THE #1 SONG 30 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS....

.......Jump by Van Halen. Up until the the release of Van Halen's album 1984, the group had been a straight forward hard-rock band. All guitar and swagger, but no pop elements to their music necessarily. 1984 would see a huge change for the Van Halen's sound and for their success on the charts. Adding a lot of synth, Eddie Van Halen other passion besides the guitar, 1984 came out of the gate hard with the band's first and only #1 single ever, Jump. Jump is probably Van Halen's most recognizable song and certainly one of their most beloved. The song and the album, although their most successful up to that point, also lead to the eventual break up of Van Halen with their lead singer David Lee Roth, who thought the more synth-driven direction of the band was the wrong call. Regardless, Jump hit #1 on the Hot 100 February 25, 1984 and stayed atop the list for five weeks. The album went on to produce three more Hot 100 hits with I'll Wait (#13), Panama (#13) and Hot For Teacher (#56) and the band later replaced Roth with Sammy Hagar and had many years' worth of chart hits thereafter. David Lee Roth went solo and, sticking to his heavy-metal guns, covered the hard rock classic California Girls by the Beach Boys to much success. See what I did there? Jump, though, is still their crowning glory and one helluva pop-rock anthem. So here is the #1 song 30 years ago today. Enjoy and -- if you remember it -- feel old.
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FLASHBACK SPECIAL: MY MUSIC IN 1985 - JANUARY 13TH

Wow. Memory lane is a weird street to walk down sometimes. To actually see these songs that I apparently knew so well in 1985 and can't even remember now is super strange. For instance, I can't sing one word of Call to the Heart or Jamie now, but I guess I was dancing around in my parachute pants to them in the mid-80s. Who knew? This week sees the debut of the first solo single by Van Halen's former/future/former/future lead singer David Lee Roth. Huge crush on him then! AND Tina Turner's first appearance of 1985 on my little chart. I also reluctantly, after 7 weeks at #1, gave someone else Madonna's spot, but even now I have to admit it was time for this week's song at the pinnacle to have it's "purple reign". See what I did there? Another thing that strikes me is that now music seems to be ruled by exclusively women, but on these old lists I used to keep men, women and groups seemed to be more even in my estimation. I miss those days. Okay. So here is the Top 30 songs for the week of January 13, 1985. Enjoy, nerds.


30. Private Dancer - Tina Turner
29. Centipede - Rebbie Jackson
28. California Girls - David Lee Roth
27. Operator - Midnight Star
26. Misled - Kool & The Gang
25. Call to the Heart - Giuffria
24. Solid - Ashford & Simpson
23. Mr. Telephone Man - New Edition
22. Cool It Now - New Edition
21. Foolish Heart - Steve Perry
20. Bruce - Rick Springfield
19. Wild Boys - Duran Duran
18. Mistake #3 - Culture Club
17. Do What You Do - Jermaine Jackson
16. Belle of St. Mark - Sheila E.
15. Method of Modern Love - Hall & Oates
14. Jungle Love - The Time
13. Love Light In Flight - Stevie Wonder
12. Jamie - Ray Parker, Jr.
11. Easy Lover - Phil Collins & Philip Bailey
10. Neutron Dance - The Pointer Sisters
09. Money Changes Everything - Cyndi Lauper
08. Careless Whisper - Wham!
07. Boys of Summer - Don Henley
06. Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid
05. Loverboy - Billy Ocean
04. Born in the USA - Bruce Sprinsteen
03. You're the Inspiration - Chicago
02. Like a Virgin - Madonna
01. I Would Die 4 U - Prince & The Revolution