Featuring the best 80s music videos, TV shows, 80s celebrities and more!
In 1988, former Miss America Vanessa Williams released her debut album ‘The Right Stuff’. The first single of the same name was a hit on the Dance and R&B charts hitting number one on the Dance charts and number four on the R&B charts.
The music video below was filmed in both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana.
In 1989, Bette Midler scored one of her biggest hits, and one of the biggest hits of the ’80s with her version of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ from the Beaches movie soundtrack. It hit number one on the Hot 100 charts, and was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1990 Grammy Awards.
In 1986, the Georgia Satellites released their debut single Keep Your Hands To Yourself, and it was a hit on both the pop and rock charts peaking at number two on both charts. The music video below received heavy rotation on MTV and was a huge reason why the song became so popular.
They would follow this song up with another top 20 rock song for Battleship Chains, but Keep Your Hands To Yourself was their only top 40 song on the Hot 100 charts during the ’80s and beyond.
Cher’s 1987 self-titled album spawned back-to-back top 20 hits on the Hot 100 charts with the first single I Found Someone peaking at number 10 in ’87, and this one, We All Sleep Alone, which peaked at number 14 on the Hot 100 charts and number 11 on the AC charts in ’88. Here’s a rare live video of Cher performing We All Sleep Alone live in concert in Jones Beach, NY in 1989!
And, we thought it would be cool to also feature a look at Cher performing both We All Sleep Alone and I Found Someone live in concert in 1999 in Vegas!
In 1984, Steve Perry released his first solo album called ‘Street Talk’ while still a member of Journey. The first single, ‘Oh Sherrie’, was his biggest solo single reaching number one on the rock charts and number three on the pop charts.
The song was written about his then-girlfriend Sherrie Swafford, who also appeared in the music video below. The video received heavy airplay on MTV, and was a huge contributing factor to the songs success!
In 1984, Lee Greenwood released God Bless the U.S.A., and it has become one of the most popular patriotic songs of all time. In June, 2020, Greenwood teamed up with the country band Home Free as well as The Singing Sergeants from the United States Air Force Band and released an updated version of the song that will leave you with goosebumps. It’s that good… Enjoy!
In 1984, Chicago scored a top five hit on the Hot 100 charts and a number one hit on the AC charts with ‘You’re The Inspiration’! For those of us who were teenagers in ’84, this song was a staple at every school dance as well as every skating rink whenever it was time for the slow skate!
In 1984, Survivor scored their second number one rock song for ‘I Can’t Hold Back’, the first single released from their ‘Vital Signs’ album. The song also was a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 charts peaking at lucky #13. Their first number one rock song and only number one Hot 100 song was 1982’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’ from the Rocky III soundtrack!
It’s been over 30 years since Cher released her single ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’. We remember it like it was yesterday because her music video for the song featured Cher driving a bunch of sailors wild on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri. If you haven’t seen the video, you can check it out here.
Cher donned the same outfit at the 1989 VMA awards, and the audience loved it! Enjoy this look back at a piece of VMA history!
The ’80s produced the greatest songs of all time! Here’s a video look back at the Top 100 Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the ’80s! The list kicks off with ‘Sweet Dreams’ from the Eurythmics at #100! You’ll have to watch below to find out which songs make up the rest of the top 100!
In 1987, Whitesnake released their self-titled album, and the first single was ‘Still of the Night’, their first top 20 rock song since 1984’s ‘Slow an’ Easy’. This song didn’t get the radio airplay that their number one song ‘Here I Go Again’ did, but it’s our favorite song from the album!
In 1985, Bryan Adams’ ‘Summer of ’69’ was a top five hit on the Hot 100 charts, and has since become one of his signature songs. In addition to the official music video for ‘Summer of ’69’, which is featured below, Adams also released this live concert video for the song as well. Enjoy this trip back to the Summer of ’69!
Cher’s last single of the ’80s was Just Like Jesse James, which was a top ten hit on both the Hot 100 and AC charts. It was the third single from Cher’s Heart of Stone album. The two previous singles, If I Could Turn Back Time and After All, were both number one hits on the AC charts! Enjoy!
