“Jack & Diane”was about an inter-racial couple….at least initially…but John’s record label thought it would be better l if he changed “Jack & Diane”to high school kids….NOT because they feared any racial backlash…but because they thought it would have a more universal appeal, regardless of race. John reluctantly agreed.

Meanwhile ,he was having a tough time trying to get his band to play the song correctly. The arrangement was obviously choppy and difficult… and drummer, Kenny Aronoff was upset to find out he was only needed to program a drum machine…until John asked him to come up a live drum solo for the middle of the song…a solo that has become iconic!

As a single (from the album “American Fool”), “Jack & Diane proved to have the universal appeal the record label was looking for!

.It topped Billboard’s Hot 100…reached #3 on the Rock Chart…and John lost count of just how many people told him it was their life story.
Further proof came from  Cashbox Magazine, whose critic wrote: “This little ditty about Jack & Diane has a certain power that hits the heartland

with a warm, descriptive storyline that’s both personal and universal. “Jack & Diane” is a Great Story Song of 1982 by John Mellencamp.