John Cougar, John Cougar, 1979 on Riva
Third album album from the guy we now know as John Mellencamp, after two (Chestnut Street Incident and A Biography) as “Johnny Cougar.” It was his second on Riva Records but the first Riva put out in the US.
Includes “I Need A Lover” which had been a hit in Australia and was covered by Pat Benatar on her debut album. Love those Riva labels.
My fellow record collector obsessives: what do you do with this LP in your filing system? Does it go under “Cougar, John” or under “Mellencamp, John [Cougar]”? I file mine under Mellencamp to keep them all together, the rationale being it feels like Cougar was forced on him not really an alias in the usual sense.
My copy—via a record fair at Mill No. 5 in Lowell MA—is a 1979 pressing from Terre Haute with the original cover (yellow/orange lettering later changed to red).
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