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Why on earth isn't John Mellencamp a member of the Rock `n Roll Hall of Fame? Seriously. I know that, like the Grammys, thoughtful music fans aren't supposed to care about the annual inductions, because rock can't be measured by some sort of peer popularity contest or by tabulating record sales. (Agreed. I doubt my favorite, favorite band of all time, The Vulgar Boatmen, have sold 50,000 records in their entire career.) But the fact is the Hall does exist, it does induct honorees each year, and from a historical perspective, it does matter. And for right now, the biggest crime being committed on the banks of Lake Erie in Cleveland is that Mellencamp has not been acknowledged for his extraordinary lifelong artistic contributions, as well as his massive commercial success; 40 millions albums sold and counting in the U.S. alone. Mellencamp's been eligible for the Hall since 2001 and been on the ballot twice.

The way I see it, Mellencamp, and his hallmark brand of mainstream American, drum-bass-guitar rock, is part of the Four Horsemen from the 70's and 80's who defined the working class genre and often spit out perfect 4-minute radio hits. And they are Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Bob Seger and Mellencamp. (You could add Billy Joel to that list, although he seemed to have more a Tin Pan Alley influence.) Eric A. would be the first to insist—and I'd agree—that Springsteen sorta of exists on a higher plane than the prides of Gainesville, Fla, Ann Arbor, MI., Hicksville Long Island, and Seymour, Ind., respectively. Okay, Springsteen point granted. But still, why is Mellencamp the only one among the remaining human rock jukeboxes not inducted in the Hall of Fame?

On its website, the Hall, while honoring Seger, even acknowledges Mellencamp's unique role in rock history: "Seger and John Mellencamp are the great rock and roll voices of the Midwest." And here's how the Hall toasts Petty and his band: "Durable, resourceful, hard-working, likeable and unpretentious, they rank among the most capable and classic rock bands of the last quarter century." How does that not describe Mellencamp's work?

Meanwhile, if it weren't for Mellencamp I don't think Farm Aid would still exist. And I guarantee he's written more songs that address racial discord in America than any other multi-platinum rock singer over the last 20 years. (Mellencamp's music videos almost always featured blacks and whites together; a music industry rarity.) Over the years he passed up untold tens of millions of dollars by refusing to allow his songs to be used in commercials, or to have his tours sponsored by corporate entities. (Mellencamp just recently gave in to car advertisers.)

And as Mellencamp's gotten older his keen sense of right and wrong has only become more pronounced. On the eve of the war in 2003 while lots of artists, like nervous Democratic politicians, were keeping quiet about their deep reservation about Iraq, Mellencamp dusted off an old folk song, "To Washington," re-recorded it with new lyrics that took shots at Bush. He didn’t just wander out on a limb, he jumped up and down on it.

He's been opening recent shows with a new, un-recorded song, "This is our country."

There's room enough here
For science to live
And there's room enough here
For religion to forgive

Simple stuff, but who else is singing it?

I don't know if it's because he got tangled up in the whole name change thing from Cougar to Cougar Mellencamp to just Mellencamp and people still snicker about it, or it's because his first couple records sort of stunk. (Unlike Petty, Seger, Joel and Springsteen, whose early albums still shine.) Or if it's because of the well-known chip Mellencamp carries around on his shoulder.