George McCrae is sometimes thought of as a one-hit wonder, since none of his other singles came close to matching the success of the 1974 number one hit "Rock Your Baby," one of the earliest, biggest, and best disco hits. As the annotation to this compilation of mid-'70s singles makes clear, however, it was a different story if you take Europe into account, with several of his singles over the next year-and-a-half or so becoming big or modest hits in the U.K., Holland, Austria, Italy, France, and Sweden. This is a straightforward compilation of both sides of seven singles he issued between mid-1974 (starting with "Rock Your Baby" and its flipside "Rock Your Baby, Pt. 2 (Reprise)") and early 1976. It's not as extensive as some McCrae best-ofs, but it includes virtually all of his hits and captures the disco pioneer at his artistic and commercial peak. True, the similarity of several tracks to each other is a drawback. But on most accounts, this is several cuts above most mid-'70s disco. The effervescent, Miami-based production is leagues above the usual thumping gloss of many disco efforts of the period; McCrae's high, soaring voice has an appeal that makes it more than a vehicle for dance music; and there's a good-heartedness to the material and performances that transcend mere trendy commercialism. The liner notes detail each of the singles, also supplying picture sleeves and labels of McCrae's vintage releases as illustrations.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo