To Be a Lover in early 1969. This version has since been sampled by Ludacris on his song "Growing Pains" from "Word of Mouf", by Jaheim on "Put That Woman First" from "Still Ghetto" and by Dilated Peoples on the song "Worst Comes to Worst". In 1977, the song was covered as a more uptempo reggae number by the Jamaican singer George Faith under the amended title of "To Be a Lover (Have Mercy)" for his Lee "Scratch" Perry-produced album also called "To Be a Lover". In 1986, the track was again reworked and became the second high-profile cover Billy Idol released as a
I Need a Lover I Need a Lover "I Need a Lover" is a rock song written and performed by John Mellencamp and first released under the stage name Johnny Cougar. It appeared on his 1978 album "A Biography", which was not released in the United States. After becoming a Top 10 hit in Australia, the song was later included on his 1979 follow-up album "John Cougar" to introduce it to U.S. audiences, and it was released as a single, becoming his first Top 40 hit in the U.S. when it reached #28 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in late 1979. AllMusic reviewer Stephen