1984

d

Released 

12/31/83
Gold:
3/12/84
Platinum:
3/12/84
Multi-Platinum:
10/22/84 (4x) 
1/23/85 (5x) 
7/1/87 (6x) 
7/11/94 (7x) 
8/08/96 (9x) 
2/08/99 (10x)
Diamond:
3/16/99
Reviews:
1.Amazon.com
2. Allmusic.com
CD Covers

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Van Halen's 1984 is arguably the best and most defining rock release of the '80s. Eddie Van Halen's guest appearance on Michael Jackson's massive 1983 hit "Beat It" introduced VH to the pop audience, which the band attracted in droves with this expertly crafted set of hard rock with pop leanings, not to mention its imaginative accompanying videos. Musically, 1984 was a gamble that paid off massively — Eddie Van Halen was finally given the green light by his bandmates to incorporate keyboards into their sonic palette, resulting in the number one single "Jump" and the almost new wave-ish Top 15 love song "I'll Wait." But wisely, the keyboards weren't overpowering, and all of the other selections were typical VH hard-rocking heavies — the perennial radio favorites "Hot for Teacher" and "Panama," as well as the highly underrated album tracks "Top Jimmy," "Drop Dead Legs," "Girl Gone Bad," and "House of Pain." While the strong and instantly memorable songs were obviously the main ingredient for the album's success, a string of imaginative and humorous videos really introduced the band to a whole new audience (the hilarious clip for "Hot for Teacher" has to be one of the all-time best). 1984 also opened up the floodgates for many faceless, identical pop-metal bands (something VH was the complete opposite of), who suddenly realized that adding synths to heavy metal could increase their chances of commercial success. Still, it didn't tarnish the fact that 1984 is a timeless hard rock masterpiece, which eventually sold a staggering ten million copies. Unfortunately, the album would be the last Van Halen recording to feature David Lee Roth, who surprisingly left in 1985 at the height of the band's popularity. — Greg Prato 

Released 12/31/83 
Sales: 10 Million 
Chart Position:
Weeks on chart: 77
Label: Warner Brothers 
Awards: Diamond, Multi Platinum 10x
Vocals: David Lee Roth
Guitars: Eddie Van Halen
Bass: Michael Anthony
Drums: Alex Van Halen
Keyboards: Eddie Van Halen
Singles: Jump (Pop #1), I'll Wait (Pop #13), Panama (Pop #13), Hot for Teacher (Pop #56) 
Videos: Jump, Panama, Hot for Teacher 
Producer: Ted Templeman
Engineer: Don Landee
TRACKS AUDIO VIDEO
1984 (1:07)
Jump (4:04)
Panama (3:31)
Top Jimmy (2:59)
Drop Dead Legs (4:13)
Hot For Teacher (4:42)
I'll Wait (4:41)
Girl Gone Bad (4:33)
House of Pain (3:18)

Lyrics

Jump
I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough. I've seen the toughest around.
And I know, baby, just how you feel.
You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real

Oh can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
Oh can't you see what I mean?

Might as well jump. Jump!
Might as well jump.
Go ahead, jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.

Aaa-ohh Hey you ! How said that?
Baby how you been?
You say you don't know, you won't know
until we begin.

Well can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
Oh can't you see what I mean?

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.
Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.
Get it and jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.

Panama
Jump back, what's that sound ?
Here she comes, full blast and top down.
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue.
Model citizen zero discipline

Don't you know she's coming home with me?
You'l lose her in the turn.
I'll get her!

Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama

Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine.
Got the feel for the wheel, keep the moving parts clean.
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue,
Got an on-ramp comin' through my bedroom.

Don't you know she's coming home with me?
You'll lose her in the turn.
I'll get her!

Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight.
I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it.
Ah, you reach down, between my legs,
ease the seat back.

She's blinding, I'm flying,
Right behind the rear-view mirror now.
Got the feeling, power steering,
Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now!

Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama

Top Jimmy
Some friends of mine, just the other night,
went to hear this cool cat blow.
The say he sang so good that the roof fell in,
and they didn't even stop the show.
They don't remember the place, but they remember the face,
and now everybody wanna go.

