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
To Be a Lover the track and an 'interlude' with distorted female groans. It is this version that is featured on the remix compilation album "Vital Idol" 1987 US/1988 Japan editions. The UK 12" was also released as a limited-edition picture disc. To Be a Lover "To Be a Lover" is a song by Billy Idol from his 1986 album "Whiplash Smile". As the album's lead single, it became Idol's second top 10 hit in the US, peaking at No. 6 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was co-written (with Booker T. Jones) and originally