Dave's Song of the Day
I Need a Lover – Johnny Cougar
Monday song of the day: A cover version of today’s song helped save John Mellencamp’s career.
When John Mellencamp started his recording career, his management didn’t like his last name, so he was billed as “Johnny Cougar.” His second album was 1978’s
A Biography, which was released only in the UK and Australia, and not in the United States. Included on the album was the song
I Need a Lover, in which the singer longed for a girlfriend who didn’t come with a lot of strings attached.
I Need a Lover turned out to be a hit in Australia, placing at #5 there. While a hit in Australia didn’t earn him a whole lot of money, it did convince the record company to produce a third album,
John Cougar, in 1979. As you can tell, the stage name was changed from Johnny to John by this time.
John Cougar was released in the United States, and included
I Need a Lover, in addition to new songs.
I Need a Lover was a moderate hit, placing at #28 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Naturally, this increased his prospects, but a bigger infusion of cash occurred right around the same time.
Singer Pat Benatar included a cover of
I Need a Lover on her 1979 debut album,
In the Heat of the Night. She even released it as a single, although it didn’t chart for her. The album, however, was a huge hit and went Platinum. Mellencamp’s royalties for writing one of ten songs on a Platinum selling album gave him some much-needed cash. At that point in his career, he was considering giving up. As he later said, “”I was washed up and over by my mid-20s. Then two record producers named [Nicky] Chinn and [Mike] Chapman heard
I Need a Lover, and they had Pat Benatar sing it.”
Between finally getting a hit in the US, and the Pat Benatar cover, this allowed Mellencamp to continue his career. He went on (under the name John Cougar Mellencamp and eventually just John Mellencamp), to have numerous hits and in 2008 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Johnny Cougar, 1978
View: https://youtu.be/-P6U9SXD6HQ
John Cougar on
Top Pop, 1980
View: https://youtu.be/qp3xE0Q6oZo
Linda Ronstadt, 1979
View: https://youtu.be/lCets1eNhh0
Tomorrow: I want my baby back