402:"Hot Night in a Cold Town,” the only song on the album that Mellencamp didn’t write, was written by Geoffrey Cushing-Murray and Richard Littlefield. Mellencamp explained in Tim Holmes' 1986 biography how he discovered the song: "Man, I get a lot more demo tapes than you’ve ever seen in your life. On the albums I've got this post office box and people send tapes all the time. I’ve gotten tapes with guys just singing, you know, ‘OOOHHHH’ with no music or nothin’ on it. A lot of 'em are real horrible. But some are good, like that song ‘Hot Night in a Cold Town.’ That’s how I found that one."
412:“Ain’t Even Done with the Night,” the album’s most popular song, was Mellencamp’s attempt to write a soul song. He told Billboard magazine in 2001: “I wanted to write something that was soulful and had an R&B feel to it, and being a young guy I thought we should get Mr. Stax Soul himself (Cropper) to produce the record. That song even has a drum part we lifted straight off an old Motown record.”
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ultimately the final song on the album. "Initially it started as a joke", Mellencamp told
Torgoff of "Cheap Shot". "I wrote it at home and went into the studio and said to the band, 'How do you think the record company would feel about this song?' They all laughed . . . I didn't mean it to be that serious."
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In his 1986 biography on
Mellencamp, author Martin Torgoff called "Tonight" "a funky, high-stepping ditty about the joyous lubricity a blue-collar worker feels for his woman during the day that could very well have been one of hottest songs had it not been for one X-rated line, involving a part of
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rated the performance as "wimpy", and the recording "obtuse": "It seems that Cougar, not unlike the month of March, had started out like a Cougar and now he's gone out like a goat." Many reviewers found the sexual songs tasteless and gratuitous; others liked the bright accessibility of "This Time"
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film, and I always thought this girl acted like and in a funny way looked like Bette Davis, even when were kids. I saw her a couple of years ago, and she said that it was one of the happiest moments in her life that I had taken the time to reflect back and write a song about us as adolescents. She
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According to Holmes, "Cheap Shot" nearly didn't make it onto the album. Mellencamp originally wanted to call it "The Record
Company Song" and have it as the first track of the first side. "At first they wanted me to take it off the record, and I said ‘No way!’", Mellencamp said. "Cheap Shot" was
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critic Ed Masley wrote: "Mellencamp rounded second as a writer on the charmingly titled "Nothin' Matters and What If It Did," although that's not to say he'd necessarily matured if the juvenile sex jokes that make up all 25 seconds of 'Cry Baby' are any indication. But 'Ain't Even Done With the
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the female anatomy being applied to the fellow's face, that kept it off the radio." Mellencamp told
Torgoff of writing that line, "We'd all been in a bad mood because we were in the studio so long, and everybody was tired of cutting that song, so I threw that line in there to liven things up."
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Mellencamp wrote "To M.G. (Wherever She May Be)" in remembrance of his high school girlfriend, whose name was Margie (aka M.G.). "I'm not a nostalgic person, so it always surprises me that I'm pretty good at writing nostalgic songs,” Mellencamp said in the liner notes to his 2010 box set
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Night' is still as good a song as Cougar and/or
Mellencamp has ever written, a soulful pop-rock ballad fueled by youthful innocence and an understated hook that couldn't feel less forced. 'This Time' is almost as solid, and 'Wild Angel' does a decent job of channeling Van Morrison."
533:, calling Mellencamp a "poet of the real world", weighed in with a rave review, saying: "Spirit, spark and not a little smartalecky sass—these are the essential ingredients of John Cougar's music . . . This record puts him right up there with those other rock & roll wizards,
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was released on
Mercury/Island/UMe on March 29, 2005; it includes one bonus track, "Latest Game", which, according to the liner notes, was taken from the sessions for Mellencamp's 1982 album
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Of the Top 40 hit "This Time", Mellencamp told
Torgoff: "The first time I heard it on the radio, I almost puked. I decided never to try to write a formula song like that again."
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996:"Nothin' Matters and What If It Did Review by Mike DeGagne"
958:"John Mellencamp Live MG Wherever She May Be Live Crump"
943:"John Mellencamp - Official Website :: Discography"
394:, and it's about my first girlfriend. I had watched a
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46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1331:Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits
980:. Billboard Magazine. December 8, 2001. p.
345:. Massey was chosen because, as Mellencamp told
315:is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter
527:and "Ain't Even Done with the Night". Only the
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1296:Performs Trouble No More Live at Town Hall
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1023:. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 536.
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341:troupe who often appeared in the films of
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106:Learn how and when to remove this message
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1617:Albums with cover art by Jimmy Wachtel
1304:Plain Spoken: From the Chicago Theatre
1471:Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)
956:MrsHappyGoLucky (25 September 2008).
