October 1st in Pop History

On this day in:

• 1982 - John Cougar hit # 1 on both the album and singles charts with the album American Fool and single Jack & Diane.

American Fool is the fifth studio album by John Mellencamp, released under the stage name John Cougar in 1982. He later changed his stage name back to his given name, which he preferred, John Mellencamp. The album was his commercial breakthrough, holding the # 1 position on the Billboard album chart for nine weeks.

American Fool would eventually sell ten million copies worldwide (5 million in the US alone). From 1983 to 1987, Mellencamp released three consecutive albums — Uh-Huh (1983), Scarecrow (1985), and The Lonesome Jubilee (1987) — which were all certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA.

Producer Don Gehman stated in a 2011 interview that American Fool was fraught with layers of problems. "We had 20 or so songs, we had a record company that was hoping we were making a Neil Diamond-type album, and after we spent two or three months in the studio recording these songs and mixing them to the best of our ability, I can remember an A&R guy in a pink shirt coming in to listen to them and basically thinking we had nothing.

At that point, they put a stop to the project. We had Jack & Diane, we had Hand To Hold On To, we had Weakest Moments — we had some good songs — and while I don’t know the precise nature of the discussions that took place, Riva went from wanting to get a new producer to not even wanting John on the label anymore. Finally, they came around to letting us finish it but wanting to hear the new songs we were going to cut."

The Verdict was: (Source:rateyourmusic.com) When the record was finished one scribe from Rolling Stone said "American Fool is driven by a tight little Indiana band powered by Michael Wanchic's guitars and Kenny Aronoff's whipcrack drums. And at least Mellencamp's Heartland Rock is becoming more convincing." Next thing you know, Johnny's a superstar! The two big hits Hurts So Good and # 1 chart-topper anthem Jack and Diane become Immortal Rock Classics and score big at Top 40 as well.

In 2008, John Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

John Mellencamp

Here’s the # 1 hit Jack and Diane on Spotify:

(link below)

Jack and Diane

Here’s the full album American Fool:

(link below)

American Fool (the Album)

And continuing on October 1st…

• 1962 - Brian Epstein signs a contract to manage the Beatles for five years

• 1962 - The Beach Boys release their first album, Surfin’ Safari which climbs to # 32

Surfin’ Safari • Beach Boys

• 1970 - Jimi Hendrix was buried in Greenwood Cemetery at Dunlop Baptist Church, Seattle. Mourners included: Miles Davis, Eric Burdon, Johnny Winter, Derek and the Dominoes

Also, on October 1st in…

• 1973 - Pink Floyd began recording the album Wish You Were Here at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London.

It reached number one in the US and UK, and Harvest's parent company, EMI, was unable to keep up with the demand. Since then, the record has sold over 20 million copies.