"Good Times Roll" is a song by American rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band The Cars

The Cars

The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...

. It is the first track from their 1978 debut album The Cars

The Cars (album)

The Cars is the self-titled debut album by the American rock band The Cars released in 1978. With the popular tracks "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl" getting heavy airplay on AOR radio stations, the album sold one million copies by the end of the year and steadily climbed the...

, produced by Roy Thomas Baker

Roy Thomas Baker

Roy Thomas Baker is a multiple award-winning Anglo-American music producer, songwriter, arranger and Recording Academy Governor, who has produced Platinum and Gold certified pop and rock records from the 1970s to the present.- Career :Baker began his career at Decca Records in England at the age...

. Written and sung by Cars lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek

Ric Ocasek

Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....

, the song was released as the album's third single, where it reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart in 1979.

Details

"Good Times Roll", along with the rest of the tracks from The Cars, was recorded in just two weeks, but the album's chart success was so long-lived that the release of its follow-up, 1979's Candy-O

Candy-O

Candy-O is the second studio album by the American rock band The Cars, released in 1979.- Cover art :The album cover was painted by artist Alberto Vargas, known for his paintings of pin-up girls that appeared in Esquire and Playboy magazines in the 1940s and 1960s...

, was delayed.

The song begins with electronic drums and a guitar riff, soon joined by Ocasek's lead vocals and synthesizers by keyboardist Greg Hawkes

Greg Hawkes

Greg Hawkes is a musician best known as the keyboardist for the Rock band The Cars.Hawkes, a native of Fulton, Maryland, attended Atholton High School where he played in a band called Teeth. He then attended Berklee College of Music for two years, majoring in composition and flute...

. Despite the up-tempo-sounding title, "Good Times Roll" is a mid-tempo song, with a beat described as "languid," "psychedelic" and "creepy." The lyrics are similarly described as "withering" and Ocasek's vocal style as "clinical."

Other appearances

Of the nine tracks on The Cars, "Good Times Roll" was the only song for which no demo recording could be found during the compilation of the 1999 The Cars: Deluxe Edition package. Instead, a live version of "Good Times Roll" is included alongside demo versions of the other eight tracks.

"Good Times Roll" has been featured on several Cars anthologies, including 1985's Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits (The Cars album)

Greatest Hits is a six-time platinum-selling compilation album by the new wave band The Cars. It was released in October 1985 on Elektra Records.-Track listing:All songs written by Ric Ocasek.# "Just What I Needed" – 3:43...

, 1995's Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology

Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology

Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology is a career compilation from the 80s New Wave rock group The Cars...

, and 2002's Complete Greatest Hits. A live version, performed by The New Cars

The New Cars

The New Cars was a band formed in 2005 with two of the original members of the 1970s/1980s new wave band The Cars. The band was composed of Todd Rundgren, drummer Prairie Prince, Kasim Sulton, and original Cars members Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton...

, appears on their 2006 album, It's Alive!

It's Alive! (album)

It's Alive! is the album released by The New Cars. The album features fifteen live tracks, thirteen of which are songs known as being performed by the original Cars. The remaining two, "I Saw the Light" and "Open My Eyes", were popularized by New Cars member Todd Rundgren...

"Good Times Roll" has also been included in the soundtracks of several films, including 2003's Wonderland and 2005's Just Like Heaven.