John Cougar is the third studio album by John Cougar.[3] It was his first album to be released by his new record company Riva Records.[5] Released in 1979, following the success in Australia of the single "I Need a Lover" from his previous album A Biography (which did not receive a U.S. release), John Cougar included the aforementioned track for U.S. audiences, as well as a re-working of A Biography's "Taxi Dancer".
"I Need a Lover", upon the release of this album, became a Top 40 hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 28 in December 1979,[6] after having been a No. 5 hit in Australia in 1978 when it was released as a single from A Biography. "Miami" was also a hit single in Australia, his second Top 40 hit in that country. "I Need a Lover" was subsequently covered by Pat Benatar on her album In the Heat of the Night. In the U.S., however, "Small Paradise" was released as a single in place of "Miami", but it was not very successful, peaking at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1980.[6] During concerts in 1979 and 1980, guitarist Mike Wanchic would trade lead vocals with Mellencamp on "Miami".
Record World said of the single "Small Paradise" that it's "a deliberate, ballad pace with Cougar's raw vocal exuding tension and drama" and praised the hook and vocal performance.[7]
Record World said of the single "A Little Night Dancin'" that its "light Latin rhythm provides a backdrop for Cougar to project his vivid urban images."[8]
Mellencamp recorded a solo acoustic rendition of "Sugar Marie" for his 2010 box set On the Rural Route 7609, stating in the set's liner notes: "'Sugar Marie' suffered from young musicians not knowing how to present the music. I've always had an affection for the song, and I've always known it had something I didn't get at on the album."
On his inspiration for writing "I Need A Lover", his first Top 40 hit, Mellencamp said: "The song's about a friend of mine who goes to Concordia College. When that song was written, he was pretty sad. He was . . . livin’ in his bedroom. I told him, ‘You got to get the hell out of the house!’ He'd say, ‘Man, if I only had a girl, she’d make me forget my problems.’ I just said, ‘Well . . . ’"
