Basslines #10: Bernard Edwards is the man behind a bassline that surely deserves that most overused of adjectives – “iconic” – and Good Times is arguably the first song I think of (alongside I Feel Love) when I hear the word disco.

It’s summed up by the moment in the brilliant 1998 film The Last Days Of Disco when the nightclub manager is in the DJ booth and decides things need livening up on the dancefloor.

He says just three words: “Michael, Good Times” – and immediately the place explodes with dancing and good vibes.

That’s largely down to Edwards and his iconic bassline: so good it not only anchored a huge hit single but inspired several more, including Another One Bites The Dust for Queen (John Deacon was actually hanging out in the studio when Chic recorded Good Times.

Others include INXS ‘s New Sensation, The Clash’s Radio Clash, Blondie’s Rapture and of course Sugar Hill Gang’s seminal Rappers’ Delight. Not that it was ever entirely original.

Nile Rodgers, who co-wrote the song with Edwards, has revealed that Edwards’ bassline was inspired by the progression done five years earlier by Kool & the Gang in Hollywood Swinging.

Good Times topped the US singles chart in the summer of 1979 and reached No.5 in the UK, though it had a second bite of the cherry when it was re-released in 2004 with I Want Your Love on the B-side. Overall it has sold more than five million copies.

The lyrics – and let’s be honest, I’ve never listened to them and nor have most people – apparently include lines from a Depression-era song popularised by Al Jolson (About A Quarter To Nine) and a reference to another, Happy Days Are Here Again by Milton Ager.

Nile Rodgers has stated that these lyrics were used as a hidden way to comment on the then-current economic conditions in the United States. I’m not convinced anyone noticed – they were all too busy dancing.