Talk:John Mellencamp/Archive 1

Should not this be moved
Should not this be moved to John Mellencamp as that is what he has used for about 10 years


 * yes, and done. Jgm 01:15, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

NPOV
This article clearly doesn't display a neutral point of view. This reads like an entry on a fansite.

Tim 17:19, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I second Tim on this. This was very likely cut-and-paste from a fan site.

The begining of the article states that he is dead which I'm fairly certain is innaccurate.

Yes it is; I've just heard him being interviewed on the radio (BBC Radio 2).

Meltingpot (talk) 18:52, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

A third for seriously non-NPOV.

Dr. Sam Smoot 16:45, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Not NPOV? Christ, yes. "harmony-drenched love song" ?? "considered one of the finest albums of the 1980s" ?? Please somebody torch all the sticky sweet adjectives? Tom NM (talk) 02:19, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Worst Wiki article I have ever read. Mellencamp this, Mellencamp that, reads like a sixth grade book report. Can we delete the whole thing and start over? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.246.235.134 (talk) 16:29, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Influence of Paul Newman
I wonder if Mellencamp has ever spoken publicly on the obvious influence Paul Newman and his movies have had on him. Mellencamp named one of his children Hud, after Newman's movie, and several of his lyrics reference Newman movies. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.5.192.90 (talk) 03:47, 5 March 2007 (UTC).

In the John Mellencamp years
There're no comment about the "Human wheel" album

Why is there no mention of George Green, with whom John Mellencamp wrote many of his early songs including "Hurts So Good, his biggest hit? George Green is a wonderful lyricist who should be inserted somewhere in Mellencamp's wikipedia page.  I tried to insert him and it was deleted.

Why does the article not address his gay lifestyle? He's pretty much out as a power-bottom, isn't he? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.243 (talk) 23:53, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Political Views
I remember seeing quite a lenghty portion on his political views. This is significant because he is fairly involved in politics, which can be easily seen by his songs. This should be added back.

Is he supporting Obama now? The primaries are over. Rockingbeat (talk) 20:42, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Lopsided
The article gives a breif summary of his life and career in the 80's and 90's, but then includes an inordinate amount of detail about the last few years. Most notably a description of each one of mellencamp's concerts and public appearances in 2007. If I wrote a 5000 word article about what he had for dinner on tuesday night, it would not only be irrelevant but it would also detract from the more important information.

Spina bifida?
According to the wiki Spina bifida page, John Mellencamp was born with Spina bifida, didn't know if there was validity to this or if it should be referenced in 'early years' or 'personal life'             Polyphonickat 22:23, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Last Name, First Name?
Is Mellencamp's recording name from the 1980's properly written as "Mellencamp, John Cougar" or "Cougar Mellencamp, John"? Crazydiamond1to9 00:30, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 17:48, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Poorly Written
Most of this article is very poorly written. Further, it reads as if it were written by a foreigner who just discovered Mellencamp in 2007 and became his #1 fan, then wrote this whole page. This article discusses heart attacks in people we never heard of, yet fails to mention that Mellencamp himself had a heart attack and vanished for a year and a half when he was only 42. I agree with all the other criticisms above as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.235.249.156 (talk) 13:03, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

"Four pack a day" habit
I sincerely hope that in the States smokes are sold in smaller packets, because where I live four packs is eighty cigarettes!!!!!!! ChrisTheDude (talk) 13:50, 18 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Nope, it is indeed 80 cigs. Likely, he chain-smoked them, as opposed to lighting up 80 different times over the course of a day. Crazydiamond1to9 (talk) 04:16, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

People waste more cigarettes than they smoke. Snoop Dogg doesn't actually smoke three ounces of pot a day, although he might buy three ounces.

He's a dumb redneck. Keep that in mind when you consider his political views. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.243 (talk) 23:58, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
 * as always the right wing does not sign their post Lonepilgrim007 (talk) 04:21, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

'Inflammory' uncited
The 'inflammory' citation just goes to Mellencamp's home page. There is no citation for this 'quote', which is obviously placed to make the Mayor of Jena look uneducated (which is funny because all 6 'Jena 6' accused have plead guilty, yet people keep trying to make it look like they're being unfairly persecuted).

