John, that’s “Cougar” to you, Mellencamp is due out with his 23rd album on July the 15th. Title of record? Life, Death, Love and Freedom. Considering his last release was entitled Freedom Road and rode a brown water wave off the ham hock Chevy truck mega hit “Our Country,” I would have to say that Life, Death, Love and Freedom is one of the worst album names in the history of music. I don’t think Mellencamp is a bad guy; his intentions are good and he sings out against racism and the likes. But shouldn’t there be a limit to the amount of cheese on that burger, John?

I’m not big on competition in music, or enshrining artists’ feet in concrete, or bidding on eBay for locks of so and so’s hair - it just seems to defeat the purposes of free-reign creativity. And while I don’t think that rock ‘n’ roll ever needed a Hall of Fame, its nomination process and subsequent ballyhooing ceremony nevertheless persists every year with new inductees. I almost always marvel at the rad collaborations they acquire though, and almost cried when Elvis Costello was inducted a few years ago, so never mind me. For those interested, this year’s inductees include (get ready to feel old…):

Afrika Bambaataa, Beastie Boys, Chic, Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer and The Ventures.

The official press release hits the wire on December 13th. We’d like to thank the Foundation for reminding us that we are no longer eligible to fight for our individual rights to party, and that living in a material world is indeed a thing of the past.