Def Leppard’s 1987 single Animal was their first top 20 hit on the Hot 100 charts since Rock of Ages back in 1983. It also peaked at #5 on the Rock charts! It was the second single released from their Hysteria album, which is one of the most popular rock albums of the entire decade of the ’80s!
In the late ’80s, Debbie Gibson scored a number of hit songs, and her first number one song on the Hot 100 charts was Foolish Beat from 1988. She would score another number one song in ’89 for Lost In Your Eyes. Enjoy!
In 1985, Mr. Mister scored their second number one song in a row with Kyrie. Earlier in the year, they scored their first number one song for Broken Wings. Here they are performing Kyrie live at the Ritz in New York in ’85!
Rock legend John Waite was on a local TV show in 2018 shortly after he just became an American citizen, and he performed an incredible acoustic version of his ’80s hit song ‘Missing You’. This truly is a gem. The song starts at around the 2:30 mark in the video, but the interview before is pretty interesting as well. Enjoy!
In 1987, Cher released her version of ‘I Found Someone’, which had previously been released by Laura Branigan in 1986. Branigan’s version only made it to #90 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but a year later, Cher released her version, and it was a hit on the charts, peaking at #10 on the Hot 100 charts.
However, the song is mostly remembered for the music video below that featured Cher and her then-boyfriend Rob Camilletti, who were a big story in the tabloids at the time as Camilletti was 17 years younger than Cher.
For comparison, Laura Branigan’s version is below as well!
It’s no secret we love the ’80s, and in our opinion, the ’80s produced some of the greatest music of all time. And with the addition of music videos in the early ’80s, the decade produced some of the most memorable music videos of all time.
YouTube’s #RedMusic channel put together the video below showcasing the Top 100 Biggest Hit Songs of the ’80s. Check it out, and let us know what your favorite song is from the ’80s either here or on Facebook !
I’ve been a huge fan of Motley Crue ever since their first album Too Fast For Love dropped back in 1981. And, their music videos were one of the main reasons why I couldn’t get enough of MTV. I can vividly remember calling in and voting for Home Sweet Home every day on the MTV daily request charts. Home Sweet Home is most notable for spending over three months at #1 on that chart before MTV invoked the unwritten “Crue Rule”, which dropped a video from eligibility on their request line after 30 days.
During the ’80s, Motley Crue released ten music videos beginning in 1982 with Live Wire:
It was hard, but after talking it over with the team, here are our five favorite music videos from Motley Crue in the ’80s:
5. Too Young to Fall in Love – It was hard to choose between their first three videos, but Too Young to Fall in Love gets the nod probably more than anything else because of the fighting scenes with classic old school sound effects. And, it doesn’t hurt that it one kick a$$ song!
4. You’re All I Need – This video was banned by MTV back in the day because of the violent nature of the lyrics. The video is tame by today’s standards, but back in the ’80s, it was considered taboo at the time. It was included though on subsequent Crue DVD collections, and it became one of our favorites.
3. Kickstart My Heart – If you need a song/video to get you revved up, Kickstart My Heart is it. From the opening riffs, this song and video takes you on an adrenaline rush from the beginning to the end!
2. Girls, Girls, Girls – If someone asked, what was it like to be a rockstar in the ’80s, just tell them to watch Motley Crue’s music video for Girls, Girls, Girls, and you’ll find your answer!
1. Home Sweet Home – No surprise here. Home Sweet Home remains one of our all time favorite music videos from any band from any era.
In our humble opinion, the ’80s produced the greatest collection of music of all time! From rock to pop to country to hip hop, the ’80s had it all. Check out the music videos for the #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 charts from each year during the ’80s:
Over the last three years, I’ve lost a father to lung cancer, a best friend’s mother to cancer, that same best friend to a stroke at only 30 years old, a mentor of mine to stomach cancer, and another to liver cancer a few months ago.
So, as I watched this video, a ton of emotions overtook me, but the overwhelming feeling is this. No, we’re not gonna take it! It’s time to find a freaking cure for cancer. I’m not asking you to give money to the charity below or any charity for that matter. You do what you feel is right. All I know is cancer sucks, and I pray we’ll find a cure some day. So, if you’ve got a few minutes, watch this video. It is well worth the four minutes of your time. And, Thank you Dee Snider for sharing this with the world!
