themusicaddict's Top 106 80's Bands Part 19b: # 78 John Mellencamp : His 31 Best 80s Songs Part 2 (Finished April 22nd, 2016)

Hello,

I'm writing this today with a heavy heart- a little over a hour the news broke that Prince died. I loved Prince, he was an amazing musician, singer and songwriter. On my Top 106 Greatest 80's bands, he's very high on the list. That's all I'm going to say. I would probably post a blog highlighting some of his best songs, however he doesn't allow his music on YouTube. Perhaps the only good news of Prince dying is that possibly his music will be allowed on YouTube. I've been listening to both of his "HITNRUN" CDs today, he was still writing and releasing great music. He's behind two of the best soundtracks of all-time. His soundtracks to "Purple Rain" and the first "Batman" movie are both very amazing.

R.I.P. Prince Rogers Nelson!

Now on to John Mellencamp, a great singer and songwriter in his own right. Long live John Mellencamp! My first blog for him is about his first 3 CDs he released in the 80s. This blog is about the last 3 CDs he released in the 80s, "Rain On The Scarecrow", "Lonesome Jubilee" and "Big Daddy".

My favorite CD of Mellencamps is his 1985 CD "Rain On The Scarecrow". Eight of the thirty-one songs for these two blogs come from that CD. "Scarecrow" was originally released with 12 songs. When the CD's were remastered in 2005, an acoustic version of "Small Town" was added.

"Rain On The Scarecrow":

Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name
And some nights I feel like dyin' Like that scarecrow in the rain
(Thanks to azlyrics.com.)

"Rain On The Scarecrow" (Live):



"Small Town":

"Lonely Ol' Night":

"Rumbleseat":

"R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's Rock)":

"Minutes To Memories":

"The Kind of Fella I Am":

"Between a Laugh And a Tear":

1987's "Lonesome Jubilee" was released in 1987. It originally had 10 songs when it was released. On the 2005 reissue, the completely unnecessary "Blues From The Front Porch" was added. Let's be honest the reissues were to make money for probably mainly the record company. The couple bonus tracks worth buying you should be able to buy the song only on any online music store.

"Paper In Fire":



"Check It Out":



"Cherry Bomb":



"Hard Times For An Honest Man":



Mellencamp's last CD of the 80s was the underwhelming "Big Daddy". It was released in 1989 with 12 songs. The 2005 reissue featured an acoustic version of one of his less than great songs, "Jackie Brown":

"Pop Singer":



"To Live":



"Martha Say":

themusicaddict