'Good Times' by Chic Voted Greatest Bassline of All Time by Bass Players

Behind every great song is a great bassline, and this top 40 list, as voted on by the editors at Bass Player Magazine, demonstrates the power of the often-overlooked instrument.

In the coveted number one spot, beating out the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Queen, comes Chic's inimitable 1979 record "Good Times," with its bassline expertly crafted and performed by the R&B group's co-founder and bassist, Bernard Edwards.

Co-produced and co-written with bandmate Nile Rodgers, the bassline of "Good Times" would later become the blueprint for The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," Blondie's "Rapture," and Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," the latter of which also cracked the Top 10 list, as voted on by bass players and expert writers on the instrument.

Perhaps that highlights how influential Edwards' masterful performance was - not only did his slick, yet swaggering bassline make the funk/disco track what it was, it made other artists' songs too. There was before "Good Times," and there was after "Good Times," sitting at the crossroads between the disco era of the '70s and what would be the explosion of the rap genre in the '80s, with Edwards' four-bar foundation bridging the gap and paving the road for a revolution in popular music.

Edwards passed away in 1996, a decade and a half after "Good Times," was released, only somewhat aware of the indelible imprint his irresistible bassline had on the long arc of music history. However, bandmate and co-writer Nile Rodgers offered an explanation on why the often-supportive, lower-range instrument became a dancefloor-filler in "Good Times."

"What we do is we break it down to almost nothing, and then we rebuild the track in the listeners' ears. You hear one instrument coming in at a time," Rodgers told Rolling Stone. "You really hear us take it to a higher art form in the song ‘Good Times.'"

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 3:03 PM.