Signature Songs, Vol. 5 - John Mellencamp

This week, I’m continuing my Signature Songs series with John Mellencamp — from the Johnny Cougar years to the heartland rock classics that made him one of America’s great rock-n-roll songwriters.

I’ll look at the major contenders, including “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” “Pink Houses,” “Small Town,” “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” “Cherry Bomb,” and “Check It Out,” then make the case for the one song that I believe the general public most closely associates with Mellencamp.

It’s not necessarily his best song. It’s not necessarily my favorite. But when it comes to a true signature song, one Mellencamp classic rises to the top. And it's all this week, on the Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast!

And check out the Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast Playlist, this week featuring all of Mellencamp's top 40 hits, plus some of his other interesting tracks.

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Transcript

Alex Gadd 0:00

Welcome to the"Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast." I'm your host Alex Gadd, and this week I've got another episode of Signature Songs for you. Heartland rock is a sweet spot for me, and while I'm not ready to tackle Springsteen quite yet, I am ready to explore the catalog of John Mellencamp. Now, an act's signature song is the one song that's most commonly identified with that artist or band, their calling card, the one that even non-music fans associate with them. Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it's impossible to pick just one song, but most of the time it's open for debate. With John Mellencamp, I find there's another interesting debate to be had. I'll run through all of his biggest tracks and make the case for the one song that I believe is his signature song, and then I wanna hear what you think. I hope you'll join me coming up right now. I started this Signature Song series because I wanted to get a conversation going with you, the audience, since this is one of those topics that I've had a blast discussing with friends over the years in bars, around fire pits, and at dinner tables. So let's start with the basic question: what actually makes a song an act's signature song? I haven't found an official definition, but I think it's more than just their biggest hit. It's their musical calling card, the song most tied to an artist's public image, especially for the casual fan Sometimes it's their breakthrough hit. Sometimes it's their biggest hit. Sometimes it's the song that opened the door to a whole different audience and stayed attached to that act forever after. Usually, though, it's some combination of those things, which is why figuring out an artist's signature song is more art than science. And John Mellencamp is an interesting case because his career has several distinct phases, and those phases were marked by his name changes. He started out in the late 1970s as Johnny Cougar and had a minor hit off his second album A Biography, and the song was I Need a Lover. But because his first album had done so poorly, his label didn't even release album number two in the U.S. However, I Need a Lover became a hit in Australia, where it was released, and that led to a new record deal with a new record label, Riva Records. Mellencamp then re-recorded the song for his third album, 1979's John Cougar, where he also got to make the smallest possible move towards reclaiming his identity, trading Johnny Cougar for the slightly more grown-up sounding John Cougar. This time, I Need a Lover reached number 28 on the Hot 100 chart in the U.S., even as Pat Benatar released her own cover of the same song on her album just a few months later. His next two albums were also released under the name John Cougar, and 1980's Nothing Matters and What If It Did gave him two top 40 singles with Ain't Even Done With the Night and This Time. Better yet, the album itself got into the top 40 and ultimately went platinum. But it was John's fifth album, 1982's American Fool, that established him as a major act, hitting number one and staying there for nine straight weeks. Ultimately, he sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. alone, and that generated four singles from the record, Three of which went top 20, and two of those were top five songs, including Hurts So Good, which got to number two, and that was followed by the only number one single of his career, Jack and Diane. I must have played the American Fool album 50 times, that summer. Those songs were everywhere. His follow-up album the next year, Uh-Huh, was credited to John Cougar Mellencamp, which seemed strange to me at the time as a 14-year-old. I thought, why mess with a cool name like John Cougar after such massive commercial success? But what I didn't understand about authenticity could have filled volumes back then. John clearly wanted to use some of his post-American Fool leverage to reclaim his name and his identity, and Uh-Huh kept the momentum going. It made the top 10 on the album chart and produced five singles, including the top 10 hits Crumblin' Down and Pink Houses, plus another top 20 hit, Authority Song. Then two years later, he released one of the defining albums of the Heartland rock movement, Scarecrow. That album went to number two and produced seven singles, including Lonely Ol' Night and Small Town, both of which reached number six. Then, a full six months after the album came out, he released his fifth single from the record, and that went to number two. That was R-O-C-K in the USA. He kept rolling in 1987 with The Lonesome Jubilee, his eighth album, which reached number six on the Billboard 200 chart and generated six more singles. Two of those, again, went top 10. Those were Paper in Fire and Cherry Bomb, and Check It Out also got to number 14 from that record. His final album in the'80s was Big Daddy, which was another top 10 album. It got to number seven and produced four more singles, though only one of those singles cracked the top 20. That was Pop Singer. Heading into the'90s, John finally released his first album under his real name, John Mellencamp. Whenever We Wanted came out in late 1991 and produced five more singles, including Get a Leg Up and Again Tonight. That album came out while I was a DJ at WIZN in Vermont, and we played the hell out of those songs. He followed that one two years later with Human Wheels, which went to number seven and had four more singles, but only one made any real impact, and that was What If I Came Knocking. And his final top 10 song was released on his 1994 album, Dance Naked. of Van Morrison's Wild Night, recorded as a duet with Michelle Nedeghi-Ocello, and that one went all the way to number three. Since then, Mellencamp has kept releasing albums under his own name, 13 more right up through 2023, and he's going out on tour this summer doing a greatest hits tour to finally give his fans what they want. All the hits, one show, all killer, no filler. So that's what I'm working with here. Over 60 million albums sold worldwide since 1976, with more than 30 million of those sold in the U.S., 22 top 40 singles, 17 of which were top 20, 10 of those which went top 10. So this isn't a no-brainer like Journey or the Eagles, but I think it comes down to just a few options. I'm looking at Hurts So Good and Jack and Diane. Those are the obvious contenders as they came from his best-selling album, and they hit number two and one respectively. They're also the top two songs streamed on Spotify in this century. Then you have Pink Houses and Small Town. Both of those were top 10 singles in their day, and both have maintained some cultural relevance as the third and fourth most streamed Mellencamp songs by a lot. My initial assumption was that Pink Houses would be the choice for his signature song because it's the song where Mellencamp really starts to become the social observer, the guy writing about America with one eye on the flag and the other on what's fraying underneath it. In terms of subject matter, I think it may be his most compelling song, but it's hard to argue with the data, and the data points us back to those first two singles from 1982's American Fool. Hurts So Good was the lead single. It was the breakout hit from the breakthrough album. It's still a great rock and roll record. It's punchy, catchy, and full of attitude. But Jack and Diane has the lines. It has the characters. It has the hand claps. And for me personally, it absolutely screams summer of 82. Speaking of personal preference, my five favorite Mellencamp songs are not exactly the same as my signature song finalists. So far in this series, I haven't had any of the artist's signature songs in my own favorite lists until now. My top five favorite John Mellencamp songs are, number five Pop Singer from the Big Daddy album. It's a great song. It's witty, and it's a commentary about what it takes to be a pop star, something that clearly John Mellencamp isn't that interested in anymore in 1989. Number four, Jack and Diane made it from American Fool. As I said, that song just screams summer to me, and the summer of'82 in particular, when I was still just 13, sitting at home most of the time or riding around on my bike in my neighborhood. Number three, Play Guitar from the Uh-Huh album. It's a straightforward rock song about nothing more than the joys of playing rock and roll music. How can you not love that? And I love playing guitar. At number two is Pink Houses from the Uh-Huh record. As I mentioned, his most socially conscious song, and, uh, it just, it's the song that I think will represent John Mellencamp's music the longest and the furthest from now. It's a great song. Number one for me is Check It Out from the Lonesome Jubilee. It's a great reminder of what's actually important in life, and it just, it always spoke to me. I always felt, once I heard that song, like that was my John Mellencamp song. But favorite song and signature song aren't the same thing, and until someone makes the John Mellencamp biopic and calls it Hurts So Good or Born in a Small Town, I think his signature song has to be Jack and Diane,'cause once you hear that line,"Sucking on a chili dog outside the Tastee Freeze," you're in the world of this song. Jack and Diane take their place alongside Tommy and Gina, Brenda and Eddie, Billy Joe and Bobby Sue, Brandy and the Sailor, Romeo and Juliet, the small-town girl and the city boy, and the Magic Rat and the Barefoot Girl among classic rock's greatest couples. John Mellencamp may have written better songs. He definitely wrote more thoughtful songs. But because a signature song is the one that the average music fan most easily connects to the artist, then the answer to me is clear. John Mellencamp's signature song is Jack and Diane.

