"Rock the Boat" is a song by American trio

The Hues Corporation The Hues Corporation was an American pop and soul trio, formed in Santa Monica, California in 1969. They are best known for their 1974 single " Rock the Boat", which sold over 2 million copies. Group name and background Before achieving main ...

, written by Wally Holmes. "Rock the Boat" was first featured on their 1973 debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Freedom for the Stallion ''Freedom For The Stallion'' is the debut album by The Hues Corporation released in 1973. The album includes the original recording of " Rock The Boat." A later re-mix version of this recording became one of the first Disco hits in 1974 and reach ...

'' (the single edit later appeared on certain editions of the band's 1974 second album ''Rockin' Soul''). It was released as the third single from the album in early 1974, to follow up ''Stallion''s title song, which had peaked at number sixty-three on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, and "Miracle Maker (Sweet Soul Shaker)" which did not chart. Initially, "Rock the Boat" appeared as though it would also flop, as months went by without any radio airplay or sales activity. Not until the song became a disco favorite in New York did

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

radio finally pick up on the song, leading the record to finally enter the Hot 100 and zip up the chart to number one the week of July 6, 1974, in only its seventh week on the chart (and fourth week in the Top 40). The record also reached the top ten in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. "Rock the Boat" is considered one of the earliest

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

songs. Some authorities proclaim it to be the first disco song to hit number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot 100 chart, while others give that distinction to "

Love's Theme "Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece written by Barry White in around 1965, and recorded and released as a single by White's The Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973. It is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach No. 1 on ...

" by

Love Unlimited Orchestra The Love Unlimited Orchestra was a 40-piece string-laden orchestra formed by American singer Barry White, and serving as a backing unit for White and for female vocal trio Love Unlimited. From the early 1970s on, they also recorded several sing ...

, a chart-topper from earlier in 1974. The song became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

. It is a heavy airplay favorite on oldie and adult contemporary stations today.

Composition and recording

Holmes wrote the song for the band's first album, and started the song with the line "Ever since our voyage of love began..". In an attempt to make it more punchy, producer John Florez suggested starting with the line "So I'd like to know where you got the notion." The song features a lead vocal by

Fleming Williams Fleming Williams (December 26, 1943 – 1992 or February 15, 1998) was an American singer known as a member of the group The Hues Corporation and as the lead singer on their hit " Rock the Boat". Background Williams was a tenor from Flint, Michig ...

, who left The Hues Corporation shortly after the song was recorded. According to ''The Billboard Book of Number One Hits'' by

Fred Bronson Fredric M. "Fred" Bronson (born January 10, 1949) is an American journalist, author and writer. He is the author of books related to #1 songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and other books related to various music charts as well. He is also k ...

, the lone female member of the group, H. Ann Kelley, 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 bass player on the session was

Wilton Felder Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Wan ...

, not

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases u ...

as sometimes reported. Florez also brought in two other members of the

Jazz Crusaders The Crusaders (formerly known as The Jazz Crusaders) were an American jazz group that was successful from the 1960s to the 1990s. The group was known as the Jazz Crusaders from their formation in 1960 until shortening their name in 1971. The Cru ...

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

on piano and

Larry Carlton Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. He has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorde ...

on guitar, as well as Jim Gordon on drums. Wally Holmes wrote and played the trumpet line. Producer John Florez did not like the lyrics for "Rock the Boat", calling them "trite", and it was originally made a B-side. After a riveting response from New York City's dance clubs, Florez remixed the song to boost the bass and rhythm instruments, and it was quickly re-released, becoming a smash. The Hues Corporation member

St. Clair Lee Bernard St. Clair Lee (April 24, 1944 – March 8, 2011) was an American rhythm and blues vocalist with the band The Hues Corporation, which had a top ten record on the R&B and pop music charts called " Rock the Boat". The single went to numb ...

claims "It was a song that you could do anything on. You could cuddle or you could get crazy if you wanted to. It was a love song without being a love song. But, it was a Disco hit and it happened because of the discos." The song features a change in meter during the pre-chorus "We've been sailing with a cargo full of love and devotion" where it is for one measure while the rest of the song is in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

Legacy

A dance to "Rock the Boat" is commonly performed at weddings and birthday parties, involving many people sitting down in a row and "rowing" a boat to the tune of the song. Particularly popular in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the dance attracted international attention after being featured on the second season of the TV series ''

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British teen sitcom created and written by Lisa McGee that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4. The channel's most successful comedy since ''Father Ted'', the series was inspired by McGee's own experiences growing up ...

''. A similar dance is done in parts of the

to "

Oops Up Side Your Head "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops!)" (re-titled "Oops Up Side Your Head" on the single as well as being known by other titles such as "Oops Upside Your Head") is a 1979 song recorded by the R&B group the Gap Band. Released off the ...

". Richard Finch of

KC and the Sunshine Band KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "K ...

has said that "Rock the Boat" played a partial role in inspiring the hit "

Rock Your Baby "Rock Your Baby" is the debut single by George McCrae. Written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, "Rock Your Baby" was one of the landmark recordings of early disco music. A massive international hi ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Forrest version

"Rock the Boat" was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

in 1982 by American-Dutch singer Forrest Thomas. It was a hit in the Netherlands, where it peaked at No. 7 on the

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

. In the US, the song reached the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Dance/Disco chart, at No. 9. It also peaked at number 33 in Australia. It was most successful in the UK, reaching No. 4 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in March 1983. A re-recording of the song was released in 1989, titled "Rock the Boat '89", produced by Marc Hartman and Sven van Veen, with remixes by Martin Boer.

Other versions

In 1990, British girl group

Delage Delage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Dela ...

recorded their version, produced by the British production trio

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

. The single peaked at No. 63 on the UK Singles Chart.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1973 songs 1974 singles Disco songs Hues Corporation songs 1982 debut singles Forrest (singer) songs 1990 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles RCA Records singles Songs about boats