John Mellencamp Vinyl Records
A linchpin in the heartland rock movement of the 1980s, John Mellencamp embodied the rock & roll traditions of the Midwest. Deeply rooted in the rock & roll of the '60s -- specifically the muscular wallop of the Rolling Stones and their garagey imitators, along with the folk-rock revolution pioneered by Bob Dylan -- Mellencamp gravitated toward socially conscious storytelling as his career progressed, an interest that surfaced in the mid-'80s when he co-launched the charity Farm Aid the same year he released his defining album, Scarecrow. By that point, Mellencamp already had several hits to his name, including the smash singles "Hurts So Good," "Jack & Diane," and "Pink Houses".