Old-Time Rock ‘n’ Roll:
How The 1980s Embraced 1950s and 1960s Oldies Music
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
Photo: "John Mellencamp - Tempodrom, Berlin - 25 giugno 2011" by Andrea Sartorati is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Musician John Mellencamp resented the British dominance during the early to mid 1980s pop music scene. He detested drum machines and synthesizers, the prominent sounds of the Second British Invasion. Radio during Mellencamp’s youth wasn’t restricted to one genre of music. His local Indiana AM station played a mixture of folk, rock, pop, soul, and country, all influencing Mellencamp. His Authority Song
from the 1983 album Uh-huh sounds similar to the 1966 Bobby Fuller Four’s cover of I Fought the Law.
In 1985 John Mellencamp released the single R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A salute to 60’s rock).
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
portrays city kids and small town kids of all races united by rock ‘n’ roll. It’s an upbeat rock song with elements of Motown mixed in, as well as a 1960s keyboard and guitar solo. It definitely salutes the sixties. The song peaked at number two on the 5 April 1986 Billboard chart.