JohnCougar Mellencamp Trivia

1. According to the opening lines of John Mellencamps's "little ditty" entitled "Jack and Diane", where are these "two American kids growing up"?

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: in the heartland

Mellencamp may find "it's another hot, hot night in a cold, cold town", he may be "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", he may "probably die in a small town", but Jack and Diane are "two American kids growin' up in the heartland". Mellencamp himself is from the heartland of the United States: he was born in Seymour, Indiana, October 7, 1951, and he grew up there. Most of his music over the span of his career has been a kind of rock that emphasized the playing of traditional instruments and that relied on lyrics that focused on the small towns, the farms, and the working class people of middle America. He also helped create Farm Aid, debuting in Champaign, Illinois, in 1985--a series of concerts performed by several musicians attempting to raise money for families in danger of losing their farms.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: I Need a Lover

From "John Cougar" (1979) This song was also recorded by Pat Benatar on her album "In the Heat of the Night." The last name Cougar was given to John by his manager at the time, which John says was done without his knowledge or permission.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: Indiana

John Mellencamp was born in Seymour, Indiana, and lives in Bloomington.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: In the "backseat of Jacky's car"

Line four is a tricky one, but the lyrics, according to most, are "Diane debutante backseat of Jacky's car". Certainly, the syntax and grammar leave much to be desired, but Mellencamp trumps the rules with poetic license. By the way, "Jack and Diane" is Mellencamp's greatest hit single ever; in 1982, it held the position of number one on The Billboard Hot 100 for four solid weeks. The song was released on Mellencamp's 1982 album "American Fool", back when he was recording under the name of John Cougar.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Jack & Diane

From "American Fool" (1982) "Jack & Diane" was named by the Record Industry Association of America as one of their Songs of the Century.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: the Tastee Freez

Tastee Freez is the perfect fast-food eatery for Mellencamp to mention in his song about the Midwest. Although the restaurant franchise is currently based in Newport Beach, California, it was established in Illinois in 1950 by Leo Moranz and Harry Axene, and most of its diners can be found in and around Illinois to this day. Moranz had invented a machine and freezer that produced the soft-serve ice cream many throughout America now encounter not only at Tastee Freez but also Dairy Queen, McDonald's, and many other fast-food restaurants. Does anyone remember the mascots, the Tastee Freez Twins--Tee and Eff?

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Pink Houses

From "Uh-Huh" (1983) "Uh-Huh" was the first album published under John's real last name, Mellencamp, combining it with the name he had been recording under, John Cougar.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: Farm Aid

John Mellencamp received no remuneration for his work with Farm Aid.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: off her Bobbie Brooks slacks

Bobbie Brooks, Inc., was created as a women's clothing industry in 1939 by Maurice Saltzman and Max Reiter in Cleveland, Ohio. The business exploded into a multi-million-dollar industry with co-ordinated apparel for girls but later expanded its inventory to clothing for young women as well. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1982 but was saved by Pubco, which bought out most of the company's shares. Thematically, this clothing brand is an appropriate reference by Mellencamp. Both Bobbie Brooks and Tastee-Freez are Mid-Western franchises, and both offer inexpensive products or services that would be familiar to the working class of the Midwest. They both seem to suggest grassroots values or culture as well.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.

From "Scarecrow" (1985) The songs on this album illustarate Mellencamp's interest in the future of the American family farm. Shortly after the album's publication John joined Willie Nelson and Neil Young in organizing Farm Aid to raise money for that cause.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: His grandfather

Mellencamp's grandfather, 'Speck', had died in at the end of 1983, shortly before the writing of Scarecrow began.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Paper in Fire

From "The Lonesome Jubilee" (1987) This is the first Mellencamp album that features Lisa Germano on violin. Lisa is a singer/songwriter in her own right with several albums to her name.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: David Bowie

Mellencamp was inspired by David Bowie in his early years.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: "Baby, you ain't missin' nu-thing."

