Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Who can forget this 1980s classic?
Directed by Steve Barron in 1984. Barron was very busy in the 1980s directing more than 75 music videos. He appears on our site already as the directer of another 80s classic from A-Ha.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, Dire Straits
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
How can you not love Diamond Dave? As if his California Girls video was not enough to win over impressionable teen boys, his goofy self-deprecating video and catchy tune (a remake of a classic Louis Prima medley) was irresistable. Just don’t expect to see Yankee Rose make the list - any video with ass-less chaps is strictly forbidden. I bet Dave wishes every year could be 1985.
Directed by Pete Angelus and David Lee Roth in 1985 the video pokes fun at all the trends and video styles of the time. Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Roth’s Eat ‘em and Smile Tour was one of the most successful concert tours of 1986.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, David Lee Roth
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Take on Me may symbolize the 1980’s era of music videos more than any other. It also was one of the earliest attempts to make a music video play out like a story - the plot may not be much (comic book character falls in love with human girl, becomes human so they can live happily ever after), but its a story nonetheless.
Directed by Steve Barron in 1985. Barron directing dozens of music videos in the 1980s including Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, Human League’s Don’t You Want Me and Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon, before going on to a couple feature film comedies in the 1990’s - including Coneheads and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, A-Ha
Saturday, February 16th, 2008
Truly an unforgettable video - ask anyone that was watching MTV in the 80s and they will know this song and video.
Jeff Stein directed this classic which won Best video of the Year at the 1984 Video Music Awards - it was also nominated for Best Concept Video, Best Special Effects, and Most Experimental Video. While Stein has some great videos to his resume, he also made some less artsy videos such as Warrant’s Cherry Pie - yeah you know the one. You can read more about Stein on the post for arguably his best video Tom Petty’s Don’t Come Around Here No More.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, The Cars
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had a string of good music videos including “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “Runnin’ Down A Dream”. But this is the one that always sticks out in my mind - of course it could just be that its imprinted in my mind because MTV played it so often.
Directed by Jeff Stein in 1985. Stein has directed 40 music videos including The Cars “You Might Think”, Carly Simon “My New Boyfriend” and Billy Idol “Rebel Yell”. Allegedly he started to direct Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”, but Springsteen halted the video mid-shoot and a new director re-shot the video the way it was released. Besides music videos Stein directed TV shows “Barney Miller” and “Mr. Belvedere”.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, Tom Petty
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Very playful experimental video that raised the expectations of music video making. Not all the special effect hold up against today’s digital cgi world - but don’t forget this was 1986 and while the techniques used in the video were not breakthroughs they were used to deliver something very fresh and entertaining.
Directed by Stephen R. Johnson who has directed 10 videos in all, another Peter Gabriel video 1192 “Steam” should make this list just for the laughing towel-clad girls that slide back and forth on a bench of tilting steam room.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, Peter Gabriel
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Talking Heads frontman and songwriter David Byrne not only stars in this riveting 1980 video, but he also directed with help from Toni Basil of “Mickey” fame. In 2002, Talking Heads was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of the band’s albums appeared on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, Talking Heads
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
This seemed appropriate for the first post of what I hope will be many that chronicle the finest in both music and the music video artform itself. The music video for the 1979 song “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to be shown on MTV when the music channel debuted on August 1, 1981, at 12:10 A.M. It also became the millionth video to be aired on MTV on February 27, 2000. And now its greatest honor - as it unveils BestMusicVideos.org!
Directed by Russell Mulcahy who went on to direct some famous music videos for Duran Duran, Elton John, Billy Joel, and dozens of other bands before directing the cult classic movie Highlander and most recently Resident Evil: Extinction.
Leave a comment » Filed under 1980s, Buggles
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