B-side "A Warm Summer Night" Format 7"
12" Genre Disco | Released June 30, 1979 Recorded 1979 | |
Length 8:08 (LP version)
3:24 (7" edit) | ||
“Good Times” is a song by American R&B band Chic from their third album Risqué (1979). The disco song, ranked #229 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, has become one of the most sampled tunes in music history, most notably in hip hop music.
Contents
Lyrics
The lyrics are largely based on Milton Ager's "Happy Days Are Here Again." It also contains lines based on lyrics featured in "About a Quarter to Nine" made famous by Al Jolson. Nile Rodgers has stated that these depression-era lyrics were used as a hidden way to comment on the then-current economic depression in the United States.
Chart performance
In August of 1979, it became the band's second number-one single on both the pop and soul chart. Along with the songs "My Forbidden Lover" and "My Feet Keep Dancing," "Good Times" reached #3 on the disco chart. It reportedly sold 5 million copies, making it, at the time, the best-selling 45 rpm single in the history of Atlantic Records. Billboard magazine named "Good Times" the number one soul single of 1979.
Track listing and formats
Disco Montego version
"Good Times" was covered by Australian musicians Disco Montego, Selwyn, Katie Underwood, Peta Morris and Jeremy Gregory and released in November 2002. It was released as part of Australia's largest pop music festival Rumba which took place in November and December 2002, across Australia.
The song peaked at number 52 on the ARIA chart in December 2002 in its sixth week.
Track listing
- "Good Times"
- "Good Times" (Karaoke version)
- "Disco Montego Megamix"
- "Good Times" (Extended Mix)
Sampling and motifs
The backing track of "Good Times" was notably recreated in The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 single “Rapper's Delight,” a key track in the development of hip hop. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards threatened legal action over copyright, which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers. Rodgers admitted that he was originally upset with the song, but would later declare it to be "one of his favorite songs of all time" and his favorite of all the tracks that sampled Chic (although the song did not actually use samples). He also stated that "as innovative and important as 'Good Times' was, 'Rapper's Delight' was just as much, if not more so." Traditionally, Chic's live performances of "Good Times" incorporate a portion of "Rapper's Delight" including audience participation call-and-response.
This is a list of songs that either use direct samples from "Good Times" or feature an original recording inspired by the song.