If any Mellencamp fans are interested in adding a unique t-shirt to your collection, check out the Mike Wanchic fan club shirt listed on E-bay.

I for one, miss CCB~  met a lot of good people @ the NYC shows from the board.
Many of them no longer post.  It was about the music~ I long for those young girl days~~~~

  Anyone remember the club MTM? That was back in the 80's before CCB. A time when it was a group of true fans that communicated their love for John and the band's music by hand writing letters and sending them in the mail. We were able to get front row concert seats and backstage passes. But as John says in "Large World Turning", "Nothing lasts forever", and so now the internet runs the world. With this ease of reading and sending information comes this type of stuff. Tony & Sharon work with others to make this a place for fans to enjoy. I am a proud Mellencamp fan for over 30 years now and am still here. It is what we make it. So Dolly, post what you want, and just enjoy the fans that are still here. 

I have seen John in concert over 50 times now in the past 30 years and every performance is unbelievable! One show that stands out was the April 26, 1986 concert at I.U. memorial stadium in Bloomington, In. during the Little 500 bicycle race weekend. It was a warm sunny day as we walked around the college town before the show. All the houses had their windows open with speakers sitting in them playing John's music. Every car driving down the road had the windows down and his music cranked. The entire town was a party! John started the show with his grandma Laura walking out to center stage and singing Grandma's Theme from the Scarecrow album, and then the band kicked into Small Town. The Whenever We Wanted tour of 1992 was fantastic too, but I also agree with the first post that the Lonesome Jubilee tour was on fire! I saw the opening night of that tour on Oct. 30, 1987 at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, In. and John opened with Paper In Fire. He and his band were on top of the world. We saw two more shows for Lonesome Jubilee at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, In. on Dec. 10 & 13, 1987. But my favorite has got to be the final show of the Jubilee tour at the Indiana state fairgrounds on a hot sunny day July 2, 1988. The show was general admission and 45,000 people attended. I got there the day before the show and had a 34 hour wait.I took a couple peanut butter sandwiches and pop tarts to eat, but nothing to drink since that would lead to losing my spot to go to the bathroom as it got closer to showtime. I was first in line  at the gate, and not leaving for anything. I waited forever and dehydrated myself but it was all worth it. Near the end of the show during Pink Houses, John pointed at me in the front row to come up on stage. I leaped up and shook his hand for the first time, and then he walked me to his centerstage microphone. I remember the band playing behind me and John standing right beside me, and he started jamming on his acoustic guitar. I could not even make spit in my mouth, but I grabbed the mic and sang the last verse with all I had. That day will forever be one of the greatest in my life thanks to John!!   

I can't remember exactly when or where I read it, but I saw an article about this back in the 80's. I don't know if it is true or not. Supposedly, John was doing some work on an album one time, and in his admirable fashion of never kissing ass, he did it his way. Someone did not like his attitude and John overheard them saying, "That Mellencamp is such a little bastard". I guess to show them he did not care what they thought, or maybe he thought it fit and liked it, he took the name on.

THERE WAS A BOOTLEG CD OUT CALLED "JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP- INDIANA" WITH A COVER PICTURE OF AN INDIAN ON IT. IT CLAIMED TO BE RECORDED AT AGORA ON 7-25-85 AND THAT IT WAS LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES.

WHERE HAS THIS THING BEEN SITTING ALL THESE YEARS? THE JUKEBOX ALSO APPEARS IN THE "PAPER IN FIRE" VIDEO.

Just wanted to give a quick update on the pencil portrait of John. I have sold a few (Thank you to those fans for supporting this charity!) but still have some more available. If you are one of the lucky ones with some extra cash from a tax refund this time of year, maybe now is a good time to get one for yourself or another Mellencamp fan you know. If there are some fans from Canada who are interested, I will ship to you also if you don't mind adding an extra  dollar or two for shipping.  Thanks!

