Rock the Boat (The Hues Corporation song)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Rock the Boat" is a disco song by the group Hues Corporation in 1974. It is sometimes considered the first disco record to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, though some consider this distinction to go to "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra (earlier that same year). "Rock the Boat" was written by Waldo Holmes, who also wrote the Blacula songs.
"Rock the Boat" was featured on the Hues Corporation's 1973 album, Freedom for the Stallion, and was released as the second single from the album in early 1974 to follow-up the title song, which had peaked at #63 on the Hot 100. Initially, "Rock the Boat" appeared as though it would flop, as months went by without any radio airplay or sales activity. Not until the song became a disco/club favorite in New York did Top 40 radio finally pick up on the song, leading the record to finally enter the Hot 100 and zip up the chart to #1 in July of 1974. The record also reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom. It is a heavy airplay favorite on oldie and adult-contemporary stations today.
The song features a lead vocal by Fleming Williams, who left the Hues Corporation shortly after the song was recorded. According to The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson, the lone female member of the group, H. Ann Kelly, had originally been pegged to sing lead, but this idea was discarded out of fear that groups with female lead singers were less commercially viable. The song also features an important post-Motown performance of James Jamerson, the father of modern bass players.
"Rock the Boat" was covered in 1982 by the Dutch/American singer Forrest Thomas. His version also made the U.K. top five and the top 10 of the American Dance/Disco chart.
