Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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MELLENCAMP, John

(b 7 Oct. '51, Seymour IN) US rock singer and songwriter. Working class kid of Dutch extraction learned his music from black Detroit and Chicago radio stations, sidetracked by failed marriage at 18; wrote first song at 23 and finally became an American superstar. Took demo of Paul Revere and the Raiders' 'Kicks' to NYC, where David Bowie manager Tony DeFries christened him Johnny Cougar, prod. LP of covers Chestnut Street Incident '76 (on MCA). The demo-quality material was not up to scratch; label, artist, manager parted company. Better luck on Riva label with another superstar manager, Billy Gaff (Rod Stewart): A Biography '78 not released in USA; but Australian hit 'I Need A Lover' incl. on eponymous '79 LP for a no. 64 album, no. 28 single USA. Two more top 40 hits in similar AOR mode from Nothing Matters And What If It Did '80 (no. 37 album) prod. by Steve Cropper: 'This Time' and 'Ain't Even Done With The Night'. Though the music was often clich‚-ridden, his sub-James Dean act won him substantial cult status; American Fool '82 had better songwriting and made no. 1 (the best-seller of the year) with no. 2 single 'Hurts So Good', no. 1 'Jack And Diane' (articulating working-class life: 'Life goes on/Long after the thrill is gone'). Toured with band (Larry Crane, Mike Wanchic, guitars; Toby Meyers, bass; Kenny Arnoff, drums); prod. comeback album for boyhood hero Mitch Ryder (Never Kick A Sleeping Dog '83). Attached real surname to unsolicited stage name DeFries saddled him with ('I'm stuck with it ... I just laugh about it now') and was called John Cougar Mellencamp for a while; returned to top ten with 'Crumblin' Down', 'Pink Houses' '83--4, both from LP Uh-Huh (no. 9); Scarecrow '85 made US no. 4. Pat Benatar had covered 'I Need A Lover'; he wrote 'Colored Lights' for the Blasters. Billboard said he was the first living male artist in a decade with a no. 1 album and two top ten singles at once. Regarded as lightweight in UK, where only hit was no. 25 'Jack And Diane', he had begun by suiting the American predilection for well-manicured rebels, but he seemed to be growing: he switched from Riva to Mercury for the blues-tinged The Lonesome Jubilee '87 incl. dobro, fiddle, accordion, moving towards what might be called the new classic US mainstream, followed by Big Daddy '89, both top ten albums. Whenever We Wanted '91 was still in the top 20, followed by Human Wheels '93 and Dance Naked '94; he had a mild heart attack '94, slowed down to take stock, then Mr Happy Go Lucky '96 was climbing the charts strongly, prod. by NY club disc jockey Junior Vasquez; Mellencamp said 'I told the guys I wanted to take the blues of the 1940s and combine them with the rhythms of the 1990s.' On a rare UK visit he pleased an invited audience with an excellent recital, and wisecracked about 'the haircut mentality' of Britain. He doesn't care what's fashionable; he's sold 40 million albums and still lives in Bloomington, not far from his hometown.