John Cougar Mellencamp JUST ANOTHER GUY!

John Cougar Mellencamp JUST ANOTHER GUY!

Sylvie Simmons

First time I spoke to John Cougar Mellencamp he told me: “I hate rock stars!” How much does he hate rock stars? ‘‘There’s one place they can put their head and that’s right up my—!” Suffice it to say that part of his anatomy is better suited to sitting on a roaring Harley Davidson!

But, as we at ROCK-SHOTS know only too well, life can be cruel; John Cougar Mellencamp is now a rock star. Still, he’s handling the problem well, like you’d expect from a nice Midwest toughie. “I just have to laugh about it all, because I can’t take it too seriously. I’m not impressed, myself, having #1 records or any of that kind of stuff. Because, to me, making it or not making it is the same deal.” Nice guy is John. And someone we reckon you should know all about. So here goes...

SMALL TOWN...

“I grew up in a town that had 10,000 people in it”—Seymour, Indiana, reportedly one of the most polluted places in America, not to mention the highest per capita murder rate when John was growing up. Nothing to do with him, despite his hanging around at the head of the “wrong crowd.” He was more into driving trucks and leaning on street corners. “I wasn’t into being in the Youth Organization that does things for the community, right? And there was nothing else to do! There was a lot of standing around and yelling, that’s all.

“I like guys that are loud and obnoxious and got greasy hair and their jeans are torn. Anything we weren’t supposed to do, that’s what we wanted to do!”

“I’VE SEEN THE ROLLING STONES, FORGOT ABOUT JOHNNY ROTTEN...” “Eric Burdon, now he was one of my all-time idols. When I saw him on TV I was with a couple of girlfriends—I was like 13 years old—and the girls all went ‘Ugh, he’s so ugly!’ His hair’s so greasy! Right away I liked him. Mitch Ryder was the same way. He was on TV and his hair was all greasy and he had a dingy white shirt oh. And I think that’s what the Midwestern experience is all about. Though Eric Burdon wasn’t from the United States he still had that. He still sang songs about ‘We’ve Got To Get Out Of This Place,' which is what Midwestern people think they’ve got to do: escape from this boredom.”

THE FACE OF THE NATION...

John’s back living in a small town again, when he’s not out on the road. “When you escape, you find out that Los Angeles is more boring than this could ever hope to be! I used to think, when I grew up in the Midwest, I thought people in New York and L.A. must be really crazy. But they’re not, they’re actually more tame and docile, because everyone’s inundated with stuff to do—they’ve got clubs and restaurants and concerts and movies and they’ve got more streets to drive on. I don’t know about you, but I can’t handle the attitude. L.A’s got more rock stars than the world actually needs!

“And I’m not into haircuts, I’m not into tight jeans and gold chains. The reason I’m in this business isn’t because of that; it’s simply because people said: ‘People from the Midwest don’t make records!’”

“HE WAS BORN ON THE FOURTH DAY OF JULY...”

“When I was born, my old man was still a kid himself,” just 18 years old. “So there was like rock ’n’ roll in my house when I was born! I’ve always listened to records. I just assumed everybody else in the world listened to records my whole life! I’m an avid fan—I’ve got billions and billions of records!” He started writing songs “simply because I couldn’t figure out the chords to other people’s!” His first band was The Crepe Souls, soul and r&b, but “I was never really good at being in bands—it didn’t work out that way,” and set off on his own, leaving home at || living in a shack with the fridge on t porch, installing telephones for a I When the phone company laid him off 2 took a year’s unemployment competi'l tion and set off for New York to make! record—actually a demo of his sod which he hauled from company to coi pany, finally landing up at David Bowie| old manager’s office.

YOU’VE GOT TO STAND FOR SOMETHING...

“I was in a waiting room with 20 Bowl lookalikes, looking like I do now,” kind) puppydog biker, “and with an earrij The manager picked me out because' looked different.’’ He made him record) album of cover songs which camec a major label under the title C/iestJ Street Incident. Performed, it said,) Johnny Cougar. John didn’t know they! changed his name from Mellencamp

“He claimed he’d made David Bowi" successful by getting rid of Bowie’sip name. Then he told me if Cougar was the name on the record, there would! be a record!’’ He’s long since Chang contracts and changed back his nai “My whole thing is to be honest onsta and offstage, and then I’ve got ana up name!” Changing it back to theo on his birth-certificate had nothing to with rock star ego. “I’ve got no atli I’m no better than you because I’v a hit record. This ‘rock star' business! b.s. I’m in this because I enjoy it. Ilf writing songs, I like going into I |ke making records. If I quit enjoying it |just say I won’t do it!

Tlf I'm in the music business, great; if Inof in the music business, great too. ■ause I’ve had it, I’ve been successful, ■ been rich, I’ve been poor, and to me |e ain’t no difference. Happiness is in |r head, and nowhere else!”

BORN (SORRY)

R.O.C.K. IN THE USA

As for the Springsteen comparisons: "Well, here’s the bottom line with that. If you can remember when the Stones first started happening, nobody wanted to know about it because they said, 'Oh, they’re just doing the same r&b.’ The Springsteen thing is like really boring. Anybody who is into what I’m doing knows that there’s nothing similar about what I do to what Springsteen does. Springsteen is too—uh—intellectual. He writes for people who want to think they’re smart! I’m writing for people who are dumb like me! I’m a simple guy writing for simple people. I'm not interested in pleasing the people at Rolling Stone. I’m interested in pleasing myself and the people who buy my records. Guys who’ve got tattoos and who make motors in Detroit. That’s the people who usually buy my records.

“I’m not aiming to be a trendsetter. What I do is the same old stuff!”

John loves American rock ’n’ roll and doesn’t have anything too nice to say about English groups with synthesizers; especially if thay label themselves ’rock.’ “You should tell those guys to come to the Midwest! If it ain’t got guitars in it it ain’t rock ’n’ roll. At least not on the streets / walk on! I think people are always going to like rock ’n' roll!”