Obsessions. Grand Funk Railroad.

When I was a little kid, I didn't have a favorite band (there was The Beatles, of course, but they were a much bigger thing - a cultural phenomenon unlike anything before them) - I liked songs. This song by this person, that song by that group. All of that changed, around the age of 11, when I discovered Grand Funk Railroad.
I'm not sure if someone who is unfamiliar with them could listen to them today and become interested. It's almost as if you had to have been there. Me, I grew up with Mark, Don and Mel (and later, Craig).
These guys were almost punk rock, in a lot of ways: They were raw, crude and noisy, the critics hated them and they got NO airplay. But their fans loved them - buying records and concert tickets like crazy. In 1971, the band sold out Shea Stadium in 72 hours, beating the attendance record set by The Beatles, despite the lack of airplay.
A lot of the credit for their early success can be attributed to their manager: Terry Knight, who was right up there with Tony DeFries and Peter Grant (as far as outrageous management goes), hyped the piss out of them. Eventually, they did make it onto radio, with a string of hit songs, in the early to mid 70s.
I think it's interesting that theirs is one of the few band names that, when shortened by their fans, left out the noun. Unlike "The Stones," "Zeppelin" or "The Dead," they were known as "Grand Funk" (as opposed to "Railroad"). I once heard my cousin refer to them as "Funk," but as far as I know, he was the only person who utilized that ill advised abbreviation of nomenclature.
They're coming to your town, they'll help you party it down - they're an American Band!