The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988
The Best That I Could Docollects the singles that led John Mellencamp into the radio/jukebox pantheon he celebrated in "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Cherry Bomb." While albums such asAmerican Fool,Uh Huh, andScarecrowheld Top 10 spots for months, their spinoff hits made this Hoosier disciple of Jagger, J.B., and Iggy into something like a Reagan-era John Fogerty: not only were "Pink Houses," "Paper in Fire," and "Crumblin' Down" wise (and wiseacre) dispatches from an America where it wasn't always morning, they could fill a dance floor and get you pounding the dashboard on the way home.--Rickey Wright