John Cougar Mellencamp came to prominence in the late '70's as a member of the American roots rock Springsteen 'n Seger camp. If you were paying attention to him back then, you might not have been too impressed with his brain cell count or his musical abilities. While his tendency to authenticity was admirable (after all, years after his manager changed his name to John Cougar he changed it back), his interviews revealed that he seemed to be a bit dimwitted and his music seemed to mix awkward songwriting and phrasing with moments of real inspiration, which seemed to show up just in time to save the whole shebang from going down the tubes.
So I was never very impressed with him, regarding him as lucky but overrated and a bit simple.
Many years have gone by and things have changed, as they tend to do. I am quite surprised to find that John Mellencamp's article on the state of the music business is written at a post-first grade level, and that his opinion are more or less the same as mine - which of course makes me think much more of him as an intelligent and worthwhile human being and artist.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
And remember - my taste is impeccable, and I'm always right and I never lie.
