вЂњThe Loco-MotionвЂќ would be Grand FunkвЂ™s last #1 single. The Grand Funk version wonвЂ™t change your life or even your day, but itвЂ™s big and juicy and difficult to dislike. (And really, the screaming guitar solo was the honking sax solo of the early вЂ™70s.) Rundgren produces the shit out of it, cranking up the handclaps and the bass tone and making that big, obvious hook even bigger and more obvious. The biggest difference comes when they replace the honking sax solo of Little EvaвЂ™s version with a screaming guitar solo. Their version is compact, joyous, and faithful to the original. But they attack the groove with all the sweaty, mane-blowing vigor that they can muster. Grand Funk donвЂ™t bring anything new to вЂњThe Loco-Motion,вЂќ and they donвЂ™t sing it with Little EvaвЂ™s brassy charm. ItвЂ™s a total bar-band trick, the sort of thing that Grand FunkвЂ™s members mightвЂ™ve done when they were back in the вЂ™60s Michigan garage-rock scene that birthed them. Instead, it sounds like Grand Funk taking a fun song, one that everyone already knew, and playing the hell out of it. And it doesnвЂ™t sound like the American Graffiti rock вЂnвЂ™ roll nostalgia that was so popular in the вЂ™70s, either. Instead, it sounds as sincere as a goofy party song can ever sound. But pop music moved faster back then, and so вЂњThe Loco-MotionвЂќ mustвЂ™ve seemed, on some level, like a relic of an ancient civilization.Дon Brewer, Grand FunkвЂ™s competent drummer, has said that the bandвЂ™s вЂњLoco-MotionвЂќ cover was вЂњa tongue-in-cheek kind of thing.вЂќ But the good thing about Grand FunkвЂ™s version of вЂњThe Loco-MotionвЂќ is that it doesnвЂ™t sound tongue-in-cheek. For a rough equivalent, imagine Greta Van Fleet hitting #1 with a cover of вЂњCrank That (Soulja Boy).вЂќ And then pray that none of Greta Van FleetвЂ™s handlers ever reads this. The original вЂњLoco-MotionвЂќ mustвЂ™ve still been pretty fresh in the popular imagination. To me, the funniest thing about this is that, in the grand scheme, 12 years isnвЂ™t that long of a time. (The first song - вЂњGo Away Little Girl,вЂќ a hit for both Steve Lawrence and Donny Osmond - was another Carole King/Gerry Goffin song, albeit a way shittier one.) вЂњThe Loco-MotionвЂќ became the second song ever to hit #1 twice, by different artists. The band messed around with the song for a bit, and Rundgren convinced them that they had a single on their hands. Farner and Grand Funk were finishing up their album ShininвЂ™ On with вЂњWeвЂ™re An American BandвЂќ producer Todd Rundgren, and Farner walked into the studio singing the song. But the song stuck around long enough to get stuck in Grand Funk singer/guitarist Mark FarnerвЂ™s head one morning. This was EvaвЂ™s only hit, and she disappeared into obscurity and poverty soon after. The married songwriting team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote вЂњ The Loco-MotionвЂќ in 1962, and their 17-year-old babysitter Little Eva recorded it.

Who sings the song locomotion