Pending cleanup
I'm pondering a cleanup of this article, which would include moving the various quotes about individual albums to those albums' respective pages. Although many of them mention sources (ie. Creem in 1984) there are not specific citations. If anyone has a detailed cite (name, issue, page number) for these, please consider adding same. Jgm (talk) 14:49, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Reorginazation
I'd like to reorganize the section titled the John Mellencamp Years (1991-present) due to the fact that it is huge. Between 1991 and 1998, he was making commercial pop-rock albums, but starting in '98 he began making folk and folk rock, with most of his hits since then being on the country chart.

So I reccoment breaking that section into two parts- (1991-1998) and (1998 to Present). IF you have no objections to it, I will start it in a few days. 146.85.127.111 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 16:24, 1 April 2009 (UTC).

I've made some improvements
First of all I organized the section titled "The John Mellencamp Years (1991-present) into three seperate sections.

I also deleted the superfelous information about Mellencamp's recent music videos. If you're going to talk about the videos for "Our Country" and "Walk Tall" in the article, fine. But you also need to include information about all of his 20 or so videos since 1979. So until that's done, leave them all out.

Still, the section which is now titled "Recent Years (2004-present) is too long.

Any feedback would be welcome.BillyJack193 (talk) 16:49, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Name of "Cougar"
How can something be without his knowledge and against his wishes at the same time? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.244.113.226 (talk) 18:07, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Photo
I have a better photo for the infobox located at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:XT_IMG_0750.jpg I took the photo in 2006 when I saw him perform live and give my permission for its use. Jmeisenhelder (talk) 14:05, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Politics
Since people seem determined to take Mellencamp's freedom of choice away and force him to run for Senate (I know, it's ridiculous even to me and I happen to agree with his extremely liberal viewpoints 110%), I can add a lot of info about his political views going back to at least 1979, and if I can find it a letter to the editor he wrote to an Indiana newspaper in about 1971 or '72 where he identified himself as a "radical hippie". I can add a lot about his activism with regards to racial issues, past songs highlighting his views, his work on the Vote for Change Tour, and a controversial, but hilariously true statement from the 1980s where he asked Ronald Reagan, who was restoring the Statue of Liberty at the time, to "tear down the statue and use the money to help the poor". Also, some recent statements from Rolling Stone interviews where he mentions how he was treated by his neighbors in his home state after coming out against the War in Iraq, simply must be read by anybody who seriously has a chance even if he wanted to run.BillyJack193 (talk) 13:48, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I separated the "Politics" and the "Draft Mellencamp" segment on 18 Feb 2010, to show past activities of the man, from the draft him movement. In two days, the draft movement has started getting some press and traction. I would say it's proper at this time to break it- just a division between his activities, and the activities of those who are trying to draft him. This area will need to be monitored if he accepts the draft, or if the state party chooses him. I just thought it would be good to break these two things apart for the time being. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jim E85 (talk • contribs) 05:31, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

clean up
It looks like the a clean up has been desired since 2006. I have started at least a serious removal the obvious fluff and BLP violations and gotten through about half of the article, but if anyone would like to begin actually sourcing the content, that would be good! MM207.69.139.155 (talk) 02:20, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
 * now at approximately 3/4 of the way through. MM207.69.137.25 (talk) 19:18, 2 May 2010 (UTC)


 * No one cares. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.243 (talk) 00:02, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

sorry the recent edit i have bodged up big timeIlkeston1990 19:10, 1 March 2011 (UTC) — comment added by Ilkeston1990 (talk • contribs)

Meg Ryan
How long have they known each other? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.122.43 (talk) 17:15, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Category:American Lutherans
I removed the "American Lutheran" category from this article. There is nothing that shows evidence that he is of any religious affiliation whatsoever. Bastique ☎ call me! 21:49, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Influence on Keith Urban
Why does this section even exist? L.cash.m (talk) 00:39, 14 March 2019 (UTC)


 * L.cash.m, I was wondering the same thing. 24.29.56.240 (talk) 14:17, 23 October 2020 (UTC)