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45 REVELATIONS

Finally! “Rain On The Scarecrow” is a single. I try to avoid mentioning LP tracks, to preserve the ideological purity of one of the country’s last surviving singles columns, but four months ago I felt impelled to dub this John Cougar Mellencamp cut the best non-single of 1985.

August 1, 1986
KEN BARNES

45 REVELATIONS

Finally! “Rain On The Scarecrow” is a single. I try to avoid mentioning LP tracks, to preserve the ideological purity of one of the country’s last surviving singles columns, but four months ago I felt impelled to dub this John Cougar Mellencamp cut the best non-single of 1985. Now it could end up the best single of 1986.

Besides being the best evocation of the American farmer’s plight rock has spawned, it’s a masterful production: the relentless riffing, death-rattle tambourines, and the final clangorous knell of bells add up to a desperate, no-way-out, almost unbearably intense atmosphere. Rock with true power. I’m told the flip will be the Left Banke’s “Pretty Ballerina” (just have a one-sided promotional copy right now)—a fascinating prospect in its own right.

Surprisingly, Madonna is back with a ballad, but whereas “Crazy For You” employed disappointingly ordinary schlock tactics, “Live To Tell” is delicately shaded with minor melancholy: the pseudo-oriental touches are tastefully deployed, and the bridge reminds me of Tim Hardin (of all people).

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