DJ condemned for playing Van Halen's Jump as woman leaps from bridge

[69bronzeT5]

"A Radio DJ has been condemned by mental health charities after he played the song Jump as police were trying to talk down a suicidal woman from a motorway bridge.
Steve Penk received a request from a listener for the hit Van Halen track after four lanes of the M60 were closed while police attempted to deal resolve the situation.
The controversial presenter told listeners on his breakfast show he was playing the song to 'emphathise' with frustrated drivers, but moments later the woman jumped from the 30ft bridge.
DJ Steve Penk played the Van Halen hit Jump to 'empathise' with motorists after the M60 was shut while police attempted to talk down a suicidal woman
The 30-year-old woman suffered minor injuries, but mental heath charities branded his behaviour on 96.2FM The Revolution 'in very poor taste'.
Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: 'Given the distressing circumstances, the decision to play "Jump" was highly insensitive and in very poor taste. 

'Media have a responsibility for their audience and jovialising such a situation could be fatal.
'People that experience mental distress should be encouraged to speak out and seek help.
'Yet the huge stigma that surrounds mental health means that many feel they have to cope on their own, with potentially tragic consequences.'
A spokesman for The Samaritans added: 'It shows a lack of compassion and understanding.'
Some listeners also voiced their anger at Mr Penk.
Lorna Guinn, 42, said: 'It's irresponsible - this woman could have overheard it on someone's car stereo.
'I found it pathetic and nasty.'

Mr Penk, who owns the radio station in the north west, has become renowned for making prank calls live on air.
He told The Sun: 'The entire area had been thrown into total chaos by a single troubled woman.
'I was very sorry to hear that the lady had subsequently jumped from the bridge, but relieved that her injuries were minor.
'If, as has been suggested, the woman jumped because she heard it from a passing car radio that's unfortunate.
'But I don't regret playing it for a minute.'
In 1998, Mr Penk and impressionist John Culshaw managed to dupe the switchboard at Number 10 and were put through to then Prime Minister Tony Blair pretending to be opposition leader William Hague. "

[Ponch ®]

haha...that's great! That guy deserves whatever the radio equivalent of the Emmys is.

[RD]

i know i sound twisted, but that was funny imo.  i think the highlight of the radio station is taking away from the fact that the song would have never been requested if the woman did not put herself in a situation of ridicule in the first place.  

suicide is the last act of desperation in order to achieve attention seeking behavior to show that individuals life has meaning or purpose above and beyond what they, themselves, value it as.  the song being played, really, is the attention they woman wanted at the time (though she may not have envisioned it that way).  

Poor taste?  yeah maybe, but to label this guy as bad as they think he should be is way off.  He didnt make the lady be where she was, she did.

[Khyron]

As a Howard Stern fan......... i laughed, As heartless as it sounds, it is funny.

If she didn't want attention, she would have killed herself in the privacy of her own house.

[BrianShaughnessy]

  I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

[Ponch ®]

  I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

No way dude...cuz 1984 was still a pretty solid album. They really started heading towards the ramp with Hagar and crap like "Dreams".

[Old Moparz]

That woman wasn't mentally ill, she was freakin' stupid. Jumping off a 30 foot bridge won't kill you, it'll get you maimed.

[BrianShaughnessy]

  I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

No way dude...cuz 1984 was still a pretty solid album. They really started heading towards the ramp with Hagar and crap like "Dreams".

Sorry kid... I was there.   You were just outta diapers back then.   

[Tilar]

haha...that's great! That guy deserves whatever the radio equivalent of the Emmys is.

Exactly. There needs to be some more chlorine put in the gene pool anyway.

[Ponch ®]

  I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

No way dude...cuz 1984 was still a pretty solid album. They really started heading towards the ramp with Hagar and crap like "Dreams".

Sorry kid... I was there.   You were just outta diapers back then.   

ok...i can respect that. But will you agree that the post-DLR stuff was definitely subpar?

[maxwellwedge]

I can agree with that. I liked Hagar when he was with Montrose. Ronny Montrose got ditched by Edgar Winter for Rick Derringer. Valerie Bertinelli got ditched for......

[BrianShaughnessy]

  Hagar was great doing his Trans Am / I Can't Drive 55 stuff playing his own lead  jumping around in a red jumpsuit opening up for bigger acts.    Saw him several times like that way back when.

