Van Halen “1984″ (or “MCMLXXXIV” to be precise), released 35 years ago today, January 9th, in 1984. I’m not a huge Van Halen fan but I have so much fondness for this album, a record that was completely inescapable in ‘84; I’m pretty sure I saw the video for “Jump” about a million times and the one for “Hot For Teacher” almost as many. 1984 was Van Halen’s sixth studio album, one of their top sellers ever, and the last to feature all four original members. It went to #2 on the US album chart (held back from the #1 spot by Michael Jackson’s Thriller) and is included on many best-of-all-time album lists. It was also the first Van Halen album to prominently feature keyboards (to the initial chagrin of David Lee Roth); 1984′s producer Ted Templeman stated “It’s real obvious to me [why 1984 won Van Halen a broader and larger audience]. Eddie Van Halen discovered the synthesizer.“

Van Halen released four singles from 1984. The first was “Jump” which hit #1 and remains their most successful single ever. MTV had it on super-heavy rotation and I still love it. David Lee Roth’s gymnastics are impressive and hysterical and Eddie Van Halen looks high as hell while noodling away during his keyboard and guitar solos. The video was nominated for three MTV VMAs and it won the “Best Stage Performance” category. “I’ll Wait” was the next single and it went to #13. I don’t remember this one as well as “Jump” but that’s probably because Van Halen didn’t make a video for it. It’s so 80′s over-the-top with big keyboards and even bigger production. The third single was “Panama,” which is my favorite track on 1984. I suggest putting it on really really really loud and dusting off your head-banging moves while cruising the avenue (a popular pastime in the 80′s). “Panama” went to #13 on the US charts. The last single from 1984 was “Hot For Teacher,” which only went to #56 which I find hard to believe as it also got extremely heavy airplay on MTV. The newly formed PMRC protested the song and video for content (probably making it even more popular when in 1985 Senator Paula Hawkins used the video as an example in Senate testimony saying “Much has changed since Elvis’ seemingly innocent times. Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult”) but I thought it was hilarious; my favorite line is “I don’t feel tardy.”

Allmusic says about 1984,  “It’s the best showcase of Van Halen’s instrumental prowess as a band, the best showcase for Diamond Dave’s glorious shtick, the best showcase for their songwriting, just their flat-out best album overall.”