George McCrae

George Warren McCrae Jr. (born October 19, 1944) is an American soul and disco singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby".
McCrae was the second of nine children, born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He formed his own singing group, the Jivin' Jets, before joining the United States Navy in 1963. He married Gwen McCrae (née Mosley) in 1963. Four years later, he re-formed the group, with his wife Gwen joining the lineup, but soon afterwards they decided to work as a duo, recording for Henry Stone's Alston record label. Gwen then won a solo contract, with George acting as her manager as well as doing some singing on sessions and in clubs in Palm Beach.
He was about to return to college to study law enforcement, when Richard Finch and Harry Wayne Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band invited him to sing the lyrics for a song that they had recorded for the band, but could not reach the high notes that were required for the song. The original intention was that Gwen, his wife, should record it, but she was late for the session and George recorded alone. It suited his high-pitched voice to the extent that the song, "Rock Your Baby", became one of the first hits of the disco era in 1974, selling an estimated eleven million copies worldwide, topping the charts in the U.S. and the UK. The song was so successful that Rolling Stone magazine voted it the No. 1 song of the year in 1974. McCrae received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocalist the following year.
==Links to Peel==
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Peel reviewed George McCrae's Rock Your Baby, song on Singles Reviews, published in Sounds on 6th July 1974. He described the song 'as one of those "how can it fail?" records that bound out unexpectedly every once in a while and race to the top of all reasonable charts.' He later nominated the song as ranked 15 in his 1974 Top Fifty One Singles.
Peel revisited the singer in the late 90's when he played the singer's 1974 track, 'You Can Have It All', on his show before playing Yo La Tengo's session version of the same song on his 8th September 1998 programme.
==Shows Played==
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;1974
*Summer 1974: Rock Your Baby (7") Jay Boy (Peel mentioned playing the song on his programme when reviewing the single on Singles Reviews, published in Sounds on 6th July 1974)
;1998
*08 September 1998: You Can Have It All (LP - Rock Your Baby) Jay Boy
==See Also==
*UK Singles Chart Number Ones
*Sounds
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
*Official Website
Category:Artists