Good Life (Inner City song)


"Good Life" is a 1988 song by American electronic music group Inner City, featuring vocals by Paris Grey. The song is written and produced by Kevin Saunderson and released as the second single from their debut album, Paradise. It became a hit, reaching number-one in Finland and number 4 in the United Kingdom. Additionally the song also peaked within the top 10 in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Outside Europe, it reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US, number 8 in New Zealand and number 52 in Australia.

Background and release

Saunderson met singer Paris Grey through a good friend of his. Grey travelled to Detroit to collaborate with Saunderson on "Big Fun" in 1988.
"Good Life" was written using basic instruments including a Casio CZ-5000 synth and a Roland TR-909 drum machine. Saunderson made the instrumental part in his own apartment and rented a studio for 24 hours to record it with Grey. He was very happy with the result.
"The vocals were 100% Paris on 'Good Life', I just gave her some direction. I said, 'Look, I don't want it to sound like 'Big Fun' but I want it to be in the same family, I want to follow up with a feel that's similar.'"

Virgin had asked for a follow-up single after the success of "Big Fun". "Good Life" was chosen right away. The original version was almost like a radio version, and Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Steve "Silk" Hurley made remixes for the single. "Good Life" reached number 4 in the United Kingdom in January 1989, and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales exceeding 200,000 copies. It's their highest charting single and became huge at rave parties and acid house clubs.
When asked about "Good Life" in a 2014 interview, Kevin Saunderson said:
‘Good Life’ is a song that’s going to touch people forever, it’s gonna inspire people, change their mood when they need it, it’s definitely going to make them dance — whether the original or a remix,” he continues. “It’s that kind of song. It wasn’t the intent to make a record to be a hit, it was the intent to make a record that could be played in the clubs that had a melody, which reminded me of when I used to go to hear Larry Levan play Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King or Chaka Khan. There were some great dance records — disco records — and it was my interpretation at the time.

In 1999 the song was rerecorded and remixed by producer Tommy Onyx and a Spanish language version was also released. The 1999 version hit number 10.

Music video

A music video was made which sees Kevin Saunderson and Paris Grey prancing around in London. It was directed by Andrew Doucette. Several famous landmarks can be seen in the video, like Trafalgar Square, St Paul’s Cathedral and Piccadilly Circus. Bystanders on the street were stopped and asked to film them. At one point they saw a Rolls-Royce parked on the kerb with a uniformed chauffeur standing by it. The director asked the driver if they could use the car for a minute. The chauffeur drove Grey down the street and then parked it back exactly where it had been, all before the owner returned.

Impact and legacy

Mixmag ranked the song number 20 in its 100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time list in 1996, adding:
"As the Summer of Love drew to a close, a tune emerged which distilled the spirit of club hedonism, pressed it onto vinyl and slapped it on the decks of every discerning DJ. "Let me take you to a place I know you wanna go," cooed Paris Grey over a chunky effortlessly uplifting backdrop, "it's the good life". And thousands of kids turned on to this bizarre new way of spending your Saturday night knew exactly what she meant. Remove it from its cultural context, play it eight years after it first came out and you're still left with a beautiful, remarkable house record."

Slant Magazine ranked the song 55th in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs list in 2006, adding:
"1988's “Good Life” clanked like techno, pumped like house and featured disco diva vocals from his partner in Inner City, Paris Grey. “Let me take you to a place you know you wanna go/It's a good life,” she belts, creating the clearest picture of dance floor halcyon since Chic sang about 54 and its roller skates, roller skates."

In Time Out's 2015 list of The 20 Best House Tracks Ever, "Good Life" was included at #11, adding:
"One of Detroit techno don Kevin Saunderson's housier, poppier moments - under his Inner City project with singer Paris Grey - also became his most well-known. With its unashamedly upbeat vocals and colourful '80s synths all over the place, 'Good Life' showed that dance music wasn't all about heads-down raving in a dark basement club - it could also be happy, for no damn reason at all."

Mixmag included the song in their ranking of The Best 20 House Classics From Before 1990 in 2017.

Accolades

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Charts

Chart Peak
position
Belgium Dance 20
Europe 41
Netherlands 73
New Zealand 48
Scotland 10
UK Singles 10

Sampling