Pop Singer (John Cougar Mellencamp song)#Charts

In a 1987 interview with Creem, Mellencamp said, "The most crucial thing for me is that I want it to be real."{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=32130|title=Pop Singer by John Mellencamp|website=Songfacts|access-date=March 1, 2018}} Referring to his false image in his early years as a musician, Mellencamp was upset with the choices his manager made, including performing under the stage name "Johnny Cougar". Mellencamp wanted to focus solely on his music and not his image, so he began to exert more control over his musical career. As a result, he avoided common practices that musicians undertake, including meet-and-greets and radio station concerts. Many fans appreciated this change of style, particularly the devotion he had to his work.

Mellencamp wrote "Pop Singer" in the midst of a divorce with Victoria Granucci, at which point he began to analyze what he had become as a musician, referring to his image as a "monster" in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/john-mellencamp-my-life-in-15-songs-20131223/pop-singer-0928970|title=John Mellencamp: My Life in 15 Songs|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=March 1, 2018}} He also claimed, "Things were changing. Everybody was having to kiss everybody's ass. If you want to be on MTV, then come here and do this. All these backroom deals were getting made. I was like, 'I don't want any part of this.'"

Cash Box called it "a strident declaration that Mellencamp is not a pop singer" and said that "he drives the point home with a mean-spirited guitar growling across the track."{{cite magazine|title=Top of the Pops|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1989/CB-1989-04-29.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=April 29, 1989|accessdate=2022-12-21|page=18}}

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7-inch, cassette, and mini-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Pop Singer|others=John Cougar Mellencamp|year=1989|type=US 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Mercury Records|id=874 012-7}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Pop Singer|others=John Cougar Mellencamp|year=1989|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=Mercury Records|id=874 012-4}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Pop Singer|others=John Cougar Mellencamp|year=1989|type=European mini-CD single liner notes|publisher=Mercury Records|id=874 422-3}}

:A. "Pop Singer" – 2:45

:B. "J.M.'s Question" – 3:38

12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=Pop Singer|others=John Cougar Mellencamp|year=1989|type=UK 12-inch single sleeve|publisher=Mercury Records|id=JCM 1212, 874 013-1}}

:A1. "Pop Singer"

:B1. "J.M.'s Question"

:B2. "Like a Rolling Stone" (live)

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CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Pop Singer|others=John Cougar Mellencamp|year=1989|type=UK CD single liner notes|publisher=Mercury Records|id=JCMCD 12, 874 013-2}}

1. "Pop Singer"
2. "J.M.'s Question"
3. "Like a Rolling Stone" (live)
4. "Check It Out" (live)

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|131037|Pop Singer|type=single}}
• {{YouTube|wLShxXgIK5w|John Mellencamp - Pop Singer}}

{{John Mellencamp}}

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Category:1989 songs

Category:1989 singles

Category:John Mellencamp songs

Category:Mercury Records singles

Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand

Category:Songs written by John Mellencamp

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles