1984

Description

"1984" is the sixth album by American band Van Halen, originally released on January 1, 1984. It would be the last album with David Lee Roth until 2012 and the release of "A Different Kind of Truth." The album is only 33 minutes long and includes the hits "Panama" (No. 13 US) and "Jump" (No. 1 US). The latter track, in particular, would forever remain Van Halen's signature song (No. 9 in France), with Olympique de Marseille even adopting it as their anthem for home matches. Unlike "Diver Down," there are no covers on this album. This album contains many passages played on synthesizer by Eddie Van Halen. The lyrics for all songs except "I'll Wait" were written in the back of David Lee Roth's 1951 Mercury Lowrider (which can be seen in the music video for "Panama"). When the backing track was recorded, David would send a cassette to his roadie Larry Hostler, who would pick David up after lunch, and the pair would drive around the Hollywood Hills, on the Pacific Coast Highway, and into the San Fernando Valley looking for lyrical inspiration. Once David had written the lyrics, he would submit them to Larry for his opinion. The lyrics for the song "I'll Wait" were co-written with Michael McDonald (formerly of the Doobie Brothers), but his name does not appear in the album credits.