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
More Than a Lover could be seen as controversial. Tyler's previous hit single "Lost in France" became a European hit single, and was due to be released in the United States when "More Than a Lover" was due for a European release. In December 1976, Tyler informed "Record Mirror" that her follow-up single to "Lost in France" would be "much more gutsy". "The World Starts Tonight" was aimed at a February/March release in 1977, and "More Than a Lover" was released one month ahead of the album. "Record Mirror" described the song as "more meaty" than "Lost in France", but didn't think the song