Grand Funk Railroad
Bad Time b/w Good and Evil


Released 1975 on Capital
Reviewed by Lawrence, 22/01/2012ce


Yeah, so this isn't a totally obscure record but a quite common 70s AM pop hit, but I'm writing a review of it anyways because it's been so forgotten it qualifies as 'unsung' in my book...

Grand Funk, you know them if your remember them at all, you either love them or hate them. And even those who are fans prefer the pre-Craig Frost era, as though they have an aversion for blue-eyed soul. But I arguably think their versions of "Loco-Motion" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" were alot of fun, at least as I was but a child back then. I mean, neither single was THAT bad, was it? A lot more tuneful than anything on the radio today, I'm pretty sure no one would disagree...

Of course the 70s was a time when AM radio was the best, in my opinion. Especially the one hit wonders -- however tragic it turned out for those bands, it was having that hit single everyone remembered and hummed along to that counted. Grand Funk already were established in the hard-rock concert circuit, had a minor radio hit with "I'm Your Captain", and could've easily been forgotten had not Craig Frost joined the group, and had not they broke away from Terry Knight and fatefully picked Todd Rundgren to produce them in 1973, resulting in their first hit single (and a quite good one at that) "We're an American Band". (Of course, to digress a bit, Frost did later join Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band, who I actually hate, but that doesn't matter looking at his past achievements with Grand Funk...)

Well anyways on to the actual single "Bad Time", the last hit for the band. But what's cool here is it has that mid-70s AM radio dreaminess that other hits like Todd Rungdren's "I Saw the Light" had. Very beautifully done for a last gasp, I should say, considering the band would lose their way soon afterwards and eventually fall apart in '76. And it's lyrically similar to the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't Have Fallen in Love With?" The b-side is nothing but a typical blues jam, but it's not bad.


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