“Scarecrow consolidated the band’s rugged, roots-rock thrash and the ongoing maturation of Mellencamp’s lyrics.” – Rolling Stone

John Mellencamp's 5x-platinum 1985 album Scarecrow yielded three Top 10 hits: "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." (#2), "Small Town" (#6), and "Lonely Ol' Night" (#6).

Mellencamp perfected his heartland rock with Scarecrow, a loose concept album about lost innocence and the crumbling of small-town America. His writing has never been more powerful.

"Rain on the Scarecrow" and "Small Town" campture the hopes and fears of Middle America, while "Lonely Ol Night and "Rumbleseat" effortlessly convey the desperate loneliness of being stuck in a dead-end life.

USM are releasing new editions of John Mellencamp’s 5x platinum, classic 1985 album Scarecrow – which yielded three U.S. Top 10 hits, “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” (#2), “Small Town” (#6) and “Lonely Ol’ Night” (#6) – featuring the newly remixed & remastered album in addition to a full disc of rare & previously unreleased tracks, most of which are not available digitally.

The bonus material includes two previously unreleased full-length songs (“Carolina Shag,” “Smart Guys”), three album track rough mixes (“Lonely Ol’ Night,” “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A,” “Minutes to Memories”), three partial-song demos (“Between a Laugh and a Tear,” “Rumbleseat,” “Small Town”), two b-sides (covers of two Scarecrow influences: The Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk” and James Brown’s “Cold Sweat”), and a previously unreleased cover of “Shama Lama Ding Dong,” performed originally by the fictional band Otis Day and the Knights in the 1978 film National Lampoon’s Animal House.