John Cougar Mellencamp: Scarecrow (1985)

I hated Small Town the first time I heard it. I don't hate it so much now. I think one could say that this was the best thing he had ever done, to this point. The record did not make me a huge fan, but I can say that I liked it, for the most part.

John Cougar [John Mellencamp]: Uh-Huh (1983)

I think I found this in a dollar bin or in a thrift shop. While I was not a big fan of American Fool, for some reason, I thought that Authority Song was OK, so I wondered if the rest of the record was OK too. Let me just say that I hated Pink House with a passion when I first heard it, but it offends me less today. If there is one thing I have learned it's that John's music got better as his career progressed, and I think this is a better record than anything that came before it. I have to say that the cover image really freaks me out.

John Cougar [John Mellencamp]: American Fool (1982)

After two records under the stage name Johnny Cougar, John Mellencamp shortened his name to simply John Cougar. He recorded three records as John Cougar, then a fourth as John Cougar Mellencamp. he then returned to his birth name, John Mellencamp. I think I got that right. In reading the Wikipedia entry, I learned that the name change to Cougar was not his idea, but that of his manager, who insisted "that the bumpy German name "Mellencamp" was too hard to market." [source] That's lunacy, but I guess if you are a struggling artist, you will take steps to sell records. It's too bad he had to spend so much energy shedding the Cougar part.

So, American Fool is the fifth record from John Cougar. I acquired a copy when it came out, because I thought that I liked the record. I loaned my copy to a friend in residence, and I never got it back. I was not too distressed at the time, because I came to despise the record. Another copy flowed into my collection sometime later, and I have held onto it, but I haven't heard this record since since soon after it came out.

Even today, with sentimental feelings of nostalgia for days gone by, I do not want to hear the record, mostly because of the song Jack & Diane. I really cannot put into words how much I detest that song. I had this feeling that he was attempting to channel the heartland sound of Springsteen, and coming up short. Who knows? I might like the record if I put it on now. The only tracks I can remember are the aforementioned Jack & Diane, Thundering Hearts, and Hurts so Good.

Later music by Mellencamp seemed better to me, so maybe that is reason enough to listen to it.