Rock Your Baby, a number one hit written by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band and performed by George McCrae was a pioneering record of the emerging disco sound of the seventies.

The Track begins with two bars of a Latin percussive rhythm in 4/4 time. The following two bars introduce semiquaver hi-hats which give the rhythm that disco dance music feel. A major chord is played on guitar as the hi-hats begin, setting the mood up to be a positive, upbeat, dance-able song.

As the fifth bar begins Rock Your Baby is undeniably a disco song as a snare lands on every second beat cementing its dance feel at 104 bpm. A homophonic texture is introduced with keyboard playing the melodic pattern accompanied by guitar(which is panned left) and chords on organ. The bass follows the chord progression landing on each beat. The melody is played for four bars establishing the track in the key of E flat major.

The keyboard melody pattern is repeated from bars nine to twelve but is played an octave lower.

Bars thirteen to sixteen see the repetition of the previous four bars but with an added sense of building as the organ chords are played an octave higher with the melodic pattern playing in unison by keyboard and organ. Not to mention the voice of George McCrae is introduced with a one word lyric, giving a sense of whats to come.

The organ roll at the end of bar sixteen gives a sense of crescendo bringing in the falsetto vocal, replacing the keyboard as melody and allowing the bass to jump around in syncopation.

Rock Your Baby has an interesting song structure as it launches straight into a four bar vocal chorus which is repeated, then into what seems to be a middle eight and back to the eight bars of chorus and again to the middle eight, back to eight bar chorus and once again to the middle eight. Finally the chorus  repeats for more than sixteen bars before the track fades out.

Unless the bars preceding the vocal and after the four bar intro be considered an instrumental verse, it appears the song has no verse.

Rock Your Baby was at the forefront of a club scene explosion in which the musical style’s aim was to get people to dance, for this it is considered a landmark of recording in the disco genre.

….not bad for George McCrae considering the song was intended for another singer who was late the day of recording, Gwen McCrae, George’s wife!