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.
Some bands show all the signs of numbering among my favorites and then just stop dead in their tracks.
When I first heard Jump, Little Children, on their first studio album Magazine, it was love at first listen. The band’s sound was unique and rich — a product of their choice of instruments: guitar, upright bass, cello, accordion and drums. Lead singer Jay Clifford’s vocals sweetened every song like rough honey.
Top Ten Male Vocalists – #8 – Jay Clifford
Jay Clifford is no doubt the least recognizable name on this list. He was the lead singer of Jump, Little Children (later renamed Jump), a North Carolina band that formed in the early 90s and played its last show in 2005. After the band’s break-up, he released a solo album in 2007.
Clifford’s voice was just one of the unique sounds in the Jump, Little Children lineup. The band’s instrumental make-up was guitar, accordion, cello, bass, piano and drums, with the occasional harmonica and mandolin thrown in for good measure. But Clifford’s vocals tied their great sound together.