And, using correct grammar and standard English, her response would have been, "Baby, you are missing nothing." John Mellencamp has declared that this song is somewhat autobiographical. Diane was the name of a girl who lived near Seymour, Indiana, Mellencamp's childhood hometown.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Cherry Bomb

Also from "The Lonesome Jubilee" (1987) Mellencamp's fan club is called Club Cherry Bomb, named after this song.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: Australia

'I need a Lover' was Mellencamp's first Number One single.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: the thrill of livin'

John Mellencamp's composition of "Jack and Diane" was also inspired by the 1961 film "Splendor in the Grass", starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty. The movie illustrates a failed romance and the loss of youth and innocence. The title of the film comes from a line from William Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood", an 1804 Romantic poem that also laments the passing away of innocence and the idealistic perspectives of the young.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Human Wheels

From "Human Wheels" (1993) This is one of the critics' favorite Mellencamp albums, but it was never very successful commercially. It peaked at Number Seven on Billboard's Top 200.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: The Bible Belt

"The Bible Belt" is a region of the United States of America whose population consists of indidividuals who attend church regularly, hold socially conservative beliefs, and are predominantly Protestant. This region is typically accociated with the South but often includes some of the Midwestern states as well. The South had at one time been predominantly Anglican; however, revival movements spurred by the Baptist denomination converted much of the South to its approach to religion. Pejoratively, the term can refer to a society that allows its religious views to affect not only its political perspective but also its scientific and educational perspectives as well; thus, the people residing within The Bible Belt can be seen as "backwards" if not even "ignorant". The singer's invitation to The Bible Belt in this song seems more of a challenge issued to those who would attempt to persuade him to live a life that conformed to tradtional mores when he's convinced that life really is about seizing the moment and experiencing life to the fullest.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Your Life is Now

From "John Mellencamp" (1998) This album was the first one Mellencamp recorded on the Columbia label and his first with drummer Dane Clark.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: Small Town

Ahhh. 'Small Town' - the anthem of the Mid-West!

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: sixteen

Why sixteen? Sixteen is the age in our culture often associated with the transition from childhood to adulthood. It's a complicated time yet supposedly a very joyful and exciting time as well. At sixteen, one is still young and possesses all of the benefits of youth, but one is also entering into a time of freedom, particulary the freedom to make one's own choices and experience new things. This unique time of one's life occurs only once, of course. This bridge, which contains the words "Let it rock, let it roll/Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul/Hold on to sixteen as long as you can/Changes come around real soon/Make us women and men", is often the part most people remember the most from "Jack and Diane". Interestingly, Mellencamp gives the credit for this memorable part of the song to a musician named Mick Ronson. Ronson added the heavy percussion sound and came up with the idea of a choir-like sequence of words for the bridge.

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Peaceful World

From "Cuttin' Heads" (2001) The R&B/Soul artist India.Arie is a featured back up singer on this song.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: George Green

George Green worked with Mellencamp from the beginning.

From Quiz Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Answer: the best they can

Away back in 1982, John Mellencamp gave an interview to someone with the "L.A. Herald Examiner" about the subject matter for "Jack and Diane" as well as many of his other songs with Midwestern subjects and themes. He said: "Most people don't ever reach their goals, but that's cool, too. Failure's a part of what you're all about anyway. Coming to terms with failed expectations is what counts. I try to write about the most insignificant things, really. I mean, someone who picks up a copy of 'Newsweek' then sits down and writes a song about the troubles in South America - who cares? What's that song telling us that we don't already know? Write about something that matters to people, man."

From Quiz Name That Mellencamp Tune

Answer: Our Country

From "Freedom's Road" (2007) This song is often heard on automobile commercials and has been played on nationally televised sporting events. I hope you enjoyed this quiz about one of my favorite songwriters of all time.

From Quiz John Cougar Mellencamp

Answer: 'The Best That I Could Do'

JCM figured that was the best way to describe it...

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