- today
From groundbreaking animation to controversial religious imagery, these music videos shaped pop culture as we know it. Join us as we explore the most influential and memorable MTV moments that defined an era. From Michael Jackson's mini-movie masterpiece to Madonna's provocative performances, these clips changed music forever!
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00:00Video killed the radio star. Video killed the radio star.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those video clips that remind us of the most excellent and radical decade that was the 1980s.
00:15She got the legs. She knows how to do that.
00:22Number 20. Physical. Olivia Newton-John.
00:30We're fairly confident that Physical by Olivia Newton-John probably would have been a hit without its iconic accompanying video.
00:38However, we're also sure that it probably wouldn't have been as big a success, if you know what we mean.
00:43Let's get physical, physical. I wanna get physical.
00:49There's little in the way of subtlety here with regard to the prurient content contained within the video clip for Physical.
00:55Performers from both genders get equal time in the spotlight,
00:57with Olivia Newton-John and her cast of athletically inclined extras looking great on camera.
01:02This is despite the British-Australian singer actually confessing to Woman's Day magazine back in the day
01:07about how she, at least initially, didn't make the connection.
01:17Number 19. Simply Irresistible. Robert Palmer.
01:21How can it be permissible?
01:23It didn't matter that Robert Palmer's ninth LP, Heavy Nova, was released near the tail end of the 1980s.
01:33The video clip for Simply Irresistible still managed to generate one of the most iconic musical images of the decade.
01:39Palmer's early career was actually more indebted to psych, prog, and jazz fusion acts.
01:43But there was no separating the singer from the legacy of this music video once it hit MTV.
01:56Palmer's backup dancers are, to use an admittedly over-utilized word, iconic, primarily due to their homogenous appearance.
02:03They're beautiful, sure, but also very much indicative of that style-over-substance mantra
02:07that dictated many creative decisions during this period.
02:10There's no other way to go
02:13Simply Irresistible.
02:17Number 18. White Wedding Part 1. Billy Idol.
02:20Hey, little sister, what have you done?
02:26This former frontman for punk rockers Generation X became a certified solo star during the 1980s,
02:32thanks primarily to evocative video clips shot for songs like White Wedding.
02:35Music videos during the early age of MTV often played things very literal when it came to adapting the songs in question.
02:42The gothic style present within the wedding scene here is striking and arresting,
02:45with a lot of kinetic motion.
02:55This formula proved fruitful for Idol,
02:58and the singer would continue in this fashion with other decade-defining videos for future songs like Rebel Yell and Eyes Without a Face.
03:04It's a tale as old as time,
03:24but the video for Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses does a great job at presenting that wide-eyed, innocent-meets-the-big-city vibe.
03:31The imagery of Axl Rose stepping off the bus and onto a rock-and-roll stage was one that helped introduce GNR to the masses back in 87.
03:38It also highlights just how much of an incendiary band they were during this time.
03:50The cuts to Guns N' Roses' furious stage presence pretty much tells us all we need, really.
03:55This was a band that talked the talk, but also walked the walk.
04:10Number 16. Need You Tonight, In Excess.
04:13It's sad to think about what might have been with regards to Australia's In Excess.
04:26The late Michael Hutchinson's impossibly good looks helped launch his band to the stratosphere in the aftermath of video clips like Need You Tonight.
04:33Detractors might have otherwise derided In Excess for riding these shallow coattails to success.
04:37That is, if the band didn't also have the musical chops to back it up.
04:48Thankfully, they did.
04:50And Need You Tonight helped propel its accompanying album, Kick, into the Billboard 200 chart with a bullet.
04:55Hutchins may be gone, but his legacy and work alongside In Excess will never be forgotten.
05:00I've got to let you know, I've got to let you know, you're one of my kind.
05:07Number 15. Don't Come Around Here No More, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
05:11Don't come around here no more.
05:17Don't come around here no more.
05:20There's no forgetting this musical and visual collaboration between Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics.
05:26Don't Come Around Here No More presents a darkly whimsical and wonderful adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, complete with Petty as the Mad Hatter.
05:43There's even a bit of black comedic controversy to the clip, since it ends with Louise Foley's Alice being transformed into cake and consumed by Petty and his motley crew.
05:52Time has been quite kind to this video, however, since director Jeff Stein and crew clearly showed off all of their wonderful imagination.
06:00You'd be easily forgiven for not being aware of Spitting Image, the satirical puppet program that was popular in the UK during the 1980s.
06:28This does nothing to hamper the enjoyment we still receive out of watching this video for Genesis' Land of Confusion so many years later.
06:35Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford had puppet likenesses of themselves constructed by the creators of Spitting Image for this video, and the end results were fantastic.
06:43This is the political satire of the show was still in play to boot, with Land of Confusion lampooning Reagan-era fears of mutually assured destruction and nuclear war.
07:00Stand up and let's start showing just where our lives are going to.
