John Cougar Mellencamp / Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, NB Aug. 12, 1982

First of all, welcome to Mellenfest.  OR Mellenstock.  Maybe Mellenpalooza?  Whatever...over the next few weeks I'll be focusing on Mr. Mellencamp, and working my way through the Westwood One shows of his that I've got down in my basement.

Before I get to WW1, though, let's take a look at the King Biscuit Flower Hour.

John Cougar Mellencamp
Pershing Auditorium
Lincoln, NB
recorded August 12, 1982
For broadcast week of July 22-July 28, 1991

01 KBFH Intro - Bill Minkin
02 Commercial - St. Pauli Girl
03 Commercial - Certs
04 Commercial - Bacardi Breezer
05 Commercial - US Marines
06 30 Days In The Hole
07 Ain't Even Done With The Night
08 Thundering Hearts
09 Hand To Hold Onto
10 Fire and Water
11 Hurts So Good
12 Outcue - Bill Minkin
13 Commercial - St. Pauli Girl
14 Commercial - Certs
15 Commercial - US Marines
16 Commercial - Greyhound
17 Jack & Diane
18 Night Dancing
19 This Time
20 Bill Minkin - Outcue
21 Commercial - Greyhound
22 Commercial - St. Pauli Girl
23 Commercial - US Marines
24 I Need A Lover
25 KBFH Outro - Bill Minkin
26 Intro Vinnie James - Bill Minkin
27 Here Goes Tomorrow - Vinnie James
28 Freedom Cried - Vinnie James
29 KBFH Promo - Bill Minkin

Flac files of wavs, with scans.

https://mega.nz/file/PJoDXA5Y#dB-MwBGdSdt0irmVM4IsGlBa82O2j27nNL9EVLZcc6s

John Mellencamp's broadcast history with the King Biscuit Flower Hour starts with a December 14, 1980 broadcast recorded at the Channel Club in Boston, split with a Gamma show from the Old Waldorf.  The show was broadcast once and not repeated...although he turned up on a compilation show on May 11, 1981 for three tracks that might be from the same show.  There was a version up at Guitars 101 as of last summer but it appears the Mega link is no longer working.

I've got a flac download of that show, but **** me if I didn't break the rules and I declicked it, in spite of there being a clear warning in the text file that I was not to alter the files in any way.  When I started this project last summer, I planned to refer you to the Guitars 101 show by a link directly to their post.  So, let's take a vote!  Do you want me to post my declicked version here?  I didn't alter the show in any other way than removing the clicks n' pops.  

  
The next time Mellencamp shows up on KBFH was on the air date of October 17, 1982, with tracks from Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska, all sourced from an August 12, 1982 concert.  
A Super Groups In Concert show from May 21, 1983 (split with Dexy's Midnight Runners) had a Mellencamp portion from "Omaha, Nebraska."  Lincoln and Omaha are sixty miles apart from each other, but the set lists are close to identical. As both Supergroups and KBFH were D.I.R. Radio Networks programs, could they have mixed up Lincoln and Omaha?   From a long distance from the Grain Belt, yeah, they're sort of the same place.   For our English readers, this is like treating York as a suburb of Sheffield.

The show is currently up at Concert Vault for purchase as a download, with additional tracks:

Concert Vault set list:
Thirty Days In The Hole
Ain't Even Done With The Night
Thundering Hearts
Hand To Hold On To / Fire And Water
Hurts So Good
Down South Jukin'  (not on any of the KBFH shows)
Jack & Diane
Night Dancin' 
This Time
I Need A Lover
Close Enough (only on the first 1982 KBFH release and Super Groups)
Hurts So Good (Reprise)  (only on the first 1982 KBFH and Super Groups)

Then there's what appears to be a big gap of eight years without a Mellencamp KBFH until the next show airing on July 30 - August 5, 1990...with 8 songs from the Lincoln show.  

Next up is this version, from July 22 - July 28, 1991.

This is a good time to address errors in the accompanying documentation for this 1991 version.  First of all, Mr. Minkin says in his introduction, "This week, the Biscuit takes us to 1983...."
That's wrong.  We can confirm that by the date on the Concert Vault show, and also the 1982 broadcast date for the original KBFH syndication. 

The cue sheet has the first title as "30 Days In The House" and doesn't list "Ain't Even Done With The Night" at all. "This Time" is listed as "I Think I'm Really In Love."

Variations on this set list were also broadcast again by KBFH on:
April 27 - May 3, 1992 
September 6 - September 12, 1993 
October 31 - November 6, 1994 
98-01  
May 20, 2002 02-21 
6/1/2005 
(KBFH changed the style of dating their air dates over the years)

This list of rebroadcasts is by no means complete, the key takeaway is KBFH repeated this show many times.  As such, it's the source of many bootlegs.  Many of these bootlegs repeat the error in the original date of the show as "1983."
Lincoln, Nebraska Buccaneer Records BUC 041 Italy, 1992
Live In Lincoln, Nebraska Best Of Live Series BOLS15 Luxembourg
...Rocks The USA Live 83/92 Arriba Records 90.026
Carolina Shag (also has the Timothy White 1991 sessions)

30 Days In The Hole was a cover of the Humble Pie song
Fire And Water is a cover of the Free song...but Wilson Pickett also had a #2 R&B / #24 Billboard Hot 100 hit with his cover version.

While it's not on this version of the show (it's at Concert Vault, though), Down South Jukin' was a cover of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song.

In the early 90s, the KBFH started including one or two songs by a new artist.  The station had a choice of playing the final song by the primary artist or skipping that and switching to the new artist.  I've included that second artist (Vinnie James) on this digitization.

The Pershing Center (originally known as Pershing Auditorium) is a 4,526-seat multi-purpose arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. In June 2020, it was announced that the Pershing Center would be demolished, and would be replaced with an apartment complex and a new library; the fate of the large external mural's fate remains undetermined. The building is slated for demolition in 2022.