CHIC - "GOOD TIMES" [1979] . . . . BRINGIN THE FUNKY GOOD TIMES GROOVE . . . . THE LATE, ENTIRELY GREAT, BERNARD EDWARDS AND THE BASSLINE THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SAMPLES . . . . I'VE BEEN CONTEMPLATING THIS SINCE MATT AT 'DicE' CAME OVER ALL REFLECTIVE LATE LAST WEEK . . . . PERPETUALLY FUNKALICIOUS !!!!

***** FILE UNDER "BE A MAN AND ADMIT . . . . THIS IS THE FUNKY SHEEYIT"

1979 . . . . Disco was being brought to its flare flaunting knees on the backlit perspex dancefloor of clubland, the Punk virus was infecting the world's musical mindspace and Death to Disco was a sure thing that only the last dinosaurs at Studio 54 in a coke induced stupor would've bet against, it was a long way from the glory days of Saturday Night Torpor . . . . out of the fading glow of the mirror ball's reflected light came this piece of perfectly pure dancefloor funk that for a strobe light flickering minute almost made you think that the punk revolution was going to come to a grinding halt . . . . well, for as long as the aurally hypnotic and super funky bass kept pulsing in your ears.

From this one inspired masterpiece of funk drenched dancedelica, written primarily by bassist Bernard Edwards, came the bassline that within months would reappear as the loop on the first ever rap release, the equally incredible, eternal shrine to sampling, Sugarhill Gang's 'Rappers Delight', the record that introduced an entirely new musical form to the world at large . . . . it was such an obvious steal yet the man responsible for the killer bassline in question was nothing but effusive in his praise and admiration for the whole shebang, when he died back in the nineties, the fact that himself and guitarist co-founder, Nile Rogers, and the Chic-ettes together with the Sugarhill Gang had done a joint gig showcasing both Good Times and Rappers Delight highlights just how he felt.

The same bassline has subsequently been plagiarised by literally hundreds of acts the world over, more than even James Brown and Miles Davis combined . . . . this stuff is legitimately timeless, in five hundred years time when the folk on Mars are looking for a song that typifies not only the disco era but perhaps even funk and dance music generally, maybe Mr Edwards' composition and its killer bass track, not the more esoteric and high falutin George Clinton, Bootsy, P-Funk et al, will be the chosen example . . . .