Wednesday July 14, 2021 “Jump” Pointer Sisters/Van Halen
The Pointer Sisters, actual siblings, had quite a varied early history, initially backing Grace Slick and Boz Scaggs, making stops at Sesame Street and the Grand Ole Opry, winning a country Grammy, and appearing in the movie Car Wash, all before scoring four consecutive Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hits in the mid-‘80s.
Their successes seemed to be connected with producer Richard Perry who was known for his work with such unrelated artists as Nilsson, Barbra Streisand and Ringo Starr. With Perry producing The Pointer Sisters would have several iconic top ten hits including today’s “Jump” and win two additional Grammys and they continue to tour even today.
VanHalen’s version of “Jump” is on their album 1984 and features the vocal antics of then lead singer David Lee Roth. Lead by legendary lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen who redefined what the electric guitar could do, developing a blindingly fast technique with a variety of two-handed tapping, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and effects. An interesting aside, both Eddie and his drummer brother Alex were classically trained pianists.
In a recent interview with Sammy Hagar, who took over as lead singer for Van Halen and who shared a tour with David Lee Roth, said of Roth, “He was the worst guy to be around.” And Hagar added, relative to Eddie Van Halen that “...he was such a brilliant, genius guitar player and such a great friend and a great partner…”
Stay safe and well...and although these are two decidedly different artists there are some remarkable similarities to the feel of these two songs.