In the early 1970s Grand Funk was selling out arenas. They had formed in 1969 as Grand Funk Railroad. That name was as a play on words for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a well-known railroad in Michigan. The railroad objected to the use of the name so in 1972 the group became just Grand Funk.

In 1970 the group got air play on WCMF with “I’m Your Captain” but it wasn’t played on Top 40 stations. In 1973 it was “We’re an American Band” that got played on all radio stations. 1974 saw the group make a hit out of  the 1960s hit, “The Loco-Motion.”

In 1975 their hit was “Bad Time” which was written by Mark Farner (the guitarist and a singer with the group). It got up to #5 on the Cash Box Top 100 list for the week of June 8 – 14. On the Billboard Hot 100 iy was at #4 for two weeks ( June 1 – 14).

The group would break up in 1976 but get back together again a few times. The current touring group consists of two original members. They were at a 4th of July concert in Greece a couple of years ago and they sounded pretty good.