  VH should have imploded sorta like G'n'R before they recorded Jump.   It ruined all the memories of crashing into the orchestra pit at the Masonic temple in Detroit on the VH2 tour.   Hell I remember 4th of July at Cobo ( http://www.vhboots.com/04july1981.html ) when my friends and I saw Valerie peeking out from the side of the stage.

  Fond memories ruined by a crappy keyboard. 
   

[69bronzeT5]

  Hagar was great doing his Trans Am / I Can't Drive 55 stuff playing his own lead  jumping around in a red jumpsuit opening up for bigger acts.    Saw him several times like that way back when.

  VH should have imploded sorta like G'n'R before they recorded Jump.   It ruined all the memories of crashing into the orchestra pit at the Masonic temple in Detroit on the VH2 tour.   Hell I remember 4th of July at Cobo ( http://www.vhboots.com/04july1981.html ) when my friends and I saw Valerie peeking out from the side of the stage.

  Fond memories ruined by a crappy keyboard. 
   

Dave raps? (on the setlist)

[Ponch ®]

  Hagar was great doing his Trans Am / I Can't Drive 55 stuff playing his own lead  jumping around in a red jumpsuit opening up for bigger acts.    Saw him several times like that way back when.

  VH should have imploded sorta like G'n'R before they recorded Jump.   It ruined all the memories of crashing into the orchestra pit at the Masonic temple in Detroit on the VH2 tour.   Hell I remember 4th of July at Cobo ( http://www.vhboots.com/04july1981.html ) when my friends and I saw Valerie peeking out from the side of the stage.

  Fond memories ruined by a crappy keyboard. 
   

Dave raps? (on the setlist)

I presume by "raps" they mean "banters".

[RD]

my biological father actually was friends with sammy hagar back in the 60's.  my father played the drums for "the almost" and hung around with sammy, the caretakers, and some other bands from the san bernadino, rialto, fontana area.

[TK73]

BUSTED out laughing... at a 30 foot jump...

Around here people are serious when they jump off the Aurora bridge  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aurora_Bridge_%28103582995%29.jpg

[69DodgeCharger]

  I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

No way dude...cuz 1984 was still a pretty solid album. They really started heading towards the ramp with Hagar and crap like "Dreams".

You've gotta be kidding that album was weak. It was their "Nickleback" moment

[Ponch ®]

  I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

No way dude...cuz 1984 was still a pretty solid album. They really started heading towards the ramp with Hagar and crap like "Dreams".

You've gotta be kidding that album was weak. It was their "Nickleback" moment

"HOT FOR TEACHER"!

[bull]

 I'd be tossing DJ's off the bridge for playing Jump...  IT SUCKS!        That was the song VH 'jumped the shark' with.

No way dude...cuz 1984 was still a pretty solid album. They really started heading towards the ramp with Hagar and crap like "Dreams".

You've gotta be kidding that album was weak. It was their "Nickleback" moment

Funny. Seems like it's always been the thing to backlash when a band renews itself and hits a different stride. Suddenly a band gets 10X more radio play and a little different audience and the purists come out of the woodwork saying they've sold out. I remember the same thing happened when Metallica released its black album. But I guess I can understand the feeling somewhat. To me the '06 "Charger" was like Ozzy switching to R&B after a 32-year hiatus.

[Mike DC]

I remember the same thing happened when Metallica released its black album.

That backlash was predictable but kind of unfair.  By the time they did that album they had taken their 1980s sound as far as it could go.  There was only one direction left to turn, and it wasn't faster & rougher. 

If the black album had been the first album of a new band instead of the work of a known entity, IMHO a lot of the same fans complaining about it would have probably liked it. 

[Ponch ®]

I remember the same thing happened when Metallica released its black album.

That backlash was predictable but kind of unfair.  By the time they did that album they had taken their 1980s sound as far as it could go.  There was only one direction left to turn, and it wasn't faster & rougher. 

If the black album had been the first album of a new band instead of the work of a known entity, IMHO a lot of the same fans complaining about it would have probably liked it. 

and then the fans that "discovered" Metallica with the black album said the band sold out, went soft, etc.. when Load/Re-Load came out.

[TylerCharger69]

Van Halens  1984???   PEEEEEYOOOOO!!!   Van Halens I, II, Women and Children First, and Fair Warning?  Kicked Ass!!!