Yet as socially conscious later efforts like 2014вЂ™s Plain Spoken show, heвЂ™s remained resolute in his fight for the little guy. Since his вЂ™80s commercial peak, Mellencamp has remained highly prolific both as a musical and visual artist, expanding his roots-rock aesthetic through collaborations with bass queen Meshell Ndegeocello, rapper Chuck D, and producer T Bone Burnett. (The latter song has a long history of being misappropriated by politicians who mistake its weary вЂњainвЂ™t that AmericaвЂќ chorus as a patriotic campaign jingle.) For 1987вЂ™s Cajun-spiced The Lonesome Jubilee, he simply put the Mellencamp name on the cover, signaling his complete transition from rock вЂnвЂ™ roll bad boy to down-home Americana icon (an image reinforced by his cofounding role in the Farm Aid charity-concert series). That focus would only turn sharper as he rebranded himself John Cougar Mellencamp for 1983вЂ™s Uh-Huh and 1985вЂ™s Scarecrow, where acoustic anthems like вЂњSmall TownвЂќ and вЂњPink HousesвЂќ celebrated Rust Belt resilience while quietly raging at the socioeconomic inequalities that necessitate it. His first two albums, released in the late 1970s, disappeared without a trace however, repackaged as a heartland rocker, he had his first hit, I Need a Lover. Initially dropping his Germanic surname for the more all-American stage handle of Johnny Cougar, the Seymour, Indiana native (born in 1951) emerged in the late вЂ70s as a leather-clad rock вЂnвЂ™ roll rebel for the New Wave age, enjoying his first success with 1978вЂ™s ersatz-Springsteen sing-along вЂњI Need a Lover.вЂќ But a tiny name tweak to the slightly more sophisticated John Cougar heralded his chart-topping breakthrough with 1982вЂ™s American Fool, whose eternal teen-romance serenade вЂњJack and DianeвЂќ recast him as a keen observer of small-town American life. This thing is missing 15 songs that I might write myself angry comments for omitting. The evolution of heartland rocker John Mellencamp can be easily charted through the various monikers heвЂ™s put on his album covers. AS A LIFELONG fan of John MellencampвЂ™s music, IвЂ™ll admit that making a list of the 20 best Mellencamp tracks is a futile challenge.

John mellencamp hits