GEORGE ORWELL’S NOVEL 1984 envisioned a dystopian future where totalitarian governments ruled the world, and the average person’s attempts to enjoy even the slightest personal pleasure were patrolled and punished by the Thought Police in service of Big Brother. However, when mankind finally reached that symbolic year, the prevailing atmosphere was more of a hedonistic non-stop party than a period of peril. We have the power of the mighty Van Halen to thank for much of that.
Considered by many — including Eddie Van Halen himself — as the band’s masterpiece, 1984 was one of Van Halen’s best-selling albums and one of the best-selling rock albums of the entire Eighties. It has earned RIAA Diamond certification for surpassing 10 million units sold — a feat the band only matched with their 1978 debut album, with the two perfectly bookending the beginning and end of Van Halen’s classic era with David Lee Roth fronting the band.
Clocking in at a lean 33 minutes and 22 seconds, 1984 was, as the saying goes, all killer and no filler. Even the bestselling album of all-time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, can’t make that boast (does anyone even remember “Baby Be Mine” and “The Lady in My Life”?). 1984 produced an impressive string of four hit singles, with “Jump” delivering Van Halen’s only Number 1 charting hit single in the band’s entire career. “Panama” and “I’ll Wait” both peaked at Number 13, and “Hot for Teacher” came in at a not-too-shabby Number 56. Even the album’s “deep” tracks — “Top Jimmy,” “Drop Dead Legs,” “Girl Gone Bad” and “House of Pain” — were scorchers too hot for the Top 40, but found a welcoming home on more adventurous FM station playlists. The only outlier is the album’s title track, but Ed’s solo synth performance perfectly set the mood as a brief overture that boldly introduced Van Halen’s brave new world.
FUTURE CONTROL
With 40 years of hindsight, it’s tempting to look back and conclude that the phenomenal popularity of 1984 was primarily due to it being the perfect album released at the perfect time. However, its success also benefited significantly from several years of extremely hard work leading up to its release, along with a series of high-profile events that brought Van Halen prominently into the public’s awareness.
During the early Eighties, Van Halen had become one of the world’s biggest touring