Top Jimmy cooks, Top Jimmy swings.
He's got the look. Top Jimmy, he's the king.

Jimmy on the television, famous people laughing with him,
Jimmy on the news at five.
Jimmy on the radio and even on the video,
that baddest cat alive.
Driving all the women crazy, only want Jimmy-baby,
love it when he rolls his eyes.

Top Jimmy cooks, Top Jimmy swings.
He's got the look. Top Jimmy, he's the king.

Juke-joint Jimmy is the latest thing,
he's got the sound that everybody digs.
And the joint been jumpin' when the band been pumpin'
and you know they're playing crazy gigs.
Well you ain't been living till you've seen the living thing,
Top Jimmy and his Rhythm Pigs

Top Jimmy cooks, Top Jimmy swings.
He's got the look. Top Jimmy, he's the king.

Drop Dead Legs
Drop dead legs, pretty smile,
hurts my head, gets me wild.
Dig that steam, giant butt,
makes me scream, I get nuh-nuh-nothing but the shakes over you
And nothing else could ever do.

You know that you want it.
I know what it is.
You know that you want it, baby,
When the night is through, will I still be loving you ?

Dig those moves, vam-pire
set me loose, get it higher.
Throw my rope, loop-de-loop
nice white teeth, Betty Boop.
Set it cool real heavy.
I ain't fooled, gettin' ready.

You know that you want it.
I know what it is.
You know that you want it, baby,
When the night is through, will I still be loving you ?

Hot For Teacher
Spoken: "Oh wow, man !"
"Wait a second man. Whaddaya think the teacher's gonna look like this year ?"

T-T-Teacher stop that screaming, teacher don't you see ?
Don't wanna be no uptown fool.
Maybe I should go to hell, but I'm doin' well,
teacher needs to see me after school.

I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.

Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad,
I'm hot for teacher.
I got it bad, so bad,
I'm hot for teacher.

spoken: "Hey, I heard you missed us, we're back !"
"I brought my pencil"
"Gimme something to write on, man"

I heard about your lessons, but lessons are so cold.
I know about this school.
Little girl from cherry lane, how did you get so bold ?
How did you know that golden rule ?

I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.

"Oh man, I think the clock is slow"
"I don't feel tardy"
"Class dismissed"

I'll Wait
You've got me captured, I'm under your spell.
I guess I'll never learn.
I have your picture, yes I know it well.
Another page is turned.
Are you for real ? It's so hard to tell,
from just a magazine.
Yeah, you just smile and the picture sells,
look what that does to me.

I'll wait till your love comes down.
I'm coming straight for your heart.
No way you can stop me now,
as fine as you are.

I wrote a letter and told her these words,
that meant a lot to me.
I never sent it, she wouldn't have heard,
her eyes don't follow me.
And while she watches I can never be free,
such good photography !

I'll wait till your love comes down.
I'm coming straight for your heart.
No way you can stop me now,
as fine as you are.

You can't imagine what your image means.
The pages come alive.
Your magic greets everyone who reads.
Heart-break in overdrive
Are you for real, it's so hard to tell,
from just a magazine.
Yeah, you just smile and the picture sells,
look what that does to me.

I'll wait till your love comes down.
I'm coming straight for your heart.
No way you can stop me now,
as fine as you are.

Girl Gone Bad
Lazy eyes in the summer heat,
fresh from outta town.
Now she's working on the street,
shakin' poor boys down.

Girl gone bad
Girl gone bad

Found that girl with a lonesome John,
but she should've been with me.
Guess that woman fallen in love,
she don't work for free

Girl gone bad
Girl gone bad

House of Pain
Say you're gonna leave me cause I only tie you up.
Always love you tender but you only like it rough.
why you're leaving me again.

Gonna pack your bags and leave this house of pain.

Heartaches all around me, how many times we cried.
Said she tried to leave me but her hands were always tied.
If I had it all to do I'd do it just the same.

Gonna fix it so you never leave this house of pain