07:08It's important to realize that not every video block hour of programming on MTV was composed of hair metal, Michael Jackson, or British synth-pop.
07:25Hip-hop was slowly but surely gaining a foothold with the commercial masses.
07:29This was aided by the breakthrough collaboration between Run-DMC and Aerosmith, while NWA inhabited the grittier and more realistic side of the spectrum.
07:44Straight Outta Compton spoke to a younger generation that was about to come of age during the 90s, and this had a huge resulting impact.
07:51Rap and hip-hop were about to take over the world very soon, and NWA had a huge part to play within that narrative.
07:59That's the way it goes in the city of Compton, boy.
08:03Number 12. Once in a Lifetime. Talking Heads.
08:06How did I get here?
08:08Letting the things go wild. Let the water hold me.
08:12The MTV generation was treated to the Talking Heads' own, very unique brand of weirdness with this video for Once in a Lifetime.
08:19Tony Basil, herself of Mickey fame, helped choreograph the video.
08:22Although, Basil told Uncut Magazine in 2007 how the Talking Heads' David Byrne pretty much did his own thing during his dance sequences.
08:38This decision ultimately worked in the band's favor, since Byrne's herky-jerky motions and mugging for the camera effectively made Once in a Lifetime something of a calling card for the Talking Heads and the 1980s.
08:49The same as it ever was. The same as it ever was. The same as it ever was. The same as it ever was. The same as it ever was.
08:58Number 11. Like a Prayer. Madonna.
09:01When you call my name, it's like a little prayer. I'm down on my knees. I wanna take you there.
09:09It's difficult for those who weren't there to understand the absolute stranglehold Madonna had over the pop culture zeitgeist of the 1980s.
09:17The material girl was everywhere, and she definitely earned every bit of those accolades laid at her feet during this very creative time.
09:24In the midnight hour, I can feel your power. Just like a prayer. You know I'll take you there.
09:32Like a Prayer was yet another step for Madonna's visual and conceptual evolution, a video that played around with religious iconography, racism, and sexuality in a controversial manner.
09:42Reactions were indeed swift after the release of Like a Prayer, with just as many defending the bold video as deriding it as sinful or obscene.
09:50Today, however, we just have one word to describe this one. Classic.
09:54Just like a dream. You are not what you seem. Just like a prayer. Now just your voice can take me there.
10:03Number 10. Faith. George Michael.
10:05Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body. I know not everybody has got a body like you.
10:14George Michael flies solo here, although he almost made the cut with Wham! and Dance Pop anthem Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.
10:20Wake me up before you go-go.
10:24I don't want to miss it when you hear that.
10:26But we've put our faith in faith and all its leather-jacketed, shiny-shoed glory.
10:31In this video, Michael's unforgettable get-up is often copied, but never bettered.
10:36As the smartly edited close-ups suggest, it's the expertly accessorized details that do it.
10:41A single earring, some knockout shades, and jeans that are ripped in all the right places.
10:46He's a jukebox superstar.
10:47I gotta have faith, faith, faith, faith. I gotta have faith, faith, faith.
10:52Number 9. You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party. Beastie Boys.
10:57You wake up late for school, man. You don't wanna go.
11:02An all-out anthem ever since it was released.
11:05The video for Fight For Your Right is a literal reflection of the song's lyrics.
11:09And that's what makes it awesome.
11:11You gotta fight for your right to party.
11:17In the short film, the Beastie Boys bring their anarchic A-game to an otherwise event-free gathering,
11:23transcending the tedium into cream-pie-infused chaos.
11:26The trio regularly breaks the fourth wall, making accomplices of us all.
11:31Do you like parties? Because with this video, it's almost impossible not to try this at home.
11:35One of the earliest 80s videos to really stand out,
11:52Hungry Like the Wolf was also one of the first music videos to receive heavy rotation on MTV.
11:56It massively contributed to the rise of Duran Duran in general,
12:06and received particular praise for its cinematic quality.
12:09Shot in Sri Lanka, the narrative follows lead singer Simon Le Bon,
12:12as he pursues a tiger-like woman through the jungle.
12:15There are iconic images aplenty in this one,
12:17but we best remember his emergence out of a lagoon.
12:20It's all very apocalypse now.
12:22Number 7. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Cindy Lauper
12:33Arguably the anthem of the 80s,
12:43the video accompaniment to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is exactly that.
12:46Very fun.
12:47It's packed full of classic 80s-style computer effects.
12:57It's got probably the most colorful cast ever assembled,
13:00and it boasts possibly the widest variety of sunshades ever worn.
13:04It became Cyndi Lauper's signature tune,
13:06and that dress became her signature look.
13:09And what makes this video even more impressive is its relatively low cost.
13:13Most actors volunteered,
13:14and a lot of equipment was loaned out free of charge.
13:17No wonder everyone's smiling.
13:26Number 6. Like a Virgin, Madonna
13:30The Like a Virgin video is Madonna at her most provocative.
