Jump (Van Halen song)

"Jump"
Song

"Jump" is a song recorded by the rock group Van Halen. It is the only single the group released in their career to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was released in 1984 as the second track on the album 1984. The song breaks the mold of earlier Van Halen songs, mainly in its rolling synth line (played on an Oberheim OB-Xa), although the song contains the standard Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, which Eddie claims as his favorite solo he never wrote. This refers to the fact that the producer spliced parts of two different takes to create the one heard in the song.

"Jump" may be Van Halen's most popular and instantly recognizable composition, perhaps because its sound embodies the key aspects of both of the two genres of popular music most associated with the 1980s in America: synth-driven pop and "arena"-style metal. Its synthesized brass introduction is one of popular music's most recognizable musical introductions. It was inspired by famed martial artist Benny Urquidez, of whom Roth was a student. The song changed the future and style of Van Halen from being a predominantly hard rock band to one of more radio-oriented popular music.

Interestingly, despite its chart success and mainstream appeal, "Jump" is widely recognised as not being representative of Van Halen's more rock-based style.

"Jump" and the breakup of the original Van Halen

This stylistic change was further cemented when it seemed to create severe tensions between Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth. Roth, it has been claimed, wanted the band to avoid using synthesizers and focus more on traditional hard rock. This conflict eventually ended in Roth's departure from the band. In the 1995 Rolling Stone cover story on/interview with Eddie Van Halen (RS #705, dated April 6) the circumstances surrounding Roth's leaving are discussed. In this interview Eddie claims that the main reason for the split was that Roth and Templeman both disliked the fact that he had built his own studio and was able to work on music away from their influence. He said that "the first thing I did up here was "Jump" and they [Roth and Templeman] didn't like it. I said 'take it or leave it', I was getting sick of their ideas of what was commercial ... At first [Roth's solo EP] Crazy From the Heat was great because Roth laid off me a bit. Little did I know he was testing the waters. Then he called me up and asked me to go to his house and said he was going to make a Crazy From the Heat movie. He had some deal that fell through. But at the time I was depressed. I cried, then I called my brother and told him the guy quit."

Van Halen performs "Jump", November 10, 2007

Nevertheless, Roth and Templeman did work on "Jump" at Eddie's disputed new studio, with Roth providing the lyrics and the vocal melody.

Ted Templeman recalls that "'Jump' was recorded at Ed's studio. [Engineer] Donn [Landee] and Ed put the track down alone in the middle of the night. We recut it once in one take for sonic reasons. Dave wrote the lyrics that afternoon in the backseat of his Mercury convertible. We finished all vocals that afternoon and mixed it that evening".

The song thereafter secured its place among rock music's most popular songs, and is now considered by some to be one of the most influential rock songs of all time.

Live performances of "Jump" are preceded by Eddie's synthesizer solo "1984". During the reunion tour with Roth, the two songs were used for the band's encore. Roth often waved a large red flag during the synth section while the stage was still coated in dark cover lights.

Interestingly, despite its chart success and mainstream appeal, Jump is widely recognised as not being representative of Van Halen's more rock-based style.

According to Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, "[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."

Music video

The music video for "Jump" was directed by David Lee Roth. It is a straightforward concept, much like many of the hard rock videos of the time. It shows the band performing the song at a mock concert. It was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards, and won "best stage performance" for the video.

The version of the song used for the video differs slightly from the album version. During the keyboard solo prior to the final refrain, David Lee Roth is heard (and seen) yelling out. He did this during the band's mock performance for the video's filming, and it is believed that afterwards he overdubbed this yell especially for the video version since it is not present in the song to begin with. .

Personnel

• David Lee Roth - lead vocals
• Eddie Van Halen - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Michael Anthony - bass, backing vocals
• Alex Van Halen - drums

Reception

"Jump" was ranked #15 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s. It has also become somewhat of a sports anthem, an example of this being that it is the song that is played on the PA system every time AC Milan score a goal at their home ground, San Siro, or the song played before the start of each home game of Olympique de Marseille. Jump was also covered by the cast of the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee, in the eleventh episode "Mattress."

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the song was placed on the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel.

Covers

Aztec Camera did an acoustic version of "Jump" on the B-side of their single "All I Need Is Everything"; this cover gained popularity and was eventually added to later releases of their album Knife.

An uptempo dance remix was made by Bus Stop for the 1999 Dancemania compilation Speed 2. This was later included on the 2000 greatest hits compilation Dancemania Speed Best 2001 Hyper Nonstop Megamix.

Paul Anka included a swing jazz cover of "Jump" in his album Rock Swings, released in 2005.

Kids Incorporated performed a cover of the song as the first stage performance of the show's first season. It was also released on the album Kids Incorporated from 1984.

Pop culture

Canadian pro wrestler Chris Benoit used a remix of "Jump" as his theme music in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he wrestled under the names Pegasus Kid and Wild Pegasus.

DJ Felli Fel used the sample of the song in his single "I Wanna Get Drunk" featuring Three 6 Mafia, Lil Jon and Fatman Scoop.

The song was used as the theme for the 2009 Japanese television drama, Mr. Brain, starring Takuya Kimura.

This song is also sung by The Wolfman in the Beetlejuice Rock N'Roll Graveyard Review At Universal Studios in Orlando Florida.

This song was sung and used in Glee. The cast sung a TV mattress commercial part of Season 1, Episode 12

External links

• Songfacts entry