Peak
1
Weeks
20
Score
3,609
Chart Year
1974
///
The husband-and-wife team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote this song, which was originally recorded by Little Eva in 1962 - her version was also a US #1 hit. Grand Funk is a swaggering rock band, but their unlikely cover of the "The Loco-Motion" - a song about a dance craze - worked surprisingly well with their sound and attitude. In a Songfacts interview with Grand Funk drummer and vocalist Don Brewer, he explained: "The idea of 'Loco-Motion' came when we were working on the Shinin' On album in the studio with Todd (Rundgren). We had basically finished the album - 'Shinin' On' was going to be the first single, and we were thinking about what we were going to do for another song. Mark (Farner) came in one day and off the top of his head was singing, 'Everybody's doing a brand new dance now,' just for fun, and we all went, 'Yeah, Grand Funk doing the Locomotion.' It was a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing, and we said, 'Let's try it, let's do it,' so we sent off to New York, got the lyrics, and Todd had the idea of doing the song kind of like The Beach Boys' 'Barbara Ann' where it sounded like a big party was going on, except Todd could really crank up everything with the hand claps and all of that stuff. It just had this huge sound to it - it sounded like a big party." This was the second of two Grand Funk #1 US hits, following "We're An American Band." They had no trouble filling arenas in the mid-'70s. Todd Rundgren started working with the band on their previous album, We're An American Band. He helped Grand Funk move from long songs like "Closer To Home" to shorter songs that were huge hits and got lots of airplay. Grand Funk had lots of success with cover songs. They also recorded popular versions of "Gimme Shelter," "Inside Looking Out," and "Some Kind of Wonderful." Says Brewer: "It was always a matter of taking a song and making it be ours. To do that, we as a band had to feel it. So when somebody came up with the idea of doing a cover song, it was like the whole band could feel, 'Oh yeah, this feels great.' We were really kind of a jam band in the studio, we would endlessly jam on stuff." This was just the second cover song to top the Hot 100 after the original hit #1, following "Go Away Little Girl" (also written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King), which was a #1 for Steve Lawrence in 1962 and for Donny Osmond in 1971. In 1975, "Please Mr. Postman" became the third when the Carpenters took the song (a #1 for The Marvelettes in 1961) to the top.
Everybody's doing a brand-new dance, now (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance now (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) My little baby sister can do it with me It's easier than learning your A-B-C So come on, come on, do the Loco-motion with me You gotta swing your hips, now Come on Jump up Jump back Well, now, I think you've got the knack Wow, wow Now that you can do it, let's make a chain, now (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) A chug-a chug-a motion like a railroad train, now (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) Do it nice and easy, now, don't lose control A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul Come on, come on And do the Loco-motion with me Move around the floor in a Loco-motion (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) Do it holding hands if you get the notion (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) There's never been a dance that's so easy to do It even makes you happy when you're feeling blue So come on, come on, do the Loco-motion with me (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) So come on, come on and do the Loco-motion with me (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) So come on, come on and do the Loco-motion with me (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) (Come on baby, do the loco-motion) (Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 9, 1974 | 82 | 44 |
| 2 | Mar 16, 1974 | 69 | 57 |
| 3 | Mar 23, 1974 | 50 | 76 |
| 4 | Mar 30, 1974 | 38 | 88 |
| 5 | Apr 6, 1974 | 22 | 104 |
| 6 | Apr 13, 1974 | 17 | 109 |
| 7 | Apr 20, 1974 | 8 | 118 |
| 8 | Apr 27, 1974 | 4 | 122 |
| 9 | May 4, 1974 | 1 | 125 |
| 10 | May 11, 1974 | 1 | 125 |
| 11 | May 18, 1974 | 4 | 122 |
| 12 | May 25, 1974 | 8 | 118 |
| 13 | Jun 1, 1974 | 13 | 113 |
| 14 | Jun 8, 1974 | 14 | 112 |
| 15 | Jun 15, 1974 | 15 | 111 |
| 16 | Jun 22, 1974 | 29 | 97 |
| 17 | Jun 29, 1974 | 33 | 93 |
| 18 | Jul 6, 1974 | 55 | 71 |
| 19 | Jul 13, 1974 | 60 | 66 |
| 20 | Jul 20, 1974 | 68 | 58 |