Test out your John Mellencamp knowledge before tonight's concert

By Mark Bennett
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE October 25, 2007 08:02 pm

— Twenty months is a long drought for anything — rain, football victories, concerts.
But Hulman Center’s musical dry spell ends tonight at 7:30 when John Mellencamp and Los Lobos perform. That show will be the venue’s first concert since country artists Gretchen Wilson and Van Zant visited on March 3, 2006. So with live music back on the minds of Wabash Valley fans, let’s dust off our remaining rock ’n’ roll brain cells with a little quiz before Mellencamp, Los Lobos and Co. plug in those amps and axes …
Answers appear at the bottom of this story
1. Mellencamp was born in a small town in Indiana; which one?
2. (OK, that was too easy, so try this one.) What university is Mellencamp’s alma mater?
3. Where was John’s first Terre Haute concert staged?
4. In 1994, a significant event in Mellencamp’s life occurred; what was that?
5. Mellencamp’s opening act tonight, Los Lobos, scored a No. 1 hit in 1987 with a remake of Richie Valens’ “La Bamba.” The recording was featured in the soundtrack of a movie by the same name. What actor starred as Richie Valens?
6. In 1985, John Mellencamp co-founded Farm Aid with two other musical icons. Who were they?
7. What do Mellencamp and horror novelist Stephen King have in common?
8. Mellencamp’s biggest selling single also was named one of the 365 “Songs of the 20th Century” by the Recording Industry Association of America (No. 287); which song was it?
9. The 1979 Mellencamp single “I Need a Lover” became a hit record for a female rocker; who was it?
10. True or false: The rocker’s real name is Johnny Cougar Mellencamp.

Answers:
1. Seymour
2. Vincennes University (1974)
3. Indiana Theatre (Oct. 7, 1976)
4. He suffered a heart attack
5. Lou Diamond Phillips
6. Neil Young and Willie Nelson
7. They collaborated on a rock opera called “The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County”
8. “Jack and Diane”
9. Pat Benatar
10. False, Mellencamp’s original manager Tony DeFries insisted the singer’s 1976 debut album “Chestnut Street Incident” be released under the stage name Johnny Cougar, which Mellencamp detested and struggled for years to shed.
Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.

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