I wasn’t really into it at the time but I certainly remember it well, from its lengthy spell at the top of the charts in the summer of 1974. What I don’t remember – and never knew ’til now – is the link with KC & the Sunshine Band.

 

They had yet to make their mark on the UK charts when this reached number one in June 1974 but by then they had left their mark on music history with this song.

 

It’s written by two of the Florida funksters – Harry Wayne Casey (aka ‘KC’) and Richard Finch – who played keyboards and drums respectively.

 

Apparently the backing track was recorded as a demo in just 45 minutes by them, with Casey on keyboards, Finch on drums – though it’s also one of the first songs to use a drum machine – and the band’s guitarist Jerome Smith. But when it came to the vocals they couldn’t hit the high notes.

 

They offered their song instead to a female Florida singer, Gwen McCrae, but when she was late for the recording session at TK Studios, her husband George stepped in. The rest is disco history.

 

George had started his first vocal group (The Jivin’ Jets) in the early Sixties but then took a break to join the Navy, before marrying Gwen. They started out as a duo but he stepped away to become her manager when her solo career took off.

 

On the fateful day Rock Your Baby was recorded, he had been planning a new career in law enforcement. Instead he stepped in for his wife – and became the first star of disco.

 

The song sold a staggering 11 million copies (one of fewer than 40 singles in history to sell more than 10 million) and topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, starting an entire musical movement on dancefloors around the world. And all because of Gwen’s poor timekeeping.