What Was John Mellencamp’s First U.S. Top-40 Hit?

John Mellencamp eventually became one of the most dependable purveyors of heartland rock hit singles throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. But the early part of his career was full of stops and starts, as Mellencamp struggled to define who he was as an artist under the pressure of industry and management demands.

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Luckily, his first U.S. Top-40 hit took some of that pressure off, allowing Mellencamp the time to find his songwriting voice. Oddly enough, it was a hit that, at first, didn’t even get released in America.

The Cougar Strikes

Relocating from his native Indiana to New York City in the early ‘70s to purse his musical dreams, John Mellencamp found a backer in Tony DeFries, a top manager known for working with David Bowie. It was DeFries who felt the artist’s actual surname was too clunky for record labels, insisting he go by John Cougar.

That was the moniker used for the 1976 debut album Chestnut Street Incident, which featured half cover songs and half Mellencamp originals. But getting his sophomore album out was no easy feat. Mellencamp recorded an album called The Kid Inside in 1977, but it was never released. (Once he became a star, it would trickle out in 1983).

Next came A Biography in 1978, this time with new management backing him. But no American labels bit, which meant the record only came out in overseas locations. One of those locations was Australia, which ended up giving Cougar/Mellencamp the break he needed to make his first American splash.

“Lover” Boy

“I Need a Lover” was a somewhat odd breakthrough song. Mellencamp wrote it based on the conundrum of a friend who was having a hard time, one which he thought would change for the better if he found a girlfriend.

The strange thing about it is it was more than five minutes long, including about a two-minute section at the start of the song that was strictly instrumental. Nonetheless, it became a Top-5 hit in Australia, which helped Mellencamp grab the attention of American labels once again.

In 1979, the album John Cougar was released in the U.S. by Riga Records. They made sure to include “I Need a Lover” to give the song its proper American release. Edited to make it more palatable for radio, it pushed its way to No. 28 in the charts, giving Mellencamp his first U.S. hit.

Aftermath

“I Need a Lover” proved to be doubly rewarding for Mellencamp. Pat Benatar, looking for songs for her debut album, did a cover version of “I Need a Lover,” also released in 1979. Her version gained some traction on rock radio, which helped give Mellencamp a little more exposure.

Mellencamp earned two more Top-40 hits from his follow-up album (Nothing Matters and What If It Did) to John Cougar in 1980. The floodgates truly opened when he released American Fool in 1982, an album that included “Jack and Diane,” a No. 1 single.

In later years, Mellencamp reflected on how important “I Need a Lover” had been for his career, because he witnessed firsthand how an artist could use a hit to suddenly gain leverage and get more control of their career. He’d certainly amass plenty of that leverage in years to come with the boatload of hits that would arrive in that song’s wake.

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