Billy Joel, John Cougar, and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame

"Hey, John, I have an idea, let's close our eyes like we're tired," I said. He did it and I forgot to ... Yeah, right. July 4, 2005, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

I remember a few years back thinking it was really cool that new Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee Billy Joel had invited John Cougar Mellencamp to induct him. Then, 'The Coug' had to decline. He was already scheduled to be in Germany at the time. Oh, you noticed I called him 'The Coug.' Heck, John Mellencamp will always be John Cougar to me. From the first time I heard "Jack & Diane" back in '82, I've been a fan. At the time, when my Dad said to my Mom, "Sally, listen to the words to this song ...." as the huge smash song came on the radio one day, I wondered what was wrong with the song's words. I didn't even know they were called lyrics then!

My first concert was a Billy Joel show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in February 1990. It was a cool show, and I'll always remember the first time I experienced the crowd singing "Piano Man" to the Piano Man. It was quite a moment. The best such experience was in 1993 at the old Rosemont Horizon near Chicago. The crowd was way into it and Billy was into the crowd that night.

I've seen John Mellencamp live probably 25 times. I've seen him on every tour since the Whenever We Wanted Tour in the early '90s. I didn't catch him on his tour last fall because he didn't get into Michigan. I did catch him at the Soaring Eagle Casino in '05, though. About a week earlier, I was sitting in Las Vegas checking my email. I had an email from the Mellencamp people saying I had won two passes to meet JM after the Mt. Pleasant show. "Cool," I said aloud. "I won passes to meet John Cougar!"

The show was rainy, cold, and on the Fourth of July. We didn't have tickets, but we went anyway and were lucky enough to buy two for the price of one from some folks desperate to get rid of their tix. John Fogerty opened and he was okay, then the rain started. Mellencamp didn't seem enthused to be there, probably because the crowd was wet or ornery and not enjoying the situation.

It was a "goofed up situation" trying to meet him after the show. It took about an hour or so for him to finally show up in some board room in a secret section of The Soaring Eagle. He signed some autographs and took one picture with one person in your party. In mine, the first one was blurry so we took another pic. The Coug closed his eyes. So, that's my pic of meeting John Cougar Mellencamp. He looks way more enthused than I do! I met him in '95 in Grand Rapids, too, but that's time for another story ....

Peace, Love, & Happiness to all.