EVERYBODY’S TALKING : What a ‘Wild’ Couple

When musicians of contrasting sensibilities team up in the studio, it’s anyone’s guess whether the results will sizzle or fizzle.

Heartland rocker John Mellencamp may have been taking a gamble when he asked funk artist Me’shell NdegeOcello to play and sing with him on a version of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night,” but he’s delighted with the results. The single, which was released May 9, also appears on Mellencamp’s new “Dance Naked” album and is currently in the Top 10 on the national pop chart.

Mellencamp got the idea for the surprise teaming after hearing NdegeOcello’s acclaimed debut album, “Plantation Lullabies,” which was released last year by Madonna’s Maverick Records.

“I liked what she did,” Mellencamp explains. “I thought she was the real item.”

NdegeOcello, whose “If That Was Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)” is another of the most-talked-about singles of 1994, turned out to be a big Mellencamp fan and agreed to team up with him.

The original idea was for her to just add some powerful bass licks to “Wild Night” and one other album track, “The Big Jack.” But Mellencamp decided he wanted a second voice on “Wild Night,” which he had been doing off and on in concert for years. Since his longtime backup vocalist and fiddle player Lisa Germano wasn’t at the session, NdegeOcello was called into service. The pairing clicked and the song was completed in two takes.

NdegeOcello, who performed “Wild Night” with Mellencamp at the MTV Movie Awards in June, has a standing invitation to join him on stage when her schedule coincides with his tour (which includes Sept. 13 and 14 shows at the Greek Theatre and a Sept. 16 date at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion). She planned to do so during a recent show at Tipitina’s in New Orleans, but was sidelined by a strep throat.*