S. S.- I was not looking for attitude but feel I am getting some. This is a place for Mellencamp fans to come and enjoy! Perhaps your post #16 was "intended" to be more positive. In no way does my post put blame or guilt. I quote it in saying, "I don't know what to think or how to feel without knowing all the facts". It also stated, "There is no need for John or Elaine to hang their head down". My statement that, "Marriage should end at death", was ONLY in reference to what I think is a very common part to a lot of wedding vows - "Till death do us part". But I know we do not live in a perfect world, and I am NOT judging! No, John and Elaine's marriage is not our business. But if you check the order of these posts, mine was in response to, and followed after, yours with "opinions" and false information such as John & Elaine holding hands at the courthouse after filing. Again, I quote my last post in saying, "I only wish the best to John and Elaine"! Lets move on as Mellencamp fans.

As a longtime fan of John's, I am and always have been ready and willing to defend him whenever I thought someone was unjustly putting down my hero. In this case, I still don't know what to think or how to feel without knowing all the facts. But, it is not fair to speculate against Elaine either and say "Elaine initiated the separation/divorce and John is honoring her wishes". If one party in a marriage breaks a wedding vow, it may leave the innocent party no choice but to end things even though it is something they never wanted to do. Is John the "bad guy" because he filed against Elaine? Who files does not mean anything either. Maybe an innocent party feels it is not up to them to be the one filing for a divorce they did not want to happen in their marriage to begin with. Until I see facts proving otherwise, there is no need for John or Elaine to hang their head down, nor should Elaine have to even try to "bow out gracefully". She has always been first class. As far as the news video clip of them holding hands, it was an old clip, and was not a new one of them at the courthouse filing for divorce. No, "divorce does not have to be hateful". Really, divorce should not occur at all in a marriage. 18 years of marriage is not just a "relationship". This is a very sad ending to what was a beautiful thing. Bottom line is "a relationship can run it's course and end". Marriage should end at death. I only wish the best to John and Elaine, and my thoughts continue with Hud and Speck.

It was reported that John is the one requesting for Elaine to take back her maiden name.

I have not felt like sharing my feelings about this until the shock had worn off. Now, it just continues to make me nauseous to see all these photos of John with Meg in New York. I am NOT stating a judgement of who is right or wrong-this is only my emotions. (Post #4 from WildNight has a point.)  John does not seem to be the person I have followed for 30 years now. Sad as it is, nothing will ever stay the same no matter how much we want it to! Yes, I am still a fan, but just not a happy one right now. The news of John and Elaine's split has been taken as personal as my own family, and this type of thing does affect everyone in a family. I was kind of numb for a few days after hearing this. Then it turned to confusion as to how this could be happening. Now it is a feeling of disappointment in life. How does a love go so wrong? I think most of John's fans remember when he met Elaine so many years ago for the video shoot, and how she seemed to bring out the best (and smiling) in him after their marriage. I only wish happiness to each of them, and especially to their beautiful boys, Hud and Speck!                                                                                     "You're sad and disgusted, is what you've grown up to be. Bet you had no idea what your dream would turn out to be. When you live for yourself, it's hard on everyone" - (from "Big Daddy"-1989)

The wonderful, loving Grandma Laura came into this world Nov. 25, 1905 and the Lord took her home on Feb. 3, 2003. What a privilege to have known such a special lady.

Did anybody catch Kenny Aronoff beating the drums on the Kennedy Center Honors show 12-28-10? The Beatles tribute sounded fantastic as he pounded it out just like he always did with John! Kenny looked very good and still in great shape. It was so good to see him again, and hopefully there will be a reairing of the show.

Just wanted to put on an update to the portrait of John info. I have only received a few orders and have several left to sell. I will make a post here periodically to let fans know how many are left. If by chance I get a payment from someone after the last print is sold, then I will return it to you. As we are in the Christmas season, I know money is tight for everyone. So if you can't get a print right now, it would still make a great birthday or anniversary gift later. But the sooner these are sold, the sooner I can make the donation. I would like to urge any Mellencamp fan who does not have one of these yet to please write that check and support this project. Thank you, and Happy Holidays to everyone! - Ron Kelly

FILLED OUT THE SURVEY. NO DOUBT THAT TARGET HAS THE BEST PRICE ON JOHN'S NEW CD AT $7.99. SAW IT IN SUNDAY ADS AT BEST BUY FOR $10.99.