OK, I admit it - I love VH1. Yeah, I'm probably giving myself away as a "boomer," but so what? You got a problem with that, Pal?

VH1 has been producing some great shows, but my favorite by far is Behind the Music. As a student of the music and semi-serious wannabe, I find it fascinating to hear the people who made all my favorite albums talk about what they went through to make those classic LPs.

Funny, though, how I've seen dozens of episodes now and never once heard any of these artists talk about how nurturing their management was or how fairly they were treated. Every single one of them seems to have a "nightmare manager" story. What does that tell us about the music business? You think YOUR Boss sucks? How would you like to quit your job and have your former employer sue YOU for breach of contract to the tune of $57 million?

I was thrilled to see that they finally got around to featuring one of my all-time favorite bands - - Grand Funk Railroad. The "sophisticated" audience turned up their noses at them but somehow they were insanely popular and all their records went gold or platinum. They were one of the biggest bands of their day and yet they got no respect. Like Led Zeppelin, they were a "people's band" - continually skewered in the press but with legions of rabid fans.

Grand Funk was a band people either loved or hated. Place me firmly in the first camp. For every person who was too cool to like them, there were two kids who loved them. They were just three guys from Flint who got up there and ROCKED!!! No psychedelics, no pretensions; they just kicked butt. People called them "amateurish" because of that but any kid like me who was playing in a garage band instantly got it. They were one of us.

The first time I heard of Grand Funk was seeing them on a 1970 TV special called "Midsummer Rock." This show, taped at the Cincinnati Pop Festival, featured Mountain and Iggy and the Stooges. But Mark Farner - bare-chested with hair flying frantically in all directions; girls screaming and grabbing at him onstage; making 50,000 people at Crosley Field go nuts - was by far the coolest thing I'd seen in my young life. It was at that moment I said to myself, That's what I want to be when I grow up!

Grand Funk dominated the charts during the Seventies, and yet their musicianship was continually questioned. And what a string of hits! "Inside Looking Out," "We're an American Band," "The Loco-Motion," "Foot Stomping Music," "Bad Time." . . . And people STILL said they sucked! I used to ask myself, What do these guys have to DO to get respect? I'm sure they asked themselves the same question.

But for all their hits, Grand Funk was primarily a live band. Their best album - the essence of the band - was unquestionably captured on their "Live Album." It was required listening in garage bands across the country. We used to listen to it from side one through side four; over and over and over again. I tortured my parents with it! (God is getting me back now with my daughter playing "Pretty Fly for a White Guy," but that's another story.)

Although admittedly it's not as good as I remember it, "Live Album" is one of those rare recordings where the electricity in the audience is captured in the grooves. The musicianship is a little ragged but the energy and the "oomph" are there. Don Brewer's manic drumming; Mel Schacher's ferocious bass; Mark Farner's wailing voice. The crowd roaring its approval. They get up there and take no prisoners; giving it everything they have. Garage rock at its best, and you could make a case for them as the best garage band of all time.

The show ended with their 1997 reunion and subsequent tour. I don't know if I'd want to see them now, but I do recommend pulling out that old "On Time" or "E Pluribus Funk" LP and giving it a listen. Maybe like me, you'll say to yourself that Grand Funk Railroad was the greatest band that ever "sucked."

Peace, man.

Originally Submitted to Goldport.com Summer 1999

Last Updated 12.4.04