SPOTLIGHT ON. . . JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP

Rip It Up, Issue 130, 1 May 1988, Page 15

SPOTLIGHT ON. . . JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP

From early beginnings in his “Small Town” (“I’m not the keeper of the Small Town ... I wrote one song .., and ever since then it’s been my responsibility. I’ve written thousands of songs about other subjects”) in Indiana to platinum selling albums and a live reputation as being better than Springsteen, John Mellencamp’s career has been colourful to say the least. “Discovered” by Tony DeFries (previously Bowie’s Manager) Mellencamp was put through the hype machine, with DeFries declaring “Johnny Cougar” to be a kind of American David Bowie. While DeFries got him started, it was, according to Mellencamp “all pretty silly, I was 22 years old, a kid from Indiana with no visible talent ... and this guy got me a record deal” (that first

record sold about 1000 copies). “But DeFries ego was way out of proportion. He thought he’d invented rock ’n’ roll, he thought he was Colonel Parker .. Mellencamp changed managers to an Englishman Billy Gaff (at the time managing Rod Stewart) and moved to London. Punk unfolded right in front of his eyes. “I thought it was funny, I liked it”, says the man who wrote on “You’ve Got To Stand For Something” (from “Scarecrow”) “I’ve seen The Rolling Stones/Forgot about Johnny Rotten.” In the years that followed, Mellencamp became, essentially without any promotion, huge. His 1982 album “American Fool” was the biggest selling album in the States that year. Then followed “Uh-Huh”,

with the classic “Pink Houses” then “Scarecrow” in 1985, then with Willy Nelson, Mellencamp started “Farm Aid”. This year’s “The Lonesome Jubilee” sees the prominent addition of accordion and fiddle, emphasising instrumentally the rural mid- western background which he has long celebrated in his lyrics. “My goal is to be able to communicate. If not, then what’s the point? I’ve never been a fan of records that were so bizarre, so weird they didn’t really communicate to anybody. At the end of the day what do the Butthole Surfers mean? They’re not communicating, but communicating is the most beautiful, the most important thing about rock music.”

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