10:36

Little ditty'bout Jack and Diane. Two American kids growing up in the heartland. Jackie gonna be a football star. Diane's debutante, backseat of Jackie's car. Sucking on chili dog outside the Tastee Freeze. Diane's sitting on Jackie's lap, got his hands between her knees. Jackie say,"Hey, Diane, let's run off behind the shaded trees. Dribble off those Bobby Brooks, let me do what I please." Say, oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Say, oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Walk on. Jack says back, flex his thoughts for the moment. Scratches his head and does his best James Dean. Well, then there, Diane gotta run off to the city. Diane says,"Baby, you ain't missing nothing." But Jackie say, oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Oh yeah, said, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. So let it rock, let it roll. Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul. Hold onto sixteen as long as you can. Change is coming around real soon, make us women and men. Oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Oh yeah, they say life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. A little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids doing the best that they can.

Alex Gadd 13:55

Okay, what do you think? Did I get it right or wrong? Let me know because as I said at the start, I'm doing this podcast to have fun discussing great music, and I've still got more than 100 acts to get through. So if you like what you heard today, I'd appreciate it if you would like and then either subscribe or follow this channel to make sure you get notified about each new episode, and please tell your friends. Also, a reminder that I release a playlist for every episode, so look for the Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast playlist on Spotify and Apple Music every week, this week featuring all of John Mellencamp's top 40 hits, plus some additional favorites of mine. Please check that out. Additionally, as I said, I wanna know what you think. Please leave me a comment. I'll try to respond to every one of them. The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast is a World Highway Media production. I'm your host, Alex Gadd, and until next time, remember that life is short, so get those concert tickets.