Most of you might not remember, but years ago the station called MTV played music videos. Before it spiraled into cheap reality TV shows, people used to regularly tune into the music video channel. MTV was (back in the day) a big channel in America. The 80s brought a particularly bold set of videos, and a lot of good music. While many music videos were just thrown together in one day with bad lip-synching, there were also a lot of good well-thought videos, lots of colors, style, and movie quality effects. This is a list of the best music videos of the 80’s (1981-1991).
15 Headhunter by Front 242, odd video, look again.
14 Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie, using classic film footage this video makes a strong impression
13 Don’t Dream it’s Over by Crowded House
12 The Other Ones – We Are What We Are. This forgotten video deserves a 2 nd look.
11 Pet Shop Boys – Rent, has an easy to understand subtext, just like Domino Dancing.
10 Alphaville – Forever Young The band who brought us “Big in Japan” also gave us cool anime settings for the soft version of Forever Young. I’m partial to the faster version, myself.
9 Nik Kershaw – Wouldn’t It Be Good. Fabu special effects, not easy to accomplish in the 80s.
8 Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer. The famous claymation video that played non-stop for 100 years in 1986.
7 Madonna – Open Your Heart Madonna made a few good videos, but this one was especially interesting.
6 Fleetwood Mac – Gypsy. This music video captures all the right moves, and made good use of costumes, 3D sets, and stage design. It actually fit the song like a glove.
5 George Michael – Freedom. Well-directed with style and charisma; the song has one of the best lines, too: “…some mistakes were built to last…
4 Pat Benatar – Love is a Battlefield. One of the few 80s videos that actually told a story matching the song. Choreographed by Michael Peters.
3 Duran Duran – Wild Boys. The Sci-fi elements of the Wild Boys came together with great costumes, sets, and some freakish creatures. The tone suits the tune.
2 Aha — Take on Me. Who can forget the rotoscoping animations on top of film? This ground-breaking video took us all by surprise. Thanks, Aha (and your director).
1 Cindi Lauper – True Colors. The ultimate 80s music-video, Cindi’s hair is perfectly outrageous, her costumes are stunning. The colors and lighting collaborate magnificently. The video is simple and sublime. The drum sequence in particular, is nice. Good one, Ms. Lauper.
“… so don’t be afraid, to let it show.
Your true colors…so beautiful, like a rainbow.”
Bonny Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is probably the creepiest music video. Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeaus” is voted most likely to cause nightmares, and all Men Without Hats videos will just leave you scratching your head.
Live on, 80’s people! I’m one of you.
Not many good music videos are made today, but do check out the k-pop band: Big Bang. They have some great 80’s style videos, such as Fantastic Baby.
Honorable mention: Quiet Riot, Billy Idol, Wang Chung, ABC, and Peter Schilling had some totally-cool videos, too.
See also: The Top 40 Dance Songs of the 80’s
Duran Duran’s All You Need Is Now: Best Album of 2011
My Favorite TV Commercials of the 80s
