The Best 80s Music Videos

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Ranked #407 in Music, #12,140 overall

The 80s saw the birth of the music video... and boy, was some of it strange!

It's a bit odd to think that the first true generation of music videos are only about 25-35 years old. In some ways, it's both not so long ago and also a very distant past. Time-wise, not so long. Technologically and broadcast-wise, you've come a long way, baby! Depending on your age, these 80s music videos will either be really funny "old" videos, or some great flashbacks!

Video of the Year 1984 - YOU MIGHT THINK 

by the Cars from their album "Heartbeat City"

MTV launched in 1981 and in 1984, the very first MTV Video Music Awards were held in New York's Radio City Music Hall. The winner of Video Of The Year that first year was the Cars, with the cutting-edge effects of "You Might Think" from their top album "Heartbeat City."

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Get a Guide to the 80s 

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DON'T LOSE MY NUMBER 

Phil Collins "No Jacket Required"

This video spoofed how you had to come up with a good concept for your video. The single storyline was about a musician trying to find a director for his video, with bits of the song done in the various concepts that each director pitched to Collins.

The various suggestions become even more video-referential, spoofing popular movies of the time as well as other popular music videos. The vignettes are a Western, a take on the Road Warrior, an imitation of the look of "Every Breath You Take," a demo of a potential dance number, a pitch for a castle seige, a send-up of David Lee Roth's "California Girls" video, a Shogun/ninja interpretation, and a spoof of the Cars' video "You Might Think." The video then ends with repeated takes of Collins saying "so, how does it end?"

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Video of the Year 1985 - BOYS OF SUMMER 

by Don Henly

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B & White Style 


The police - Every breath you take

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2366491 views
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Mr. Mister - Broken Wings

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3055117 views
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U2 - Pride (In The Name Of Love): Sepia Version

Runtime: 4:02
73369 views
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Take Your Music Videos With You 

portable music video players

If there was one thing that really was missing from the 80s, it was a way to take your music videos with you. I'm glad to say, times have changed...

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Video of the Year 1986 - MONEY FOR NOTHING 

By Dire Straits w/Sting

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PAPA DON'T PREACH 

Madonna, "True Blue"

This was the Best Female Video of 1985. Madonna's song about unwed, teen pregnancy raised as much ire as it did praise. It was one of the first music videos that really took a dramatic movie tone for it's presentation, even co-starring Danny Aiello. These were also the Madonna/Sean Penn days.

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Sounds of the 80s 

Check out my favorite songs! I've handpicked these MP3s from Amazon. Take a listen. If you like, you can click to buy them on Amazon.

TAKE ON ME 

a-ha

This is the song that reminds me of the boy I dated the summer before I left for college. ...sigh...

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Video of the Year 1987 - SLEDGEHAMMER 

by Peter Gabriel from his album "So"

This video and the animation in it broke new and old special effects ground, winning a record nine Video Music Awards, and it put a little British animation house named Aardman on the map. You may know Aardman Animation as the home of Nick Park's creations Wallace & Gromit.

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80s Music Video Links 

polls, lists, sites and more

AskMen.com - '80 music videos
The videos were chosen based on various factors including technological innovation, commercial success, resiliency, quality of the song, how strongly it impacted the video industry in later years, as well as how large of a role it played in the breakthrough of the band. While many individual videos met some of these criteria, the following ten scored the highest averages.
I've stared straight into the sun: 10 Best 80's Music Videos
Ahh the 80's, full of experimental synthesized music, power ballads, and shitty hair. Like Huey Lewis, I too wish I could bring back the 80's. Now we can revisit it for a bit with the top 10 80's music videos (based upon 80's movies which makes for great cameos).
Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Best '80s Video Nominee
If you were gay and young in the 1980s, the pop music was a form of emancipation and revelation.
MTV Video Music Awards, 1984-89
Listings of MTV Video Award winners by year and award for the 1980s. They don't list earlier than 1984, as that was the year the awards started.

Duran Duran and Russell Mulcahy 

Australian video director Russell Mulcahy wound up making eleven videos with British band Duran Duran. Shot in exotic locales with body painted-models, and taking inspiration from hit 80s movies, these videos were what really broke the band into the American market and made music video the hot art form of the day.

DURAN DURAN RIO

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"Hungry Like The Wolf" Duran Duran

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Video of the Year 1988 - NEED YOU TONIGHT/MEDIATE 

by INXS

INXS - Need You Tonight & Mediate

Both video's back to back, Need you tonight right into Mediate.

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1912588 views
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Music Movies 

001- Dreamgirls

Twenty-five years after its Broadway debut, the definitive girl-group musical, earning the most Osca...
002- Mamma Mia!

Based on the international hit musical featuring the songs of pop superstars ABBA, this charming tal...
003- Sweeney Todd

Johnny Depp (in an Oscar-nominated role) reteams with director Tim Burton for this adaptation of the...
004- Hairspray

Set in 1962, this colorful adaptation of the Tony-winning musical (spawned by director John Waters'...
005- The Phantom of the Opera: Special Edition

Andrew Lloyd Webber's stunning musical comes alive on-screen in this Joel Schumacher rendition. A ta...
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THRILLER 

Michael Jackson "Thriller"

This was the first ever epic video. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was conceived of as a take-off of the movies "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" and "An American Werewolf In London." Movie director John Landis was hired to helm the 14 minute extended video, with a movie bumpers surrounding the song itself. It cost an unprecedented $800,000 at the time.

It's now 25 years old and still inspires others with its distinctive dance choreography. Check out the original thriller or a few fanciful recreations, such as in a Filipino prison or on the tube in London.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

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Filipino Prison Thriller Remake

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717540 views
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Thriller dance on the tube - Michael Jackson thriller

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1412096 views
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Video of the Year 1989 - THIS NOTE'S FOR YOU 

by Neil Young

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