yesterday Man"; followed up with a number 13 hit "To Whom It Concerns". The instrumental section of this song was used on RTE's long-running TV programme, The Late, Late Show. As well as obtaining a high placing in the UK chart with "Yesterday Man", it also climbed to number one in Ireland and Germany. Later releases were not as successful, but his own hits are seen as early examples of reggae influenced white pop music. Although his chart appearances dwindled in the UK by 1966, his chart topping success continued in mainland Europe for a number of years, particularly in Germany, and Andrews often recorded in foreign languages. The best representation of his 1960s English language recordings is on Repertoire's 20 Greatest Hits CD.

Today Andrews is still active in his career as a singer/songwriter, working primarily in mainland Europe as well as the United Kingdom.

Currently he has homes both in London and Selm.