Let’s face it…if you don’t succeed try and try and try and try again. I guess you could say the fifth time is the charm to achieve commercial success with you fifth studio album. This holds true even with four name changes during a more than four- decade run in the music industry. Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, or just plain John Mellencamp had his ups and downs but never backed down on holding on to his dream besides painting. After four albums “Chestnut Street Incident” in 1976, “ A Biography” in 1978, “John Cougar” in 1979, and 1980’s “Nothing Matters And What If It Did” spawning two minor hits “I Need A Lover” and “Ain’t Even Done With The Night” it was time for an album to play for the masses and put your mark in rock and roll music. Rolling up their sleeves and hitting the studio in 1981 work began on his fifth studio album “American Fool.” It wasn’t easy…the record suits didn’t like the music and really thoughT hard about dropping John from the label. They wanted to hear every song on the album before it’s release in 1982. Well…”American Fool” dropped in the spring of 1982 and spawned such timeless classics as , “Hurts So Good,” “Jack And Diane” and earned John Cougar his commercial breakthrough album and the momentum he carries today as he just released his 24th studio album “Strictly A One-Eyed Jack” that features a duet with none other than Bruce Springsteen. Here’s to John Mellencamp and the 40th anniversary of “American Fool” Now…I must admit that we saw John open for Kiss in 1979 and thought the guy wasn’t going to make it…well…after 1982’s “American Fool” we all became believers in one of the true legends in the music industry!
