This week’s music video is arguably one of the great arena rock anthems of the 1980s. I’m talking about “Jump” from Van Halen. Once I hear this song on the radio, I instantly turn up the volume and fist pump the air. The smash hit also provided Van Halen with their first, hi-profile music video that MTV seemed to play by the hour.
“Jump” was the lead single from the band’s sixth studio album, cleverly named “1984” and stylized with the Roman numerals as “MCMLXXXIV.” (Van Halen is notorious for their quirky album titles, my favorite being “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”) The album and single became massive hits for the Van Halen boys and took their sound into a decidedly more pop-rock style, especially with that synthesizer keyboard riff that dominates the song. It was perfect for the MTV era, and the band would embrace the music video format, producing many classic, influential clips that helped define the late 80s hair metal era.
The video for “Jump” was directed by Pete Angelus and lead singer David Lee Roth. It’s a decidedly simple video of the band jamming on stage with Lee Roth prowling the stage, performing flips and leaps with wild abandon. Of the many lead singers that came and went through Van Halen, David Lee Roth was the best showman, and it’s apparent in this clip. He’s fearless and adores the camera, whereas his bandmates seem a bit camera shy. Still, if you needed an introduction to Van Halen, particularly the David Lee Roth era, you couldn’t do much better than “Jump.”
Sadly, the “1984” album would be David Lee Roth’s last as lead singer until 2012’s “A Different Kind of Truth.” He left the band in 1985 over creative differences and started a successful solo career. Van Halen would recruit rocker Sammy Hagar as their new lead vocalist, and the band would continue to release a string of hit records well into the 90s. There is still fierce debate about the better lead singer as both had completely different styles. For me, I’m a Hagar guy, but I do appreciate the unique talents of Lee Roth. And “Jump” is still my favorite VH jam.
Check out the music video below, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Chad, I am on Team Hagar also. As you, I also appreciate Team Roth. It’s just that the hits from the Hagar era stuck with me more over time. That being said, this song and video certainly gets the blood pumping.
Van Halen is an interesting band as I either love certain songs or many I don’t care for. Hagar’s style lands with me more, and Jump is the only Roth single I enjoyed. I never cared for the in-your-face style of Roth, where Hagar just wanted to hang with the band and jam.