Believe it or not, I get many requests to do Top 10 lists on certain subjects. The two I get the most are 'Best 80's Movies' and 'Best 80's Songs' and I do intend on publishing those down the line, but both are fairly serious undertakings. One of the next most often requests is for Best 80's Music Videos, so that is the one I intend on putting out here.

Though there were music videos before, the music industry was changed forever on August 1, 1981 when MTV (Music Television) was launched on cable television. Here is a link to a short video of that historic moment when MTV went on the air including the words, "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll." I, like many boys my age, loved Martha Quinn who was one of the original VJs. The channel does not resemble much today what it once was and that is definitely NOT a good thing. I barely watch MTV anymore and it rarely plays actual music videos anymore.

Back in the 80's though, I watched MTV regularly and have fond memories of so many of the videos that were played at that time. Here is a link to a video celebrating the first 10 years of MTV, so there are lots of quick clips from music videos aired between 1981 and 1991. Some of those same videos will appear in my Top 10 list below and I will also include video links for every song on my list. Hopefully, watching these videos will bring back the memories for all of you as well.

I had such a tough time narrowing down my list that I am actually going to include 20 videos on my list plus a couple honorable mentions. I decided not to duplicate any artist on my list, so artists like Michael Jackson and Duran Duran who had several outstanding videos will only appear once on this list. My rankings take into account innovation, uniqueness and entertainment value. With all that being said, here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS FROM THE 80's (plus bonus 10):
Honorable Mentions. "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles [link to video] & "Wanted Dead of Alive" by Bon Jovi [link to video] - The Buggles video receives honorable mention simply because it was the very first music video aired on MTV. The title of the song was appropriate and turned out to be prophetic. The Bon Jovi video receives honorable mention because it is made up of footage taken during their Slippery When Wet concert tour including the 1986 stop in Milwaukee which had a young Old School in attendance.

20. "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister (1984) [link to video] - This video stars Mark Metcalf, who played Neidermayer in the movie Animal House, for the opening portion of the video.

19. "Yankee Rose" by David Lee Roth (1986) [link to video] - I especially enjoy the opening sequence of the video which ends when Roth dressed in tribal garb says, "Gimme a bottle of anything and a glazed donut, to go!"

18. "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon (1986) [link to video] - Video features Chevy Chase which always struck me as odd, yet entertaining

17. "Don't Come Around Here No More" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1985) [link to video] - Video features an Alice In Wonderland theme

16. "Dreams" by Van Halen (1986) [link to video] - Video features footage of the Blue Angels performing aerial stunts. Could have also included "Hot For Teacher" as the Van Halen video to make the list.

15. "Addicted To Love" by Robert Palmer (1986) [link to video] - Video featured what would become a trademark of other Palmer videos in the 80's, the "iconic" female models with pale skin, dark hair and heavy make-up dancing and/or playing instruments.

14. "Synchronicity II" by The Police (1983) [link to video] - Could have easily selected "Every Breath You Take" instead, but there was always something about this video and song that I was drawn to.

13. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung (1986) [link to video] - I always liked the stop-action technique which resembled that of a flip book

12. "You Might Think" by The Cars (1984) [link to video] - This video won the first ever MTV Video Music Award for "Video of the Year"

11. "Where The Streets Have No Name" by U2 (1987) [link to video] - The video was filmed on the rooftop of a liquor store in Los Angeles and includes footage of the police shutting the production down due to safety and traffic concerns.

10. "Walk This Way" by Run-DMC with Aerosmith (1986) [link to video] - This video served to officially crossover rap music into the mainstream and onto MTV

9. "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads (1981) [link to video] - This is the earliest video to make my Top 20 list. Could have also included "And She Was" video on this list as well.

8. "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits (1986) [link to video] - The song actually features Sting singing the lyric "I want my MTV" at the beginning of the song. The video is one of the very first to feature computer animation.

7. "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock (1983) [link to video] - The song was one of the first popular singles to feature "scratching" and other turntable techniques and the very unique video is just cool in a freak sort of way.

6. "Need You Tonight/Mediate" by INXS (1987) [link to video] - The video ranks this highly mainly because of the end portion which features the band members flipping through signs with the song lyrics on them.

5. "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran (1982) [link to video] - Duran Duran were music video innovators who often created mini-movies and this is one of the very best.

4. "Land of Confusion" by Genesis (1986) [link to video] - Video features many caricatured puppets of famous celebrities as well as the band members themselves.

3. "Take On Me" by a-ha (1985) [link to video] - This video has a black and white comic book comes alive through a technique called rotoscoping and then later flashes back and forth between live action and animation.

2. "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel (1986) [link to video] - This video used both claymation and stop-action to create a groundbreaking result. Gabriel also had a similar styled video for his song "Big Time" which could have also been included on this list.

1. "Thriller" by Michael Jackson (1983) [link to video] - Was there any doubt? This video was really a 13-minute mini-movie that was groundbreaking in every sense of the word. It was directed by John Landis and became a pop culture phenomenon. Jackson would go on to make many other outstanding and extravagant music videos with my other favorite being "Smooth Criminal."

There's my list. Many are obvious choices when you think about it, but it is nice to pull them all together like this. Noticeably missing is Madonna, who achieved much success through her MTV exposure, but I just don't feel any of her individual videos were strong enough on their own to make my list. I also tried to avoid music videos which simply used hot women, like Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" which featured Tawny Kitaen dancing on the hood of a car in white lingerie, though I can't deny appreciating those videos back in the day.

What do you think? Which of your favorites are missing from my list??? Please leave your comments. Hope you enjoyed this special issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in more of my 80's related issues, please click here for a summary. If you are interested in more of my Top 10 lists, please click here for a summary of those. If you enjoy Kickin' it, please tell a friend and please come back often. Peace and much love to you all.

Check this out: In a past issue of Kickin' it Old School, I had discussed how much I enjoyed the movie SuperBad and this issue also included my Top 10 80's Teen Comedies. I recently saw a homemade trailer for the movie SuperBad made to appear as a horror movie and here is a link to watch it yourself. I thought this was very funny, but you might not enjoy it unless you have seen the movie.

Quote of the day: "In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." -Thomas Jefferson

Download this: I am going to go with two songs from the list above... "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon & "Synchronicity II" by The Police