There has been some good, some not so good, and some c**p video’s throughout the years, but these are some of my favourites from the 80’s.

 

1.Human League - Don’t you want me.....Like the way this video tells the story of the song, a film within a film as such

 

2.Laura Brannigan - Self Control....Used to think this was quite a steamy video for the early 80's, how things have changed today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZtn9AwgfQQ

 

3.A-Ha - Take on me.....One of the cleverest music videos of the 80's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMWXyEHoN88

 

4. Men at Work - Down Under......A lighthearted video which just seems to fit the lyrics :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew

 

5. Adam & Ants - Stand and Deliver....New romantic video when videos were all new, they certainly knew how to put pictures to music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPgHbt0ODr4

 

6. Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer.....great video made by Aardman Animations who went on to make Wallace & Gromit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0

 

7. Genesis - Land of confusion....Love the use of Spitting Image puppets, especially Ronald Reagan :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MzShg7yXik

 

8. Nik Kershaw - Wouldn’t it be good....Like this one which depicts him as an alien visiting earth

 

9. Visage - Fade to grey....stunning visuals which seem to enhance the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cznha2YTTh0

 

10. Duran Duran - Wild Boys....Over the top production, when you can make a video which loosly resembles a mad max movie

 

11. Madness - Driving in my car....I could have picked half a dozen of their's but picked this one, fits in perfectly with the words :lol:

 

12. Kate Bush - Cloudbursting....Guest appearance by Donald Sutherland as a mad professor making a rain-making machine(like we need one of them in this country) :)

 

interesting idea bri... you have some classics in there, 'fade to grey' in particular.

 

mind you, that track is so good it features heavily as a fav in here!

A very good selection.

 

I'm going to have trouble coming up with 12 alternative videos from the 1980s.

OK, without repeating any of Brian's suggestions here are 12 more great videos from the 1980s in vaguely chronological order....... and to make it more difficult for myself I've tried to stick to British acts:

 

 

1. David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes - A contender for one of the Top 10 strangest, yet best songs ever to reach UK#1. Showing that Bowie was still the man it featured some of the New Romantic Blitz Kids including Steve Strange before they crossed over into the mainstream.

 

2. Ultravox - Vienna - Curse you to all eternity Joe Dolce! :lol:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X3OaIsqtG64

 

3. Adam & The Ants - Prince Charming - This cinderella themed video featuring a cameo from the UK's answer to Marilyn Monroe, and Swindon's most famous daughter (although I would not bet against Billie Piper replacing her by the end of her career) Diana Dors, remains my favourite Stuart Goddard track, and the line "Ridicule is nothing to be scared of" remains his most ironic lyric taking into account his well documented mental health problems.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9nFXCwPlCg0

 

4. Duran Duran - Rio - If I was held by gunpoint and ask to define the 1980s with one song & video, then this iconic track is what I would choose to represent the decade. Simultaneously dated yet utterly timeless.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E5c0NeG-8ZI

 

5. Madness - Our House - Proof that with a vivid imagination being fans of Monty Python & the Goons, you could make a great video on a shoestring budget.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KEdZrV0j6zM

 

6. Wham! - Club Tropicana - Teenagers today can watch this and other early Wham! videos and laugh at how their parents failed to spot that George Michael was Gay! This video is camper than Dale Winton & Alan Carr at an Abba themed holiday.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EIzVoNq9f9s

 

7. Queen - I Want To Break Free - The video that killed Queen's career dead in America, until after Freddie's death. What a sad reflection of Reagan's America in the 1980s that they could not handle 4 men in drag paying tribute to the British institution that is Coronation Street.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EVYgRPfC9nQ

 

8. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes - A song & video that sends a chilling warning message to any generation.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SXWVpcypf0w

 

9. Dire Straits - Money For Nothing - "I Want my, I want my, I want my MTV." To think back in 1985 this was a state of the art video.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehl_VQuKRTc

 

10. Godley & Creme - Cry - From the former 10cc members turned video pioneers (they directed Two Tribes). This video was surely the inspiration for Michael Jackson's Black Or White video with its morphing technique.

 

11. Cure - Close To Me - A truly inventive claustrophobic video.

 

12. Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love - A timeless song and timeless video for the late & very versatile Robert Palmer.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C4EJkI3hN0w

 

Tellingly like Brian's compilation there are no tracks from the last three years of the decade.

