R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
| "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60's Rock)" |
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| Single by John Cougar Mellencamp | ||||
| from the album Scarecrow | ||||
| A-side | "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." | |||
| B-side | "Under the Boardwalk" | |||
| Released | 1986 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||
| Recorded | April 25, 1985 at Belmont Mall, Belmont, Indiana | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length |
2:55 2:48 (7") |
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| Label | Riva | |||
| Songwriter(s) | John Mellencamp | |||
| Producer(s) | John Mellencamp (a.k.a. "Little Bastard"), Don Gehman | |||
| John Cougar Mellencamp singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." on YouTube | ||||
"R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", subtitled "A Salute to 60's Rock," is a rock song written and performed by John Mellencamp. It was the third single from his 1985 album Scarecrow and a top-ten hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Top Rock Tracks charts.
According to Mellencamp biography Born in a Small Town, Mellencamp was initially reluctant to include "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." on Scarecrow, feeling the song was too light-hearted to include alongside the otherwise grim songs such as "Rain on the Scarecrow" and "Face of the Nation." Mellencamp told Timothy White in a 1986 article for the Illinois Entertainer of his decision to include "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." on Scarecrow: "It was one of those absolute last-split-second decisions. I was only including it on the cassette and CD copies of Scarecrow as a bonus party track, but my manager loved the energy of it and I thought, 'Yeah! What the hell!'"
Mellencamp required his band to learn how to play hundreds of songs from the 1960s before recording Scarecrow, and the song includes several direct musical references to 1960s songs, including The Troggs' "Wild Thing."
The song was recorded at Belmont Mall in Belmont, Indiana. The recording was produced by Mellencamp (under the alias "Little Bastard") and Don Gehman, engineered by Gehman and Greg Edward; backing Mellencamp on the recording were Kenny Aronoff (drums), Toby Myers (bass), Mike Wanchic (guitars, background vocals), Larry Crane (guitars, flutophone), John Cascella (keyboards), and Sarah Flint (background vocals).
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Wikipedia