The Voices of Reason: 80s Music Videos

The Voices of Reason: 80s Music Videos
by Various Authors

1981 marked the birth of MTV, and with it a new art form was created. What originally began as just another method for promoting bands eventually evolved into a major cultural presence. The 90s may have seen MTV move toward more traditional programming, but in the 80s, music was all they had...

Question: In your opinion, what 1980s music video best captures the spirit of the decade, and why?

Vance Macdonald—Fair warning: the 80's were my lost decade, so I have a somewhat cynical view of that era. Accordingly, let's move quickly past Madonna and MJ. My first thought was Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf"—because really, this was the decade of cheesy pretty boys, right? Taking that concept one step further, I next considered Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing." Unlike Duran Duran, Mark Knopfler actually had talent, and was far from a pretty boy. Yet here was this ultra-pop single with a super cheesy animated video that was played only about 17 million times on MTV (and pop bonus points for the Sting contribution). Perhaps calling it the decade of pop sell-outs is a bit on the nose, but it's hard for me to look past it. Now it's true, every decade is full of cheesy pop bands with very little talent, but the 80's took it up a level, with even the talented musicians rushing to make their "money for nothing."

And thus, my "spirit of the 80's" video: ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin." If there EVER was a band you would say was the LEAST likely to make a cheesy pop album full of synthesizers, it would be these 3 raunchy Texas bluesmen. Much like Mark Knopfler hid his pedestrian appearance from the kiddies with animation, these tres hombres wisely cast a car and some hotties in their video. Genius. This ploy was so successful, that they were able to squeeze two more (virtually identical) albums out of the formula. The 80's indeed.

Gretchen Alkema—My thought on the quintessential 80's video—probably Prince's "Let's Go Crazy." Girls with big hair and semi-goth clothing, freedom represented by the motorcycle clip and a picnic in the park, and rockin' guitar jams with Sheila E. Basically, this video captures the breaking of social (and musical) stereotypes, with a catchy beat to boot!

Jeff Lewis—Here's a few that stand out: Peter Gabriel's "Shock The Monkey" (or "Shock Den Affen" for the German readers out there) was one of the first videos on MTV with slick production value and an interesting/bizarre storyline. The Run-DMC collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way" brought rap music into the mainstream (along the same lines, Blondie's "Rapture" was a solid fusion of rock and hip hop culture). a-ha's "Take On Me" stands out as the top pop video, with DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand" the best R&B video.

"Thriller" certainly could be the most emblematic video of the 80s, especially because its popularity coincided with MTV's explosion. On the other hand, in a more pessimistic vein, Whitney Houston's terrible "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" may best represent MTV in the 80s, since most videos were a tedious waste of time.

My vote, though, goes to Weird Al Yankovic's "Fat." It is over-the-top, fun, and well executed, which was what the over-produced music of the 80s generally strived for.

Martell—There are just so many to choose from. The only way I could really choose which video best represents the 80s would be to first define some key characteristics of the decade. I think once I do that, I may be able to narrow the field a bit and come up with a choice that I feel good about.

So how best to describe the 80s? I've boiled it down to four ideas:

1. Big Hair—The 80s were about nothing if they weren't about hair spray. Cans and cans of hair spray. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the ozone layer was in perfectly good shape in 1979. And of course, it wasn't just the women of the 80s that were responsible for this. Poison, Whitesnake, Cinderella, Twisted Sister, Warrant, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue—the list is endless.

2. The "Me" Decade—Isn't that what they called it? The decade was all about selfishness and celebrating excess. The economy was booming due to the Gipper and his Reaganomics, Dallas and Dynasty were two of the hottest shows on the air, scientists were making time machines out of Deloreans—it was just crazy. Even respected musicians like Dire Straits managed to cash in. But I think Michael Douglas, in his Academy Award-winning role as Gordon Gecko, summed it up best when he said, "Greed is good. Greed works." That was essentially the motto of the 80s.

3. Going Retro—I don't feel like the 70s were retro in anything they did. Heavy metal was new, punk was new, bell bottoms were new—the folks from the 70s pretty much took the rest of new ideas left. Okay, except for break dancing. At least they left that one for us.

So after inventing parachute pants, what else could the 80s style mongers to do but copy something old? And who better to copy than the stars of the past. The James Dean t-shirt and jeans look made a comeback, The Stray Cats had their Elvis/Sha Na Na pompadours, Kim Carnes had her Harlow-gold hair and Bette Davis eyes—clearly, paying homage to legends of the past was the thing to do in the 80s.

4. One-Named Artists—The 80s were when the whole one-name trend really took off. It wasn't only solo artists like Prince that were doing it, but even lead singers of bands like Sting and Bono felt the need to brand themselves apart from their groups. Sure, Cher took her name back in the 70s, but she was definitely a part of this 80s trend. Don't forget—she won the Best Actress award in 1987 for Moonstruck. She was still a big part of the decade.

So what video best represents the 80s? Hmmm. Big hair, greed, homage to past stars, one-named artists...I think the choice is clear.

I'm going with Madonna's "Material Girl" as the video of the 80s.

To submit a topic for The Voices of Reason, or to be added to the VoR Shout Out List, send an e-mail to martell@babblog.com.