Ohh, that's a burn, John Mellencamp

I didn’t mean to turn this blog into Letterman’s Greatest Hits, but what the hell, he’s kicking ass and taking names in these final episodes.

Last night, guest John Mellencamp plunked down an ashtray, lit up a smoke, and puffed his way through the interview (they better clean that chair, ’cause ain’t nobody wants to sit in his smoke stench, no matter how nostalgic they get over “Jack and Diane.”) He proceeded to talk about having a heart attack and discussing it with his doctor. Dave cut in with: “When it was all done, the doctor said, whatever you do, don’t stop smoking.” Burn! In jest, of course. Damn, I’m gonna miss Dave. Mellencamp had a chuckle, and then kicked a little ass of his own on stage (he's still got it).

A side note on Mellencamp: He got burned by MTV VJ Nina Blackwood, too, back when his name was Cougar and his star was rising in the ’80s. I recently read VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave, and in it Nina says John invited her to a party, which she agreed to attend later that night. She mentioned it to a friend, who told her to wake up and smell the obvious ruse to get her alone. Nina thought no, surely not, and took the friend with her to the “party.” And he was right, there was no party a rockin’ (at least until she came a knockin’). John wasn’t too happy she brought a friend, or that they just talked awhile before she hit the road without offering up any hot VJ loving. Hopefully his pickup lines improved over the years. Like, “Hey, I’m a rock star, want to come to my place? Alone? There’s no party whatsoever?” That weeds out the women expecting, you know, an actual party. Just a thought.