Throwing back to the week of February 18, 1984, we find Culture Club atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Karma Chameleon.’

At #2, and on its way to a five-week stint at #1, was Van Halen’s ‘Jump.’ This was the rock band’s only #1 single, and the only top ten single of the David Lee Roth era. The Sammy Hagar incarnation would reach the top five twice over the next several years.

This song, ‘Panama,’ and ‘Hot For Teacher’ are the three Van Halen songs I remember best from my childhood, and this one was certainly the most ubiquitous.

Driven by a synth riff rather than their usual guitar sound, ‘Jump’ was a stylistic departure that was initially rejected by band members when Eddie Van Halen introduced it. They eventually came around.

Roth wrote a lyric inspired by a news account he saw of a suicide jumper. “Go ahead and jump” hits a little different in that context, though he did end up reshaping the song into more of a motivational anthem.