Rock Your Baby

"Rock Your Baby"
side-A label
Side A of the Australian single
Single by George McCrae
from the album Rock Your Baby
B-side"Rock Your Baby (Part 2)"
ReleasedMay 1974[1][2]
Recorded1973
Genre
Length
  • 3:14 (7" version)
  • 6:24 (album version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Harry Wayne Casey
  • Richard Finch
George McCrae singles chronology
"Rock Your Baby"
(1974) 		"I Can't Leave You Alone"
(1974)
Music video
"Rock Your Baby" (TopPop) on YouTube

"Rock Your Baby" is the debut single by American singer George McCrae. Written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, "Rock Your Baby" became an early landmark recording of disco. It was the only international hit for McCrae. The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974, and three weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart that same month.[5][6] The song also topped the Billboard R&B chart.[7] The single has sold over 11 million copies, making it one of fewer than forty singles to have sold 10 million physical copies worldwide.[8][9]

The backing track was recorded in 45 minutes as a demo, with Casey on keyboards, Finch on bass guitar and drums, and their fellow Sunshine Band member Jerome Smith on electric guitar.[10] The song became one of the first pop hits to use a drum machine.[11][12] The track was not originally intended for McCrae, but he happened to be in the studio at the time and added his distinct falsetto vocals. Music critic Robert Christgau has described the result as "irresistibly Memphis-cum-disco-with-a-hook."[13]

"Rock Your Baby" influenced John Lennon's "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", released a few months later; in a 1975 interview, Lennon said of "Rock Your Baby" that "I'd give my eyetooth to have written that."[14][15] Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus have also cited the song as an inspiration for ABBA's 1976 song "Dancing Queen".

"Rock Your Baby" was covered by English indie rock band the House of Love for the 1992 compilation album Ruby Trax.[16] British dance group KWS's cover of "Rock Your Baby" reached number eight in the UK the same year.[citation needed]

The 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution explores the influence of "Rock Your Baby" within the genre.[17]

  1. ^ Morsch, Mike (April 16, 2024). The Vinyl Dialogues: Stories Behind Memorable Albums of the 1970s as Told by the Artists. The Educational Publisher / Biblio. ISBN 978-1-62249-207-7.
  2. ^ Bronson, Fred (April 16, 2024). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0-8230-7677-2.
  3. ^ Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "George McCrae - "Rock Your Baby". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. pp. 103–104.
  4. ^ "Rock Your Baby". 45cat.com. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  5. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 303. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ "George McCrae - UK Chart". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 389.
  8. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2, illustrated ed.). Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0-214-20480-4. Biggest selling singles discs.
  9. ^ Moore-Gilbert, Bart (March 11, 2002). The Arts in the 1970s: Cultural Closure. Routledge. ISBN 9780415099066. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  10. ^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 10, 1974. p. 20 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Martin Russ (2012), Sound Synthesis and Sampling, page 83, CRC Press
  12. ^ Mike Collins (2014), In the Box Music Production: Advanced Tools and Techniques for Pro Tools, page 320, CRC Press
  13. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 7, 2019 – via Robertchristgau.com.
  14. ^ Blaney, John (June 2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book - John Blaney - Google Books. John Blaney. p. 138. ISBN 9780954452810. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  15. ^ Schoenberger, Francis (October 9, 2019). "He Said, She Said: An Interview With John Lennon". Spin.
  16. ^ Carlson, Dean. "Ruby Trax: The NME's Roaring 40". AllMusic. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  17. ^ "Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution | Rock the Boat | Episode 1 | PBS". PBS.