CINCINNATI — It's been 40 years since Van Halen released the album "1984." Many people know the song "Jump" from that album, and it's also the title of a new book from a group of men from Cincinnati who were just 12 years old when they attended the Van Halen concert on Friday, March 9, 1984.
"When I hear Van Halen, I think of all of my buddies at our first concert," said Jim Serger, the author of the book. "All of my buddies in 7th grade said we have to go see them."
Todd Zimmerman said that Van Halen album is what really got him into loving music and live music.
"True Van Halen fans know what this shirt symbolizes," said Chris Berger, pointing to his "no bozo" t-shirt, something Eddie Van Halen wore during the "1984" tour.
The group from Anderson Township attended their first concert at the old Cincinnati Gardens.
"The ticket was $12.50," Zimmerman said.
We asked them how they managed to get tickets in the 10th row, center stage.
"You know, nobody knows the answer to that, that's the missing part of this book," Zimmerman said.
The boys ran into a problem in the beginning — at first none of their parents allowed them to go to the concert. That's when Chris' father Skip comes into the story.
"I'm going to say the rock gods were looking down," Chris Berger said.
"Eddie and I started talking," said Skip Berger, a retired Cincinnati police officer of 27 years.
Skip signed up and was picked to work security detail for both Van Halen concerts on March 8 and 9 in 1984. The assignment was working backstage for the band.
"'My son is a big fan' and he said 'is he here tonight' and I said 'he is not' and he says 'well, I guess he will be here tomorrow night' and I said 'no, he doesn't have a ticket' and he said 'I want him here tomorrow night and when he gets here I want you to bring him back here so I can meet him,'" said Skip Berger.
"Without Eddie, I wouldn't have been [at] that concert in '84," Chris Berger said.
After that conversation with Eddie, all of the parents gave their blessings to go to the show. They all bought tickets, but to this day, the guys said they don't know who physically bought the tickets. They also needed someone to drive them to the show.
"My role was, you buy the ticket, I'll drive," said Jim Myres, who is the father one of their friends, who also attended the show with them. "They were just kids, but I knew it was a life-changing experience for them."
Speaking of life-changing experience, when they arrived at the venue, Skip Berger, on duty with CPD, calls his son Chris over to one of the doors.
"My dad is like 'come over here,' knocks on the door... when he comes back out, I walk in the dressing room of Van Halen," Chris Berger said. "The first one I see is Eddie, comes walking over to me, and it was like a scene out of the movie, you know there's this halo light around him and everything."
These are the kinds of anecdotes you will find in "Jump: 40th Anniversary of Attending the "1984" Van Halen Concert."
"This is an adult experience and I got to do it with all of my friends, and I love them all," Serger said.