13:42Set predominantly along the canals of Venice,
13:45images of the singer suggestively dancing on the city's famous gondolas
13:48are matched to another alternative scene,
13:50where it's all white sheets and wedding dresses.
13:52Like a Virgin
13:54Playing on the ideas of purity and sexual desire,
14:02there's even room for a real-life lion in this video,
14:05as the bestial power play of sex is plainly alluded to as well.
14:09The film's empowering,
14:10it was eyebrow-raising,
14:11it'll always be iconic.
14:13Can't you hear my heart beat
14:15For the very first time
14:20Number 5. Walk This Way
14:23Run DMC featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
14:26Next, a video of two halves,
14:33and a hip-hop hybrid trailblazer.
14:36NYC rap outfit Run DMC
14:42team up with stadium rock legends Aerosmith
14:44for what is widely considered
14:46one of the records of the decade.
14:48In the short film,
14:49a simple narrative shows both bands
14:50performing in studios next to each other,
14:53with Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler
14:54especially annoyed by this.
14:56So, Tyler trashes the partition wall,
14:59and before we know it,
15:00we have an unexpected double act on our hands.
15:02Unexpected and undeniably brilliant.
15:15Number 4. Money for Nothing
15:16Dire Straits
15:17One of the first computer-animated features ever made,
15:28especially in terms of music,
15:29Dire Straits' Money for Nothing
15:31almost didn't make it onto MTV at all.
15:43Lead singer Mark Knopfler
15:44was unenthusiastic about music videos in general,
15:47believing that they detracted attention
15:49away from the performance itself.
15:50But video director Steve Barron
15:52eventually brought Knopfler around,
15:54and the video picked up
15:55Video of the Year
15:56at the third MTV VMAs in 1986.
15:58It looks almost primitive now,
16:01but it was trailblazing then.
16:09Number 3. Take On Me
16:11Aha
16:12Another Steve Barron beauty,
16:22the legendary music video director,
16:23is also the creative force behind our third-place finisher.
16:26This iconic Aha! clip
16:28is actually the second video shot for Take On Me,
16:30and besides the aforementioned Dire Straits win,
16:32it dominated the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
16:35Take on me
16:39Take on me
16:41Take me
16:43The video follows an unsuspecting comic book reader
16:48as she becomes a literal part of the pages she's reading.
16:51It's pencil sketch animation meets live-action film,
16:54and it all looks remarkably effortless.
16:56Take on me
16:58Number 2. Sledgehammer
17:05Peter Gabriel
17:06It has been labeled
17:14the most played music video in MTV history,
17:17and the channel itself ranks Sledgehammer
17:19as the fourth greatest music video ever made.
17:22The praise heaped onto our runner-up
17:33was unprecedented.
17:34With claymation,
17:35pixelation,
17:36and stop-motion techniques
17:37all provided by the people
17:38who would go on to create
17:39Wallace and Gromit,
17:40it's an unbridled celebration
17:42of all things animation.
17:43A picture of the progress
17:45that was being made at the time,
17:46the video for Sledgehammer
17:47really hit on something good.
17:49Come on, come on,
17:50help me do
17:51Come on, come on,
17:53help me do
17:54Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:58Before we continue,
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18:13Number 1.
18:15Never gonna give you up
18:16Rick Astley
18:17Never gonna give you up
18:20Never gonna let you drown, never gonna run around and desert you.
18:25Rick Rolled.
18:27Number 1. Thriller, Michael Jackson.
18:37Our winner is way more than the average music video.
18:40With a running time of over 13 minutes, there's probably nothing to match Thriller in all of history, let alone just the 80s.
18:47The Michael Jackson anthem merged filmmaking with music like nothing else before it,
18:51and is often described as the most influential example of its format.
19:04Efforts were even made for it to be considered for an Oscar nomination.
19:08That's how much it transcends its contemporaries.
19:10We might have listed Jackson's Beat It on this list, but this record beats that, and everything else.
19:17Which music video to you best encapsulates this decade?
19:27Let us know in the comments.
19:28Since you know I've been lost with your trace
19:32I dreamin' that I can only see your face
19:36I look around, but it's you I can't replace
19:40I feel so cute
19:42I feel so cute
19:43How much people do that you learn?
19:44Why do they celebrate this fantastical moment?
19:45That's how much you can celebrate this Randall Maggie?
19:47If we play Ride cikaya after you can sign your face
19:49Don't forget you say my face
19:49I know I can only see you react to your face
19:50But the next day you can see ma fast
19:51Yes, that's how much you enjoy
19:52You are doing it
19:52That's how much you enjoy
19:53What youever sala青
19:55And just think your face
19:56What you enjoy are gonna make and create
19:58Love themuring yes, important things to rejoice
19:58You're doing it
19:58And you're the only thing to do
19:59That's how much you do
20:00That's what I can't last
20:02Cause I feel bad
20:03there'sshmaking
20:04Something that's happening
20:05Oh my mind
20:05I feel so important
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