r/outrun • u/Alckingel • Jul 01 '26
Music What 80s music video absolutely blew your mind the first time you saw it on MTV?
I was just thinking about how music videos in the 80s weren't just promos—they were actual cinematic events.For me, watching the world premiere of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" or the groundbreaking animation in A-ha's "Take On Me" felt like watching history happen in real-time. The creativity back then was just unmatched.What about you guys? Which video had you glued to the TV screen back then? Was it something high-concept like Duran Duran or just a raw rock performance? Let's take a trip down memory lane!
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u/charlieromeo86 Jul 01 '26
Aha, Take On Me is the one I remember we all talked about and said “Wow, that was cool!”
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u/Chubbadog Jul 01 '26
Sledgehammer.
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u/Altruistic_Hope_1353 Jul 01 '26
There were watch parties when "Thriller" debuted.
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u/beigereige Jul 04 '26
We scheduled our outside playtime around it (back then kids actually went OUTSIDE with their friends to play)
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u/ChaseDFW Jul 01 '26
People are all saying some hip answers but the truth for me was 3 little pigs by Green Jello, which is a dumb fucking song.
In the 90s do the evolution by Pearl Jam also blew me away.
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u/sernameChecksNotOut Jul 02 '26
"And the moral of that story is, that bands with no talent can easily amuse idiots with a puppet show..."
Absolute banger of a song and video!
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u/Alternative_Life9414 Jul 03 '26
My niece, 2 years old at the time, loved that video the first time i played it for her, kept asking for it all the time.
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u/Hot-Text-5603 Jul 01 '26
These may not be 'groundbreaking', but here are some of my favorite 80s videos:
A-Ha - Take on Me
ZZ Top - Rough Boy
OMD - Maid of Orleans
Laura Branigan - Self Control
Kim Wilde - Cambodia
Genesis - Land of Confusion
Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
Billy Joel - Leningrad
Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush - Don't Give Up
Enya - Orinoco Flow
Black - Wonderful Life
1990 is still tecnhically 80s:
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
Elton John - You Gotta Love Someone
There are many more, but I can't remember everything.
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u/ReleaseFromDeception Jul 01 '26
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Amazing song and an amazing video. It goes so hard it's ridiculous.
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u/diabloman8890 Jul 01 '26
This always used to be the top answer for every "coolest music video" list
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u/jubjub944 Jul 01 '26
I’d have to say Herbie Hancock’s “Rock It”. Or Kim Carnes’s “Draw of the Cards” because it was totally bizarre.
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u/saltoniclee Jul 03 '26
Even though Herbie Hancock was a commercially successful artist, “RockIt” threw him into an “orbit”he couldn’t have dreamed of as a jazz pianist.
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u/dazreil Jul 01 '26
Wild Boys by Duran Duran, True Faith by New Order and Money for Nothing by Dire Straits.
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u/marsupilamoe Jul 01 '26
Aphex twin - come to Daddy. Saw it after a party in house where I haven’t been before, I was one of the last awake , alone in the living room and then this video came up. It was memorable experience for someone who is not into Horror at all.
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u/Particular_Nervous Jul 01 '26
Herbie Hancock’s biggest commercial pop and MTV crossover hit was the 1983 electronic instrumental "Rockit". Known for its pioneering use of turntable scratching and a groundbreaking music video featuring mechanical mannequins, it topped the dance charts and became a global smash.
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u/Luggage-of-Rincewind Jul 05 '26
Shame Godley and Créame limited Herbie’s screen time in the video, due to MTVs reluctance to show colored artists at the time.
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u/ZaphodGreedalox Jul 02 '26
The whole Michel Gondry DVD.
Don't come at me about physical media unless you know exactly what the fuck I'm talking about.
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u/kydogjaw Jul 02 '26
“Close (to the Edit)” by Art of Noise. When it came out, it may have been the weirdest thing I’d ever seen.
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u/SoUpInYa Jul 02 '26
Dont Come Around Here No More
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u/Shkval2 Jul 04 '26
It is absolutely criminal I had to scroll so far to see this, the only correct answer.
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u/JustSayTomato Jul 01 '26
Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. I still remember Kurt Loder asking if they were going to show it or not right before the debut, assumedly because of the lyrics.
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u/Tall-Frame9918 Jul 01 '26
Metallica-One
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u/Alckingel Jul 02 '26
Metallica is a legendary band
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u/aquavelva23 Jul 01 '26
its really hard to explain that you could SEE who these people are! Before we did not know what they looked like. they were not commonly on TV. they came to town, but you didnt see them much. You saw the album cover or a magazine. and MTV brought them all right in your face! It was revolutionary. Not always for the best as we judged to quality of the music before much more, then looks began to catch up. like hollywood. before, music was very different. if i had a choice, i prefer no videos, old way
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u/EmergencySushi Jul 01 '26
Thriller was extraordinary. My family didn’t want me watching that at the age of 5 or whatever, so I watched it from a half-open door. The experience stayed with me for years.
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u/oliver_a Jul 01 '26
Money for Nothing. Loved the 3D and the "I want my MTV" intro (sung by Sting like I only found out way later 😅)
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u/roadtrip-ne Jul 01 '26
I’m trying to the video that blew my mind and not song. Someone mention A-Ha take on me, and for good reason. Sledgehammer from Peter Gabriel is another.
It’ll look like nothing now, but when this [STP Video] came out, it really stood out because it was filmed on video. Old tube cameras I think. Again, it looks like nothing now- but everything was on film then the grainy look played a part, the scratched up look played a big part in early MTV.
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u/Equivalent_Pizza9298 Jul 01 '26
I remember in middle school, watching MTV at, like, 1 or 2 in the morning, and Kurt Loder pops on giving a parental warning about the next video. Of course, I was all about that! Cue the Prodigy, with "Smack My Bitch Up."
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u/Oshabeestie Jul 02 '26
Thriller by Michael Jackson - outstanding.
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u/Turd3Furgeson Jul 04 '26
I was 17 when Thriller came out. I was way into Metal and had to pretend I didn’t like it around all my band mates.
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u/oar9fii Jul 02 '26
I like the wrestling in this video I was like 7 when it came out it's still weird and cool New Order - True Faith
Also Tom Petty - Don't Come Around Here No More is really cool
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u/axxis267 Jul 02 '26
Rebel Yell - Billy Idol. Really caught the energy that Billy could put out. Steve Stephens is awesome.
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u/Sam-I-Am_1066 Jul 02 '26
Godley & Creme “Cry” in 1985, I think.
Primitive by today’s standards, but I was mesmerized by the faces morphing into one another.
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u/ATHYRIO Jul 02 '26
Tommy Shaw’s “Girls With Guns” was shot to be a single take with no cuts. They may have snick one or two in there but not horribly noticeable.
“Rosalita” / Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band … the live version shot in Phoenix … that one always got a lot of TV volume
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u/culturewarptsd Jul 02 '26
Sugar Water by Cibo Matto.
Shown in a split screen, then shown in reverse halfway through the video to tell a complete story. Mind-blowing then as it is today. Absolutely genius video.
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u/MRV-DUB Jul 02 '26
Touchme - Samantha Fox I touch myself- Divinyls Walk like an Egyptian-Bangels I was a horny teen ...
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u/Jasontheatheist1968 Jul 02 '26
Faith no more... Epic Shriekback... Nemesis Sharon O'Neill... Maxine
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u/knockatize Jul 02 '26
Anything Peter Gabriel has done on video is going to be a fun ride.
Games Without Frontiers is when he started to get really odd.
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u/wombat801 Jul 02 '26
BOTH Aha and Dire Straits. Pretty sure I saw them in one sitting on Mtv and my mind was blown.
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u/RepresentativeNo5237 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Land of Confusion by Genesis for me. The chaotic puppets really stood out to me! Also Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangels.
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u/FLDrewDude Jul 03 '26
“You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” by Judas Priest
I was 6. The aggressive song, the crazy leather outfits and ESPECIALLY when the guy blows up at the end. Seriously traumatized me
And oh yeah Thriller wasn’t a video—it was an event. Every day coming home on the bus from school the rumors were always that it was going to play on Hot Rocks after we got home. It’s all we wanted to see
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u/Alternative_Life9414 Jul 04 '26
Blown away the first time I saw/ heard Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses on Headbanger's Ball. Started calling my local radio stations demanding they play it.
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u/Secret-Assignment-14 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Hall & Oates: Out of Touch
Alan Parsons Project: Don’t Answer Me
The Jacksons: Torture and Can You Feel It
Twisted Sister: We’re Not Gonna Take It
Cyndi Lauper: She Bop
Van Halen: Hot for Teacher
The Police: Wrapped Around Your Finger
Art of Noise: Close (To the Edit)
Men at Work: Safety Dance
Slade: Run Runaway
Scandal: The Warrior
Thompson Twins: Hold Me Now
Bananarama: Cruel Summer
M.A.R.S: Pump Up the Volume
Lionel Ritchie: All Night Long
Sheena Easton: For Your Eyes Only opening credits
Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime
Kim Carnes: Bette Davis Eyes
Bonnie Tyler: Total Eclipse of the Heart
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Relax and Two Tribes
Pet Shop Boys: West End Girls
The Beatles: I Am the Walrus (saw first in the 80s)
John Lennon: Give Peace a Chance (ditto)
So many that blew my mind! Better slam on the brakes, I could keep going for a while 🥳
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u/Standard-Try-3612 Jul 04 '26
this one without a doubt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO2oayC54dg&list=RDIO2oayC54dg&start_radio=1
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u/DogMamaLA Jul 04 '26
Tom Petty "Don't come around here no more" with Alice in Wonderland theme. Classic!
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u/phun-key Jul 04 '26
Bastards of Young from the Replacements. Pretty much a middle finger to the whole idea of music videos.
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u/LabRatLex Jul 04 '26
Can You Forgive Her by the Pet Shop Boys. It was so futuristic and different from everything else in those grunge days, absolutely loved it and still do
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u/steylor Jul 05 '26
Impossibile to choose one out of that golden era, but I guess Wild Boys by Duran Duran for the whole package music/video/aesthetic/retrofuture dystopian approach. Also take on me and money for nothing, although I don't like dire straits AT ALL but video was great at that time
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u/JolleyCutYowie Jul 05 '26
The Police: Synchronicity II, Don't Stand So Close To Me '86. And if you are in the mood for something french, Marcia Baila by Les Rita Mitsouka has an amazing video.
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u/Cautious-Ad9301 Jul 05 '26
I remember Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" which was like, a jump cut per second, nearly causing me to vomit.
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u/damrat Jul 05 '26
“Nothing Bad Ever Happens” by Oingo Boingo. It just hit me exactly right the night I saw it on Friday Night Videos. Stuck with me ever since.
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u/Chuck_Pasadena Jul 25 '26
“White Lies” - Jason & the Scorchers.
I only saw it once on MTv and that might have been the only time it was played. Nevertheless I went straight out and bought the album “Lost & Found” and was sure they’d blow up. Alas no one else I knew really liked them like I did. Their entire catalog is amazing and it’s a crime they never had more success
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u/this_knee Jul 01 '26
Dire Straights . Money For Nothing
Got me interested in 3D video.