Joe Rogan Experience #2438 - John Mellencamp

Mellencamp walks Rogan through an unlikely life: born with spina bifida in 1951 and surviving an experimental surgery that killed every other child who had it, quitting all drugs and alcohol at 21, and stumbling into music despite never having written a song before his first record deal. He recounts the record industry forcing the 'Johnny Cougar' name on him, the Soundscan chart change he blames for killing rock radio, and how MTV made him a star because almost no one else had music videos. The conversation roams across processed food and heart disease, the decline of rock and comedy films, lifelong cigarette smoking, and friendships with Johnny Cash, Paul Newman, and David Letterman. Throughout, Mellencamp returns to two themes: he is the luckiest guy alive, and life is short even in its longest days.

• Mellencamp reveals he was born with spina bifida and survived an experimental 1951 surgery; the four other children operated on all died.
  00:12:35
• Says the last time he did drugs was 1973, quitting drugs, drinking and smoking all at 21 after a brutal bar-fight beating.
  00:03:40
• Recounts having a real heart attack on stage at Jones Beach at age 42 after years of ignoring 400-plus cholesterol.
  00:20:23
• Explains the industry forced the 'Johnny Cougar' name on him at 22 and he hated it but felt powerless to refuse.
  01:04:50
• Claims his friend Tim White's adoption of Soundscan at Billboard reshaped the charts and effectively killed rock radio in favor of rap.
  01:08:27
• Says MTV played him constantly early on simply because he already had videos (made for Australia) and almost no one else did.
  01:18:49
• Admits he is dyslexic and could not read his own songwriting, needing others to transcribe his lyrics.
  01:23:02
• Shares that one of his daughters currently has brain cancer and is suffering.
  01:16:17

• The neurosurgeon who operated on infant Mellencamp charged his parents one dollar because the procedure was an experiment.
  00:13:36
• Joe cites a study claiming nattokinase, an enzyme from fermented Japanese natto, can shrink arterial plaque by 36%.
  00:27:11
• Mellencamp was playing in bars in a band at age 14 and made about $60 a weekend as the best-dressed kid in school.
  00:44:17
• The signature drum-machine sound on 'Jack and Diane' came from a prototype machine the Bee Gees were borrowing to keep time.
  01:28:49
• His album 'Scarecrow' produced five hit singles, all written by a man who had never written a song before getting signed.
  01:42:52
• Mellencamp says he only watches black-and-white movies and refuses to watch anything that isn't.
  02:13:05
• Claims a doctor told him after decades of smoking his heart 'looks like a teenager's' and his voice 'sounds black.'
  01:59:33
• Met Paul and Joanne Woodward Newman through the movie 'Hud,' which shares a name with Mellencamp's son.
  02:09:56
• Mellencamp argues the Civil War was really fought over ports, with slavery used as a recruiting excuse.
  00:35:30
• Says Richard Pryor's 'Live in Concert' special was take two after Pryor performed the first show backwards and bombed.
  02:18:19