"Jump (For My Love)" is an electropop song by American girl group the Pointer Sisters, released on April 11, 1984, as the third single from their tenth studio album, Break Out (1983).
The song features June Pointer on lead vocals and scored global chart success.
The Australian single release featured as the B-side the Break Out song "Operator" with Anita Pointer on lead.
Released prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics, "Jump (For My Love)" featured footage of athletes competing in track and field events, as well as NBA stars Julius Erving and Magic Johnson.
Girls Aloud's version was produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, recorded at the request of Love Actually director Richard Curtis.
Upon its release in November 2003, "Jump" continued Girls Aloud's string of hits, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and receiving a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry.
[39] The music video was intertwined with scenes from Love Actually to make it appear that Girls Aloud had sneaked into 10 Downing Street to spy on the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant).
The director of Love Actually, Richard Curtis, phoned Xenomania while they were in a taxi in Berlin to tell them he thought "Jump" would make a good Girls Aloud single.
Love Actually uses the Pointer Sisters' original version due to international audiences being unaware of Girls Aloud, who feature in the end credits.
The second CD format featured another track from Sound of the Underground, the Betty Boo-produced "Love Bomb", and the Almighty Vocal Mix of "Jump".
Meanwhile, the cassette tape (and the European CD) feature the single and the Almighty Vocal Mix of "Girls Allowed".
According to Cheryl Cole in Girls Aloud's 2008 autobiography Dreams That Glitter - Our Story, the single was "the point when we realized everything we'd been doing was quite down and moody [...] and that's not what people wanted."
David Hooper of BBC Music complimented the track in his review of Girls Aloud's second album: "Twenty years on, this version updates the song nicely with a welcome return of those buzzy synth sounds and gnarly bass noises from "The Show".
"[42] Paul Scott of Stylus Magazine was similarly favourable, saying it "demonstrates their phenomenal power in finding a certain joy in ugliness.
"[44] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian exclaimed, "Xenomania throw everything they have at the track, but can't rescue a duff song.
"[45] The track was slated by Lisa Verrico of The Times, who said it "takes whatever credibility [Girls Aloud] had left and runs off with it.
Horrible bass, klutzy production and so-so singing put the girls at the bottom of the pop pile".
[62] The music video for "Jump", directed by Katie Bell,[63] was made to appear as if it was intertwined with the film Love Actually.
During the video, the members of Girls Aloud sneak into the residence of the Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant in the film.
In 2006, the group performed "Jump" for a television show entitled All Time Greatest Movie Songs.
[64] Performed amidst neon lights, the song's arrangement was closer to the Pointer Sisters' original version.