"Rock Your Baby" is a popular song recorded by George McCrae. Written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, "Rock Your Baby" was one of the landmark recordings of early disco music. A massive international hit, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States, spending two weeks at the top in July 1974, number one on the R&B singles chart, and repeating the feat on the UK singles chart, spending three weeks at the top of the chart in July 1974. Having sold 11 million copies, it is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.
The backing track for the record had been recorded in 45 minutes as a demo, and featured guitarist Jerome Smith (June 18, 1953 – July 28, 2000) of KC and the Sunshine Band. The track was not originally intended for McCrae, but he happened to be in the studio, added a vocal, and the resultant combination of infectious rhythm and falsetto vocals made it a hit.
"Rock Your Baby" inspired the drum part in the ABBA hit "Dancing Queen". The chord progression of John Lennon's number one single "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", released a few months later, also bears a great resemblance to the one found in "Rock Your Baby". Lennon later admitted to using the song as an inspiration.
The hit song later inspired a reply hit "Rockin' Chair" sung by Gwen McCrae then-wife of George McCrae released one year later on TK's Cat subsidiary label with similar music and arrangement.
The song has been covered by Italian singer Spagna on her 2004 album L'arte di arrangiarsi.
[edit]Charts (1974)[]
| Chart (1974) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Belgium Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 1 |
| German Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Chart | 1 |