Album · John Mellencamp
American Fool by John Mellencamp
American Fool is an album by John Mellencamp, released in 1982. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 124 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Jack and Diane”, on 77 lists with a best position of #7.
American Fool, John Mellencamp's fifth album, came out on Riva in April 1982, back when the sleeve still read John Cougar, and it was the one that finally put him over. Don Gehman produced, and the record is heartland rock stripped to the studs: crunching guitars, thumping drums and a singer who sounds like he'd rather be sweating in a garage than posing in a studio.
"Hurts So Good" is all strut and leer, a greasy, grinning rocker, and "Jack and Diane" turns a handclap and an acoustic strum into one of the era's great sing-alongs. The album sat at number one on the Billboard 200 for nine straight weeks. When it was remastered in 2005, it finally got a title track, a previously unreleased song tacked on as a bonus.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from American Fool on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack and Diane#298 of all time | 77 | #7 | – | 1991–2026 | |
| 2 | Hurts So Good | 47 | #68 | – | 1997–2026 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.