Good Times/Rapper's Delight (1979/80) 5/21/20

Sometimes, one Great Song” leads to another...and that certainly holds true for today's “Great Song of the '70s!

In 1979, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group Chic wanted to make a political comment about the state of the economy, and because Chic was primarily a disco group, they wanted to make it danceable, too.

Influenced by the Great Depression standard “Happy Days Are Here Again” and Kool & the Gang's funk classic “Hollywood Swingin',” they somehow came up with a song that sounded like neither of them, but was so good, it was all over the charts (and dance floors) in the US and Canada!

“Good Times” was on 4 different Billboard charts at the same time: #1 on the Hot 100 and R&B charts, #3 on the Dance Club chart and #26 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. In Canada, it was #1 on the Disco Chart and #2 on the Top 40. Billboard also ranked it as the #1 soul song of 1979. Rolling Stone has it at #229 on their “Top 500 of All Time!”

But the story doesn't end there.

In early 1980, The Sugarhill Gang used the basic instrumental track for their seminal hip-hop hit “Rapper's Delight,”which became a Top 40 hit in 16 countries, including #1 in Canada, The Netherlands and Spain. (#36 in the US).

Rodgers and Edwards sued them for copyright infringement, but they ended up liking the song so much, they settled for co-writing credits instead. In fact, Rodgers has been quoted as saying that “Rapper's

Delight” is his favorite song of all time!

He's not the only one who fell in love with it: “Rapper's Delight” is ranked at #251 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, and in 2014, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame! Good Times (and Great Songs) indeed! From 1979:

From 1980: