As long-term readers will remember, unless you actually have more important things going on in your lives, I wasn’t averse to doing a shady deal or two involving a friend’s big brother’s LP collection in order to snag Montrose LPs. As part of the deal where I grabbed the mighty Montrose, I also got Jump On It, basically for the same reason people have been buying this LP from time immemorial* – the front cover is a close-up of a lady’s crotch and the back cover is a close-up of her (assuming it is the same lady) arse. Kids today won’t understand it, but in those heady pre-internet times this was hot stuff. I was also surprised to note that it was a Hipgnosis cover, shame on you Storm!
Jump On It was Montrose’s third LP and original members were starting to get pretty thin on the ground. Bob James had replaced Sammy Hagar and they had added a keyboard player, Jim Alcivar. You get the idea. Even Jack Douglas’ production can’t save Jump On It from wimpiness. Although they do get 1537 bonus points for turning an LP that’s only 32:28 long.
Actually for all my griping opener ‘Let’s Go’ is excellent, courtesy of some very good vocals by Bob James and some absolutely killer fuzzed-up slide guitar from Mr Montrose himself. In fact any LP that begins with the lines,
I was riding down the road in my automobile
I was sitting in the backseat, my baby’s at the wheel
surely has to be a belter? alas not. although that’s not to take anything away from ‘Let’s Go’, which I had totally forgotten ever existed before yesterday and which ha now been added to my ‘Rowdy’ playlist. In fact, being charitable, the Dan Hartman-penned second track, ‘What Are You Waiting For?’ has melody, drive and tunefulness aplenty, but it lacks what the rest of Jump On It does – any real cojones. Don’t get me started on, ‘Music Man’, or ‘Rich Man’, both of whom are as appealing as a turd in a swimming pool. Even the rockier, ‘Jump On It’ misses a gear somehow.
Just stick Montrose on the turntable after listening to this, as I have just done and there’s simply no comparison at all, 30 seconds of ‘Rock Candy’ should do it. Ah well. I suppose it’s not fair to blame Jump On It for not being as good as one of the best hard rock LPs ever, but I can’t help wishing it would grow some bollocks.
There is one final mystery I would like cleared up about this LP, please don’t think me naive** I am an experienced man of the world but for two days now I have been trying to identify what part of the female form this inner sleeve is:
Answers on an electronic postcard please. First correct answer drawn from the hat wins an entirely imaginary prize; terms and conditions apply.
248 Down.
P.S – apologies for photo quality again, Goddamn Fotoroom isn’t letting me resize and crop stuff properly – I’ll redo these when I get a chance. It matters to me.
*1976, that’s actually the official definition of ‘time immemorial’.
**It also has Mrs 1537 stumped and she is one of those women things.
