How John Mellencamp’s Jack and Diane Defied His Label and Became an 80s Classic

Coming up, John Mellencamp, a man who had to change his stage name so many times... to this day some are confused about what to call him and it all started with his label. We’ve talked about some really boneheaded decisions that the execs, and the suits have made in the history of rock... but this may be the winner. Even though he was a midwestern rocker with a chip on his shoulder, his label wanted to groom him to be the next Neil Diamond. They said his 1982 album American Fool was garbage. They said it was unlistenable and would ruin his career. It got so bad he got into a shoving match with one of the suits. In the end, his record became a smash selling 5 million copies and hitting #1 and giving him enough success to use his real name instead of the cheesy one the label forced him to use. Up next, the story of Jack and Diane, a song that John hated because it had handclaps and he felt it was too easy to singalong to. But he put it out because his wife made him. It’s a funny story next on Professor of Rock.

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