| "Jack & Diane" | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by John Cougar | ||||||||
| from the album American Fool | ||||||||
| B-side | "Can You Take It" | |||||||
| Released | August 1982 | |||||||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||||||
| Recorded | 1982 at Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida[1] | |||||||
| Genre | Heartland rock | |||||||
| Length | 3:45 | |||||||
| Label | WEA | |||||||
| Writer(s) | John Mellencamp | |||||||
| Producer | John Mellencamp, Don Gehman[1] | |||||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA)[2] | |||||||
| John Cougar singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Jack & Diane" is a 1982 hit song written and performed by American singer-songwriter, John Mellencamp, then performing as "John Cougar". It appears on Mellencamp's album American Fool. It was chosen by RIAA as one of the Songs of the Century. The single spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, and, to date, is the biggest hit single ever for Mellencamp.
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According to Mellencamp, "Jack & Diane" was written after a couple named Jack and Diane from the Monongahela Valley, an area south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who were attending Penn State University. 'Jack & Diane' was a terrible record to make. When I play it on guitar by myself, it sounds great; but I could never get the band to play along with me. That's why the arrangement's so weird. Stopping and starting, it's not very musical." Mellencamp has also stated that the clapping wasn't supposed to be included in the finished song. It was recorded with the clapping in order to help keep tempo and then it was to be removed. However, he realized the song didn't work without it.
The song was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, was produced by Mellencamp and Don Gehman (with Gehman also engineering), and backing Mellencamp were guitarists/backing vocalists Mick Ronson, Mike Wanchic, Larry Crane, drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist/backing vocalist Robert Frank, and keyboardist Eric Rosser.[1]
In 1982, producer and guitarist Mick Ronson worked with John Mellencamp on his American Fool album, and in particularly on "Jack & Diane". In a 2008 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Mellancamp recalled:
"I owe Mick Ronson the hit song, Jack & Diane. Mick was very instrumental in helping me arrange that song, as I'd thrown it on the junk heap. Ronson came down and played on three or four tracks and worked on the American Fool record for four or five weeks. All of a sudden, for 'Jack & Diane', Mick said 'Johnny, you should put baby rattles on there.' I thought, 'What the fuck does put baby rattles on the record mean? So he put the percussion on there and then he sang the part 'let it rock, let it roll' as a choir-ish-type thing, which had never occurred to me. And that is the part everybody remembers on the song. It was Ronson's idea." (John Mellencamp, Classic Rock, January 2008, p.61)[3]
The accompanying music video directed by Bruce Gowers.[4]
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (RPM)[5] | 1 |
| Netherlands (Gfk)[6] | 32 |
| United Kingdom (UK Singles Chart)[7] | 25 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[8] | 1 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[8] | 3 |
| US (Cash Box)[9] | 1 |
The opening guitar riff and drum beat of "Jack & Diane" were sampled as a hook on Jessica Simpson's single "I Think I'm In Love With You", released in the summer of 2000.
| Preceded by "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single October 2, 1982- October 23, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Who Can It Be Now?" by Men at Work |