#ThrowbackThursday. We go back to 1984 when Van Halen scored their first Nº1 hit in the US with Jump! It was also a top 10 hit around the world and the only Nº1 with David Lee Roth as lead singer. It was released in December 1983 as the lead single from their album 1984. It is the only single the group released in their career to reach Nº1 on the US Hot 100 chart. It broke the mold of their earlier songs – mainly in its rolling synth line.
The song is their most popular and most instantly recognisable composition – perhaps because the sound embodies both of the genres that were most associated with the 1980s in America: synth-driven pop and “arena”-style metal.
The music video was directed by David Lee Roth and won Best Stage Performance at the MTV Video Music Awards that year. Compared to music videos today, it was very straightforward just showing the band performing at a mock concert, but it was the bands personality that brought the whole thing to life.
In an interview with Mix magazine, Daryl Hall said that the Hall & Oates song Kiss On My List was an influence on this one: ”[Eddie] Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from ‘Kiss on My List’ and used it in ‘Jump.’ I don’t have a problem with that at all.”
Creation 5 users: you will find this video in Playlists > Throwback Sessions
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