Music videos have changed over the years, of course. At the very beginning, they were pet projects of the musical artists themselves or things made to sell albums instead of songs. They could still be brilliant, but most not little snippets of fun.
The 1980s changed that. So did MTV. As bad as MTV might have turned out (assuming they still show music videos from time to time), where would music be today without the network? It changed careers and the narrative of pop.
Music videos could be four-ish minutes of art or four-ish minutes of bands showing themselves having a bit of meaningless fun. The best were works of art. Most of the five videos below fall into that category.
Five music videos from the 1980s worth multiple watches today
Billy Idol - "White Wedding"
Billy Idol establishes his decades-long image in this singular video. Sure, "Dancing with Myself" is post-apocalyptic brilliance, but the snarling, shirtless, vengeful Idol? That almost all stems from "White Wedding."
Idol, of course, was part of punk greatness when he was in Generation X and then laid claim to some ownership of post-punk as a solo artist. If you love either of those rock subgenres, you need to watch this video.
Duran Duran - "Hungry Like the Wolf"
Duran Duran likely eventually made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of the strength of their music videos. Videos existed for years before the 1980s, but they were not as abundant or as easily seen until MTV began to control the world. In the early years of the three-letter network, Duran Duran was one of the bigger stars, and they were worthy of being so.
While the band might seem a bit tame now, they certainly weren't in the early 1980s. Their videos tended to be fueled by an overt sexuality. "Hungry Like the Wolf" is seemingly a take on Indiana Jones, as if he was looking for love instead of relics. Plus, model Sheila Ming is wonderfully sensual, which is the entire point of the video.
Talking Heads - "Once in a Lifetime"
David Byrne always had a knack for combining the visual with the musical. He was, after all, always an artist instead of a musician at heart. He knew what was interesting and what augmented the sounds. A list of best-of Talking Heads videos might be a long read.
Byrne did not do this video by himself, however. He co-directed "Once in a Lifetime" with Tony Basil of "Mickey" fame, but Basil was a successful music director in her own right. Putting Basil with Byrne was simply brilliant. The video is intentionally low-fi, but Byrne's dancing is amazingly watchable.
Peter Gabriel - "Sledgehammer"
Gabriel has forever been a true artist, not just musically but visually as well. His videos and sets in concerts are among the best anyone will ever see. In fact, sometimes the visual part is so overwhelmingly good that it detracts from the songs.
Not with the "Sledgehammer" video. It took a long time to make with its use of claymation, stop motion, and pixilation, but the whole thing was worth the work. There is enough strangeness to keep even those who are not Gabriel fans, but for those who expected something great, Gabriel fully delivered.
Metallica - "One"
First off, how weird is it now that this song came out in the 1980s? The sound still seems as vibrant now as it did whenever it was released, and that is a testament to the greatness of the band. Metallica has always been one of the bigger metal acts since the eighties and that is because they are worth the listen. They never completely sold out.
Before "One," the group was not a big fan of videos. They let their music do the speaking for them. This video, though, shows that directors Bill Pope and Michael Salomon know a few things about the band and how to pick up on their vibe. The theme of war on the track is augmented by the clips from Johnny Get Your Gun. If anything, the video is even more poignant now than it was in 1989.