544:In a three-star review in July 2005,
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118:1980 studio album by John Cougar
55:"Nothin' Matters and What If It Did"
44:adding citations to reliable sources
1021:(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide
864:Robert "Ferd" Frank – bass guitar,
481:(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide
273:Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
1323:The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988
1101:Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
356:Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
312:Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
242:Nothin' Matters And What If It Did
124:Nothin' Matters And What If It Did
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319:. Produced by soul pioneer
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813:Mike Wanchic – guitars,
754:2005 reissue bonus track
620:"Don't Misunderstand Me"
379:Stories behind the songs
354:A remastered version of
287:Released: September 1980
1339:On the Rural Route 7609
593:Geoffrey Cushing-Murray
547:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
387:On the Rural Route 7609
1602:John Mellencamp albums
1429:R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
977:Portrait of the Artist
296:Released: January 1981
595:, Richard Littlefield
1347:Other People's Stuff
1141:The Lonesome Jubilee
564:, except where noted
425:Professional ratings
40:improve this article
1622:Riva Records albums
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1561:Falling from Grace
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369:certified Platinum
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555:Track listing
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96:November 2023
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57: –
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52:
51:Find sources:
45:
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35:
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29:This article
27:
23:
18:
17:
1576:Elaine Irwin
1567:
1559:
1550:George Green
1528:Travis Tritt
1524:What Say You
1450:Check It Out
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1315:Compilations
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1245:Plain Spoken
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1165:Human Wheels
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1003:. Retrieved
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739:"Cheap Shot"
726:Henry Glover
704:"Wild Angel"
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522:were mixed.
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359:
355:
353:
346:
339:Dreamlanders
335:Edith Massey
332:
325:
311:
310:
309:
272:
249:
241:
240:
231:
139:Studio album
102:
93:
83:
76:
69:
62:
50:
38:Please help
33:verification
30:
1607:1980 albums
1545:Discography
1499:Our Country
1443:Cherry Bomb
1408:Pink Houses
1280:Live albums
1173:Dance Naked
1093:John Cougar
1085:A Biography
1005:15 November
931:Google News
841:Jeff Baxter
820:Larry Crane
634:"This Time"
539:Springsteen
518:Reviews of
396:Bette Davis
343:John Waters
317:John Cougar
284:"This Time"
233:John Cougar
220:John Cougar
144:John Cougar
1596:Categories
1464:Wild Night
1457:Pop Singer
1422:Small Town
918:References
805:Doc Rosser
690:"Cry Baby"
222:chronology
66:newspapers
1492:Walk Tall
1373:This Time
1149:Big Daddy
1133:Scarecrow
905:Billboard
894:Position
851:saxophone
835:Ed Greene
786:Personnel
676:"Tonight"
578:Writer(s)
326:Billboard
1581:Meg Ryan
1555:Farm Aid
1526:" (with
1000:AllMusic
962:Archived
535:Costello
444:AllMusic
208:Producer
159:Recorded
151:Released
141: by
1538:Related
873:– piano
837:– drums
392:Germany
371:by the
328:Hot 100
269:Singles
255:(1982)
246:(1980)
237:(1979)
80:scholar
1572:(2012)
1564:(1992)
1350:(2018)
1342:(2010)
1334:(2004)
1326:(1997)
1307:(2018)
1299:(2014)
1291:(2009)
1272:(2023)
1264:(2022)
1256:(2017)
1248:(2014)
1240:(2010)
1232:(2008)
1224:(2007)
1216:(2003)
1208:(2001)
1200:(1999)
1192:(1998)
1184:(1996)
1176:(1994)
1168:(1993)
1160:(1991)
1152:(1989)
1144:(1987)
1136:(1985)
1128:(1983)
1125:Uh-huh
1120:(1983)
1112:(1982)
1104:(1980)
1096:(1979)
1088:(1978)
1080:(1976)
891:Chart
881:Charts
800:guitar
796:vocals
767:Length
742:
707:
693:
679:
665:
651:
637:
623:
609:
581:Length
438:Rating
435:Source
179:Length
82:
75:
68:
61:
53:
899:1981
888:Year
860:vibes
830:drums
809:piano
764:Title
575:Title
271:from
196:Label
168:Genre
87:JSTOR
73:books
1007:2023
778:3:56
745:3:00
731:0:28
710:3:13
696:0:25
682:3:17
668:4:50
654:4:04
640:4:18
626:3:33
612:4:38
598:3:47
537:and
373:RIAA
201:Riva
173:Rock
162:1980
59:news
982:105
911:37
902:US
772:12.
760:No.
736:11.
715:10.
571:No.
541:."
42:by
1598::
998:.
960:.
858:–
843:–
828:–
807:–
798:,
794:–
701:9.
687:8.
673:7.
659:6.
645:5.
631:4.
617:3.
603:2.
586:1.
375:.
364:.
188:59
184:35
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84:·
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