Interesting John Mellencamp Trivia

 

Heartland Rock has become a very important rock subgenre. The genre eschews electronics popular in the 80s, and focuses mainly on the issues of the American heartland. It also draws influences from previous decades, noteably the 60s. Artists in this category have included Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., and John Mellencamp, who is the subject of this blog. Here are some interesting facts about Mellencamp.

His middle name IS NOT Cougar.

In fact, his middle INITIAL is J. After being a struggling musician in the mid 70s, pitching his music along the East Coast, Mellencamp met up with Tony DeFries, leader at MusicMan management, who insisted that Mellencamp's last name would be hard to market (it's of German descent, FYI). As such, Mellencamp's 1976 debut LP, Chestnut Street Incident, was credited to Johnny Cougar. Despite DeFries' well meaning, the LP only sold just over 10,000 copies. By the mid 80s, Mellencamp added his surname for his music to be issued under the name, "John Cougar Mellencamp." 

He's probably the world's youngest grandpa.

In 1969, Mellencamp married Priscille Esterline. The next year, the two had their first child, Michelle, who like her father, became a mother at onlly 18. By that time, Mellencamp was 37. That's four years younger than Lauryn Hill became a grandma in 2016!

Who's that female singer? Crystal Talefero

Her voice is most audible in Mellencamp's 1987 hit, Cherry Bomb, written about a popular teen club.

He wrote Small Town on the john!

At the time of writing, Mellencamp had guests over who were talking about America and its large cities. This overwhelmed Mellencamp, who is from a small town, Seymour IN, and he went onto the throne with pen and pad and wrote down the song. Mellencamp stated that the track came about as a message of pride for those having grown up in small towns, and that America is not all about its large cities.

Mellencamp performed 60s classics in live shows

After his American Fool tour, Mellencamp began opening shows with songs such as the Animals' Don't Let me be Misunderstood. In fact, he performed Bob Dylan's Like a Rollling Stone after the Uh-Huh tour. On his 1987-88 tour, Springsteen even joined Mellencamp to perform a duet of Rolling Stone in Irvine California, on May 26, 1988.

One of his albums only came out six years later.

Made in 1977, The Kid Inside was shelved by MusicMan records as DeFries thought that the LP wouldn't sell well enough. It came out six years later after the breakthrough and success of 1982's American Fool, featuring hits such as Hurts so Good, and Jack & Diane. Honestly, the only worthy track on The Kid Inside, is his cover of The Man Who Sold the World.

Jack & Diane was sampled

The main introductory riff, before the acoustic guitar, can be heard in Jessica Simpson's 2000 hit, I Think I'm in Love With You.

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