Two Veteran Rock Artists Enjoy Peak Success, while...

For the band Van Halen and singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen, 1984 was their most successful year ever!

Van Halen released their album 1984 to enormous success! The album achieved their best sales to date plus their first track/single from 1984, Jump, reached number one on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart, where it spent 8 weeks, more than any other that year!

Unfortunately, success apparently went to everyone's head, as an ugly spat between frontman David Lee Roth and the other band members led to Roth leaving Van Halen and pursuing a solo career. The band promptly went in search of a new lead singer.

Bruce Springsteen enjoyed early success in his career as a songwriter more than a performer, with many of his songs covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. In 1984 however, as a performer, Springsteen released his album Born In the U.S.A., which became a huge hit, the biggest of his career! The album spawned a number one track on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks Chart, Dancing In The Dark, where it lasted 6 weeks at the top, plus many successful singles/tracks including the title track, Born In The U.S.A., plus I'm On Fire and Pink Cadillac, to name a few.

...Two Other Veteran Rockers Return!

John Fogerty, former frontman for Creedence Clearwater Revival, and John Waite, former lead singer of The Babys both made successful returns following a hiatus.

Shortly following the breakup of CCR, John Fogerty released 2 albums in the mid·1970's that only saw modest success. At the end of 1984 however, Fogerty released the single The Old Man Down The Road, a track from his then-upcoming album Centerfield. The track would reach number 1 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks Chart in early 1985, along with tracks Rock And Roll Girls and the title track Centerfield also scoring top 5 status on the ARTC in '85, along with the album itself reaching number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. This marked a triumphant return for Fogerty after a 9·year break.

Four years after the breakup of the band The Babys, former lead singer John Waite made a successful return as a solo act. Waite's first solo album, No Brakes, reached number 2 on Billboard's Rock Albums Chart, one of the last albums charted there before Billboard discontinued the chart in September (see below). His first single/track from this album, Missing You, reached number 1 on the Album Rock Tracks Chart, not to mention, also number one on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart as well! While The Babys achieved moderate success in the late 1970's, John Waite's 1984 comeback, with all of the chart·topping, must have been gratifying!