Grand Funk - Shinin' On

Hot on the heels of We're an American Band, Grand Fund teamed up again with producer Todd Rundgren and released Shinin' On in March of 1974. The album is probably best remembered for the band's cover of "The Loco-motion" that took the Eva King classic written by Gerald Goffin and Carole King and turned it to eleven and delivered one of the greatest distorted guitar solos of all time.

The album is short, just a little over half an hour and contained eight songs. Depending on how you look at it the album is pretty uneven and somewhat generic. However, then they were good, they were next level. The album opens with the title track, and that one is pretty great. The previously mentioned "Loco-motion" was the reason I picked up the album - well, that's not entirely true, it was in the dollar bin and in pretty decent shape - I would have picked it up regardless, but I was stoked to get the choo choo song.

What I wasn't expecting was how unbelievably cool the closing track on side one was. "Carry Me Through" was sung by Don Brewer, and I couldn't help but wonder if Henley and Frey borrowed some of the feel and groove for "King of Hollywood" from Eagles '79 release The Long Run. The two songs aren't really all that similar, and Mark Farner killed it on guitar.

Like I said, when they were good they were really good. It makes some of the other songs palatable in the context of the entire album. Oddly it was the songs sung by Mark Farner this time out that felt more like filler, whereas Don seemed to be driven. While Mark's scorcher "Gettin' Over You" was delivered with gusto, it was a pretty standard Grand Funk effort. It was a good old foot stompin' rocker, but it wasn't a song that would stand on its own legs outside the context of the album.

I suppose it really comes down to where you find happiness. For me, I love a good riff and Grand Funk was a riff factory in the early '70s, and if this was what made you happy then there was more than an even chance Shinin' On would made you happy. There were more than enough moments here to make this worthwhile. The first side in particular stands out, those songs were so strong. The second side was enjoyable, but man side one killed.

Heck, I have to admit that after spending some time with the album, even the songs I was more dismissive of have gotten under my skin. A grower, not a shower.

My old dollar bin copy was in better than fair shape. and while it didn't have the 3D glasses necessary to make the album cover pop it did have the original insert that listed the itinerary for Grand Funks 1974 tour. Pretty cool.

Also for you comicbook fans, the cover Art was by Neil Adams and Walt Simonson for Shorewood Graphics. Yeah, that Neil Adams and that Walter Simonson. Although I'd have never guessed they were behind the cover. Frankly it isn't really a masterpiece in graphic arts - it was an interesting concept, and the artists were a big deal (in the comic world they were gods) and seeing their names here was a cool surprise. It didn't help that I couldn't find an old pair of 3D glasses lying around the house.

This was Grand Funk and when they were good they were amazing.

Garfield - Strange Streets

I'd seen this before in the bin, but kept flipping through the stacks. I'd see it a few more times, each time stopping to look at it a little more. There was something kind of cool about the cover where the stylized Celtic knot had the dotted yellow line - it was a strange street for sure. I pulled the record out of the jacket and I was struck by the centre image. There was the familiar Mercury label, the same one I'd seen a thousand times on BTOs Head On album. Well, I'd bought things based on odd associations before - like when I had to buy anything that Solid Rock Records released (this was generally a good thing) who knows maybe this was a hidden gem. There weren't any real scratches or rash, just a lot of dirt and dust - it seemed to clean up okay, but we'll see how it goes. The album opens with the title track, and this wasn't straight ahead pop, or rock. It was leaning to the progressive, but with a pop bent. Oddly enough the vocals reminded me of Mi

Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars!

The first time I got this album it was a gift from my old roommate Otto. For a goofy little nebbish he would occasionally surprise me with some left of field musical treasures. Although, I still think he was reaching a little when he brought home the new "Led Zeppelin" album by Kingdom Come and forced me to listen to "Get it On" over and over again. I'd not listened to Mars Needs Guitars in a long, long, long time. The first thing that I jumped out at me was how David Faulkner's vocals reminded me of his fellow countryman Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. I think the reason this never occurred to me was at the time I didn't have any Midnight Oil until Diesel and Dust in 1987. I'm not saying it was all the time, but there were a couple of songs where it stood out. Not a bad thing, just a thing. Even at the time this felt slightly out of step with what was going on in 1985. It seemed like everyone was using drum machines and synthesizers and having t

Saturday Night Fever - The Original Movie Soundtrack

It was going to happen sooner or later. Nostalgia is a cruel Mistress...she can dull the sharpest edges and over time can even soften the hardest of opinions. I found this in the dollar bin, and frankly at a dollar I was worried about what this would cost me. Not only from a monetary perspective, but my time, and more important my credibility. Fourteen year old me was screaming "Don't you dare. DON'T DO IT! Put it down. Walk away!" Then there was grey bearded me holding it and looking at it, thinking, "How bad could it be? I actually kind of like "Staying Alive" and me buying this record won't bring disco back, and no one will have to know I bought this." I pulled the album out of the bin, and carefully took out the records. They'd seen better days, and there were a couple of decent scratches that would no doubt make their presence known later. The jacket was in decent condition, and both of the albums had the original sleeves. I dusted the

Old Enough to Forget

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