The Best 25 music videos of the Eighties
Posted on June 24th, 2006 by JTkPosted in Fun, media, music |
- Tom Waits - Downtown Train
One of the more accessible Waits songs that is contrasted brilliantly with the high gloss version of Rod Stewart’s cover. While this only gives one a glimpse of the brilliance of Wait’s songwriting it wins This Damn Blogs best video of the eighties award. - Lou Reed - Dirty Boulevard
So what’s a Seventies rock icon doing at the end of the eighties? He’s writing and singing about the Dirty Boulevard. While this is far from Reed’s best it is a perfect juxtaposition to mainstream music videos that surrounded it back when you could actually watch music videos on T.V. - The Godfathers - Birth School Work Death
This video is a pre-curser to all of the mid 2000 power pop that clogs Fuse and the like. While this is a really good song and has been a staple of my mix tapes for years, it is this high on the list for what it portends. - Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
Come on, can you talk about 80’s music videos with this? And for all that has happened since GnR was the biggest, baddest band in the world ’round about this time. - Faith No More - We Care A Lot
They do, they really do. - Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
I think of this song when I am trying not to laugh. - Concrete Blonde - Joey
I just stand by and watch you fight your secret war. Although I used to wonder why I used to cry till I was dry. - Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
Okay, maybe this video is not eighties, but the song is…. - The Clash - London Calling
If you don’t know why this on this list you might as well stop reading now and click on outta here. - The Church - Under the Milky Way
I always thought that this song personified a certain type of music that was made in the eighties, and not in that sad embarrassing way that you are thinking….. - Janet Jackson - Nasty
Again, I was thinking that I need a video that represented a certain 80’s sound that has not yet made this list. - Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Maybe the most recognizable song of the eighties, and the video is very indicative of what one breed of producers were doing in that decade. - Smithereens - A Girl like You
This is a really good song, by a really good band that never really got their due. So I am putting them on this list. - B-52’s - Own Private Idaho
Could the B-52’s have flourished in any other time period then the one that they flourished in? Dunno, but how fun is this video? - Prince - Purple Rain
Okay, so this is not so much a video as the end of a movie - but this may be THE 80’s moment. - Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away
I always forget the name of the band who did this song first, but this is the version that everyone remembers anyway… - Alcatrazz - God Blessed Video
While this is an excellent example of trying to do too much in a music video in that 80’s way, it is also the first time that most of us were introduced to Steve Vai. - Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
I remember the first time I saw this video in ‘88, I was thinking, now that is different, that is interesting. - Animotion - Obsession
While this is not a horrible song, it makes this list as a perfect example of that new wave synth-dance euro-trash crap that filled night tracks back in the early eighties. - Jeff Beck - Ambitions
I love this video - Where else can you see Donnie Osmond, Parker Stevenson, Jeff Beck, Graham Bonnet, etc. all in the same place. - John Cougar Mellencamp - Small Town
Come on, you know this is a great video. Whatever you think about Mr. Mellencamp the old black n white photos and super 8 video changing along with that back beat make this a winner. - Elvis Costello - Veronica
Mr. Costello doing what he does best, telling us a story… - Eddie Murphy - Party all the Time
Come on - The Eddie Murphy laugh, Rick James, Bitch, cheese keyboard riffs, and that damn eighties drumbeat…. okay, so it’s not a great song, but it’s funny and oh-so 80’s. - Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
The most beautiful video of the eighties is this cover. - Sam kinison - Wild Thing
This thing is a hilarious who’s who of big hair eighties metal combined with the genius of Sam Kinison and Jessica Hahn’s boobies.