“Good Times” by Chic

One of my favorite sporting memories was watching both the USA vs. Soviet Union, and USA vs. Finland Olympic hockey games on my parents’ “second” 10 inch black and white TV. Little did I know the games were tape delayed, or the role the United States played in the world, or the significance of these wins. I was seven.

With today’s upset victory over an incredible Canadian team, I thought I’d go back and look up some of my favorite songs from 1980, and there were a bunch. But one that clearly stood out was Chic’s “Good Times.” It was hard to go anywhere without hearing it and it was one of my favorite songs that fall and winter.

Recorded in 1978 at the legendary Power Station and released in June of 1979, “Good Times” was the first single from their third album Risqué. It’s their second most successful single behind “Le Freak”, and a classic dance number that was influential for not just the Sugar Hill Gang, but Queen.
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We lost co-founding bassist Bernard Edwards in 1996, drummer Tony Thompson in 2003, and vocalist Alfa Anderson in 2024, but this song and the other smash hits they created together with Nile Rodgers and Norma Jean Wright still stand the test of time, and will hopefully never be forgotten.