When I started to shortlist my 12, I had 8 of your in my original list :) , so good list. I agree couldn't think of any great videos from 87-89. Mind you that could be a challenge, goes and has a think. :)

When I started to shortlist my 12, I had 8 of your in my original list :) , so good list. I agree couldn't think of any great videos from 87-89. Mind you that could be a challenge, goes and has a think. :)

sinead o'connor?....

 

another great selection richard, i loved 'ashes to ashes', wtf was that vid all abot then? walking along a beach in front of a bulldozer picking things up?.. :lol:

a great topic!

 

Here's mine...

 

1. KATE BUSH - Running Up That Hill

Has there ever been a video more perfectly matched to a song? Incredible choreography, beautifully shot and Kate looks stunning. Apparently the dancer with her got into trouble after the video premiered because he was claiming the dole when he accepted payment for the video.

 

 

2. DEBBIE HARRY - Now I Know You Know

HR Giger designed the infamous sleeve for her KooKoo album as well as the accompanying videos. Love this one.

 

 

3. THE CURE - Inbetween Days

Flying lumo socks and facepaint.... one of their best singles and a classic Tim Pope video.

 

 

4. ALISON MOYET - Love Letters

Great cover version, cracking French and Saunders video. Classic.

 

 

5. BANANARAMA / LANANEENEENOONOO - Help

More French and Saunders...and even the divine Kathy Burke. Best Comic Relief song ever? I reckon so - and the video and accompanying TV appearances were brilliant.

 

 

6. BRYAN FERRY - Is Your Love Strong Enough?

My favourite of all his solo singles, this was the soundtrack to the fabulous film 'Legend' - the video features the movie clips heavily.... great stuff.

 

 

7. ELTON JOHN - I'm Still Standing

You'd have thought Renate would've checked this video, festooned with painted, loincloth-clad muscle men (one of them is Strictly Come Dancing's Bruno) and realised that perhaps her forthcoming wedding to Mr John was a bit of a mistake..... anyway.... one of his best and a fabulous video.

 

 

8. MORRISSEY - Interesting Drug

Featuring stiletto-clad teenage boys and graphic images of seals being clubbed, it was little wonder this video barely saw the light of day.... but it's a bit of an overlooked classic.

 

 

9. MORRISSEY - November Spawned a Monster

Mr Morrissey's second showing, with his finest solo single by a furlong and the video, showing a lone Morrissey in heavy eyeliner camping it up in Death Valley is actually a whole lot better than it sounds ;) . Stunning lyric, great song and a brilliant video.... especially the bizarre sequence from 2min 56secs in... Morrissey crawling and scraping along the sand, playing a chocolate bar harmonica and just generally being Morrissey - awesome. :wub: "So sleep and dream of love.... because it's the closest you will get to love...."

 

 

10. DEPECHE MODE - Personal Jesus

Anton Corbijn kind of resurrected Depeche Mode when they most needed it..... this premiere single from their Violator album was a colossal worldwide hit - helped somewhat by the stunning accompanying videos and artwork by Corbijn. It's a classic single anyway, and here's the video accompanied by a rather tasty Timo Maas remix. Excellent.

 

 

11. STYLE COUNCIL - Long Hot Summer

How can we forget a topless, foppish Paul Weller coming over all gay with Mick Talbot on a grassy bank in Oxford for this video? Great single and a pretty shocking video by 1983 standards.....

 

 

12 EURYTHMICS - Various

She may be rancid these days, but in her day there really weren't many acts to challenge Annie Lennoxc both vocally and visually.

 

The ones I've chosen from the many classic Eurythmics videos are the following:

 

Missionary Man

 

Who's That Girl?

 

I Need a Man

 

Enjoy :)

1. KATE BUSH - Running Up That Hill

Has there ever been a video more perfectly matched to a song? Incredible choreography, beautifully shot and Kate looks stunning. Apparently the dancer with her got into trouble after the video premiered because he was claiming the dole when he accepted payment for the video.

 

Fantastic #1

 

 

11. STYLE COUNCIL - Long Hot Summer

How can we forget a topless, foppish Paul Weller coming over all gay with Mick Talbot on a grassy bank in Oxford for this video? Great single and a pretty shocking video by 1983 standards.....

 

Been a Weller fan for a long time in all his various 'guises', and this song is probably my fave from his time with the Style Council. Love the video too :dance: