10. Herbie Hancock - Rockit(1984)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=S7dAxvj2mlU[/youtube]
Robots dancing in beat with music, what could be more awesome? Obviously not much as it was nominated for 7 MTV Music Video Awards in 1984 and won 5 (Best Concept Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, Best Art Direction in a Video, Best Editing in a Video and Most Experimental Video).
9. Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=FfW46MZ6mb8[/youtube]
With an Indiana Jones-esque theme and directed by the Highlander director it’s unsurprising this was a smash hit music video of the 80s.
Fun fact: Bruce Campbell did a cover of this song for an Old Spice commercial
8. Men Without Hats - Safety Dance(1982)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg[/youtube]
Successful 80s music video check list, memorable dance check, repetitive lyrics check and a kooky midget check. The safety dance was the only hit for the group before they faded away into obscurity, yet the safety dance will always remain synonymous with the 80s
7. Dire Straits - Money for Nothing(1985)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=aNaKWXqXkhw[/youtube]
A song criticised for being sexiest, anti-gay and racist yet it still had a ground breaking CGI music video and for it’s time it was state of the art CGI.
Fun fact: The animators who worked on this founded Mainframe Entertainment which went on to do Beast Wars, Beast Machines & ReBoot.
6. Weird Al - Fat(1988)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jw00EUh0GT4[/youtube]
More Chins then China town. The second parody of a Jackson song by Weird Al and it was a 1988 Grammer winner(Best Concept Music Video)
Fun fact: Apparently MJ enjoyed the parody.
5. Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer(1986)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0[/youtube]
Sperm, Dancing Skinned Chickens and whole lot of stop motion animation, how can you go wrong? Obviously you can’t as in 1987 it won 9 MTV Video Music Awards which is a record that still stands today.
Fun fact: Aardman Animations was responsible for the claymation and stop motion animation, in the following years Aardman animations would go on to produce the classic Wallace & Gromit.
4. Michael Jackson - Thriller(1983)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=rT90keJ51bY[/youtube]
With a Budget of $800,000(approx 1.7 million today) it was the most expensive music video of its time, the longest music video of its time and is still regarded by many as the best music video of all time.
Fun fact: You’ll notice that Michael Jacksons face appears normal when he’s singing the chorus with the zombies, according to the making of documenty this was because the mask was making his face feel unconfortable.. imagine that, MJ actually wanting to show his real face..
3. Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract(1989)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=FbknGnZXHUk[/youtube]
Come on’ a cool cartoon cat dancing with a presumably pre-alcholic babe, this really should be placed at no.1
Fun facts: Directed by David Fincer(Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac), and it was parodied in family guy
2. Genesis - Land Of Confusion(1986)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=3MzShg7yXik[/youtube]
With a music video featuring such top class names as Arnold Schwarzengger, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, Leonard Nimoy, Prince, Madonna, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and many more it was destined for greatness.
Fun fact: The music video featured puppets from the UK Show ‘Spitting Image’, and the voices were provided by Chris Barrie(best know for playing Rimmer in Red Dwarf)
1. A-HA - Take on me(1985)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=CUod3jGQt0U[/youtube]
Directed by Steve Barron(the director of the original TMNT film), the pencil drawing effects were achieved by using a duckload of rotoscoping, much respect for the effort.
Fun fact: Was also parodied in Family Guy