[Might As Well Jump] -- Van Halen stormed onto charts, radio, and record stores with their 1978 self-titled debut album. By the end of 1983, about a year and a half after they released their fifth studio album, Diver Down, Van Halen was one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Their brand of hard rock – dubbed "high velocity folk music" by vocalist David Lee Roth – was easily recognized.
And that changed on January 9, 1984, with the release of Van Halen's sixth studio LP, 1984.
Well, I guess the change actually came in December 1983. That's when the album's first single, "Jump," was released. Sure, the song became the band's most successful single, as well as their first to reach the #1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100. But more important was what that single heralded, which was a change Van Halen's sound, and specifically a change in how guitarist extraordinaire, Eddie Van Halen, would compose and record music. Yes, guitar hero Eddie was playing keyboards and synths.
Now, "Panama" and "Hot For Teacher," the third and fourth singles respectively, were pretty much in the vein of classic Van Halen. But the second single, "I'll Wait," was a synth-laden love song. And the album's title track was a short instrumental that prominently featured synthesizers.
1984 peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200, but just couldn't muscle itself out from behind Michael Jackson's Thriller. And although 1984 was successful, even muscling itself into the hearts, and wallets, of the most diehard Van Halen fans, it marked the end of an era.
There had been mounting tensions in the band before 1984, particularly between Eddie and Dave. For years, both singer David Lee Roth and Warner Bros. producer Ted Templeman had routinely discouraged Eddie from dabbling too much into keyboards when it came to the band and their sound. 1984, in both process and sound, was apparently not a direction Roth wanted to continue down, and he quit the band. LoudWire compiled some of the potential reasons for the split [September 2003]. American Songwriter points directly at "Jump" as being the starting point for the drama that ended in a rift [June 2023]. But so much of these "Why did the band break up?" stories are looking backwards and trying to pull threads together, and even when dealing directly with the people involved, memories are not perfect.
But you know what is perfect, at least in my opinion? 1984. It came out around the middle of my high school years, and I was swept up in this force of nature masquerading as an album. I wore out both the cassette and an LP. The pop sheen of the more radio-friendly hits rests in a comfortably shaky balance with the glam metal elements. Van Halen wold make more records, with other vocalists and with Dave. And some of those later records rival 1984's success. But they cannot rival 1984, or even approach, its status as a milestone.
Flashback: 1984 (January 9, 1984)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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