Chic – Good Times

Because we don’t have a trio of backing girls, we don’t do this one live generally. But this is a really great song to jam to.

I wondered why for a long time. I think, it containing perhaps the greatest bass line ever written helps. But it turns out it’s probably because the whole song is essentially a vamp.

And it’s a Dorian mode vamp at that (i-IV or in this case i7-IV7), making it quite unusual. Stevie wonder wrote a few things that use the Dorian vamp, and so have a few other people. But ‘Good Times’ is just where the idea peaks I think.

What makes Chick ‘funk’ and not ‘acid-jazz’ is really these ideas. Chic could do straight ii-V-I vamps with ‘style’ but they don’t.

Anyway I just thought I’d mention this song, because it’s just one of the greatest things ever written. You can really picture Nile and Bernard sat in a dark room, just jamming this thing for days on end.