George McCrae--Rock Your Baby (1974)

     There is much debate on what the first disco song is. At least for me, it's kind of like Rock and Roll, where there is really no "first" song, just a gradual development of the style. However, there are some songs that we can point to as huge steps in the popularity of the genre, and this is one of them.

     George McCrae had been singing for years in his native Florida, the last few he had been working with his wife, Gwen. Nothing much had been going on and by the mid-70's was planning to go to college to study law enforcement when he had an opportunity to record a song with a then untested songwriting duo, Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch.

     The song became a massive hit, not only reaching #1 in the US and Britain, but became a worldwide dance phenomenon. In fact, it is one of only a handful of songs to have sold over 10 million copies. McCrae had chart success until about 1977, but continues to release material and tour. Casey and Finch went on to form KC and the Sunshine Band and became one of the leading bands of the disco era.