15/100 Video - "Personal Jesus" - Depeche Mode (1989)

 

I'll always remember 1989. The holy trinity of alternative rock, The Cure, New Order and Depeche Mode, all released amazing albums.

Think back to the early 80s for minute. Hands up if you thought back these guys would be making videos sporting cowboy hats and playing guitars at the end of the decade?

The evolution of Depeche Mode from a quirky synth-pop act to filling stadiums in North America was impressive. Like U2 with the The Joshua Tree, Depeche Mode stormed North America with an amped up, somewhat industrial form of dance music typifying the Violator album in 1989.

"Personal Jesus" is a club classic with an unstoppable beat, atmospheric guitars and menacing vocals. The badass video is a bonus. Well done boys, you've come a long way.

16/100 Video - "Material Girl" - Madonna (1984)

The classic video branded Madonna with a her "Material Girl" nickname, a track that is so quintessential 80s. 

Inspired by Madonna's fascination with Marilyn Monroe, this video is an homage to Marilyn singing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" from the movie Gentlemen prefer Blondes.

The first part of the video shows illustrates the assumption that guys think women are all materialistic and will want lavish and expensive gifts, thinking they can buy her love. 

But in reality, as the end of the video demonstrates, the real way to her heart is as simple as a bouquet of flowers and a realistic happy love with guys who are down to earth.

The irony was often lost and/or ignored by journalists, so the name and the image stuck.

17/100 Video - "Take On Me" - a-ha (1985)

The video for a-ha's "Take On Me" used a pencil-sketch animation / live-action combination known as rotoscoping, in which the live-action footage is traced over frame by frame to give the characters realistic movements. 

Approximately 3,000 frames were rotoscoped, which took 16 weeks to complete. The video cost $150,000 USD, which was significant at the time in 1985.

Actress Bunty Bailey, who played singer Morten Harket's love interest, went on to star in the band's follow-up video, “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.,” and had a real-life romance with Harket.

The iconic music video for “Take On Me” has reached one billion views on YouTube, a feat very few artists have accomplished. 

18/100 Video - "Hungry Like the Wolf" - Duran Duran (1982)

 

The iconic video for "Hungry Like the Wolf" came out in junior high, wooing North American teenage girls and boys alike with its exotic adventures and irresistible new wave sound. 

I howl and I whine... about why these guys don't get the credit they deserve. 

Duran Duran are kinda like the Stones in a way; they both don't often get a lot of respect in the industry. Mislabeled as a 'boy band' in the mid-80s, some people forget band members actually played their instruments. And wrote their songs. 

Looking back, I think the critics were jealous because they were good looking guys who could play. Oh, snap. 

"Hungry like the Wolf" was the gateway to the band, and to the new wave genre for many of us a little too young to notice the music trends unfolding in the late 70s. 

Besides the grandiose chorus, "Hungry Like the Wolf" features the iconic "Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo" and an intriguing instrumental bridge. 

19/100 Video - "Rockit" - Herbie Hancock (1984)

"Rockit" by Herbie Hancock was the first hit song to feature scratching.

The bizarre video, which features a host of animated mannequins, was one of the most innovative of the era. 

The video freaked me out as a teenager, with mannequins having seizures, banging their heads on tables. 

I went to bed thinking random items were going to burst out of closets and drawers.

Directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, the very popular video won five video music awards in 1984: Best Art Direction, Best Concept, Best Editing, Best Special Effects, and Most Experimental Video. 

Along with Michael Jackson and Prince, Hancock was one of the first black artists to get significant airplay on MTV, but he barely appears in the video (he is shown in a few shots of the television sets), which was by design.