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John Mellencamp was once a glam rocker, covered Bowie and the Stooges in the 1970s
07.12.2018
09:32 am
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1976
 
To learn that John Mellencamp was not only in a glam rock band in the early 1970s, but also covered David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World,” as well as the Iggy and the Stooges’ number, “I Need Somebody”—and did so long before those songs were revered—is one of those, “Wait, what?!?” moments. It goes against everything we think we know about a conventional performer with an established image.

At the tail end of 1972, Mellencamp formed the Bowie-inspired glam group, Trash. Around this time, he wrote his first two songs: “Loser,” purportedly a tribute to Lou Reed (despite its title), and “One Way Driver,” which Mellencamp says was influenced by the Stooges. Trash never went anywhere, and a year later Mellencamp recorded a solo demo. He subsequently took the tape to New York, where he shopped it around to various record companies. Rejected by them all, he figured he’d next try Bowie’s management, so he could get turned down by his hero’s handler. Instead, Tony Defries, the man behind MainMan—an organization that had also represented Iggy and the Stooges—signed him.

Mellencamp’s first record, Chestnut Street Incident, came out in 1976 on MCA Records. He didn’t realize his name had been changed to “Johnny Cougar” until he saw a mock-up of the album cover. When Mellencamp objected, Defries told him the LP would be released that way or not at all.
 
Chestnut
 
His 1977 follow-up , The Kid Inside, was rejected by MCA, and Mellencamp was dropped. He would soon part ways with MainMan, but after he became successful in the early 1980s, Defries released The Kid Inside.
 
The Kid Inside
 
It’s unclear when “I Need Somebody” and “The Man Who Sold the World” were recorded, exactly. Neither were on the original LPs. The Stooges cover is often included as a bonus track on CD reissues of Chestnut Street Incident, while the Bowie song is usually paired with The Kid Inside (though this edition of the first album has the two). It’s very possible Mick Ronson is the guitarist on one or both of the tracks, as Bowie’s former right-hand man played on Chestnut.

When I first heard these covers, I was surprised to find that Mellencamp’s versions ain’t half bad. I was so tickled by them that I checked out his first two LPs, hoping to find other unusual, pre-fame gems, though I soon realized that I was probably wasting my time (and indeed I was).

Anyway, it’s fascinating to hear a guy we think of as a heartland rocker seriously take on Bowie and the Stooges. It’s like finding out Robert Palmer covered Hüsker Dü.

Wait, what?!?!?
 
Listen to the Cougar cover versions, after the jump…

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Posted by Bart Bealmear
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07.12.2018
09:32 am
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The improbable corporeal synthesis of Ed Grimley and John Cougar (Mellencamp), 1982
09.05.2013
09:16 am
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John Cougar Grimley
 
About once a year it crosses my mind how truly weird it was that they made a children’s cartoon show centered around Ed Grimley. For those who don’t know, Grimley was a demented and resonant creation of Martin Short in his SCTV days, and after Short brought the character intact to his SNL stint during the 1984-1985 (an excellent season by the way) Grimley became a minor hit, one of Lorne’s beloved recurring characters, alongside Billy Crystal’s Fernando character. In principle, Grimley was pretty darn annoying—it’s a testament to Short’s sheer talent and likability that the little dude could achieve any kind of purchase among the American TV-watching public. Watching him on YouTube, what he really seems like is the dark side of Pee Wee Herman.

In attempting to describe Ed Grimley, one must admit that Wikipedia’s account possesses a certain panache, describing him as “an excessively cowlicked, hyperactive manchild who is obsessed with banal popular culture, particularly Wheel of Fortune and its host, Pat Sajak. He also loves to play the triangle, which for him consists of playing a recorded musical piece, striking the triangle once, and then wildly dancing to the recording.” He punctuated every other sentence with the phrase “doncha know” and his obsessive little monologues would shift suddenly in pitch. Grimley was a surfeit of tics: his hair was shaped into a spike and his pants were worn way too high and he always worried about getting too “mental”—he was a decent sort if you know what I mean…. Only Martin Short could make it all work, and truly, when he’s on his game, Martin Short is hard to touch.
 
Ed Grimley
 
The whole point of Grimley was that he was a lonely outsider, like Harvey Pekar’s pal Toby Radloff. The 1980s are thought of as this time of relentless moneyed conformity, and there’s something to it, but it was also the decade of Revenge of the Nerds, Eddie Deezen, and (at least in origin) Wayne’s buddy Garth Algar. Grimley, in short, was a “spaz,” a common figure of the time, but it’s difficult to think of too many others of his tribe (Anthony Michael Hall’s “Farmer Ted” from Sixteen Candles, perhaps?)—although certainly Ace Ventura’s energy and hairdo owe a great debt to Grimley.

It’s still hard to believe it all happened. Especially when you look at the clips.

First, Grimley on SNL—one has to start with pure undiluted Grimley in his natural state, as embodied by Short as he negotiates one of his legendary triangle performances:
 

 
Here’s a chunk of his animated series The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley:
 

 
Here’s “The Nutty Lab Assistant” from SCTV, unfortunately heavily edited. The mind still boggles. The sketch is punctuated with a big slab of commercial 1980s rock (in the form of “Jack and Diane”) for those who’ve repressed what that was all about. Whose idea was it to haul John Cougar in there? (He hadn’t changed back to his real name Mellencamp yet.) Why John Cougar of all people? One must admit he did a creditable job. A Jekyll-and-Hyde concept with Ed Grimley and John Cougar…. the 1980s did on occasion certainly deliver wonders.
 

 
After the jump, Martin Short comments on creating Ed Grimley…

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Posted by Martin Schneider
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09.05.2013
09:16 am
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