George McCrae: Rock Your Baby on TopPop - 1974 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re Edit)

George McCrae: Rock Your Baby on TopPop - 1974 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re Edit)

"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. The song also topped the Billboard R&B chart. The single has sold over 11 million copies, making it one of fewer than forty singles to have sold 10 million physical copies worldwide.

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. The song became one of the first pop hits to use a drum machine. 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."

"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." 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. British dance group KWS's cover of "Rock Your Baby" reached number eight in the UK the same year.