Raspberry Beret was Prince’s first single from his 1985 album Around the World in a Day! It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and number three on the R&B charts. Enjoy Prince’s official music video for Raspberry Beret!
Europe – ‘Carrie’ Music Video
Carrie was Swedish rockers Europe’s biggest hit in the United States. In 1987, it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Even though Carrie charted higher, Europe are primarily remembered for their other top ten hit The Final Countdown. Enjoy Europe’s music video for Carrie!
Def Leppard – ‘Love Bites’ Music Video from 1988
When it comes to great rock ballads, Def Leppard’s Bringin’ on the Heartbreak from 1981 and Love Bites from 1988 are two of the ’80s best! Love Bites was Def Leppard’s first and only number one song on the Hot 100 charts, and it also hit number three on the Rock charts. Love Bites was the sixth single released from Def Leppard’s iconic 1987 Hysteria album that produced four top ten hits on the Hot 100 charts and six top ten hits on the Rock charts.
Enjoy this look back at Def Leppard’s music video for Love Bites as well as their earlier music video for Bringin’ On The Heartbreak from 1981!
Prince – ‘When Doves Cry’ Music Video
Warrant – ‘Down Boys’ Music Video
Down Boys was a great song from one of the late ’80s best hair bands, Warrant. Down Boys was their first top 40 hit on the Billboard charts, and they would go on to score four more top 20 hits including a top two hit with Heaven. Enjoy Warrant’s music video for Down Boys!
Winger – ‘Madalaine’ Music Video
Heart – ‘Alone’ Music Video
Pat Benatar – ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Live) – Music Video
Hit Me With Your Best Shot was Pat Benatar’s first top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It peaked at number nine in 1980, but has since become one of her signature songs, and one of the best rock songs of any genre. Enjoy Pat Benatar’s music video for Hit Me With Your Best Shot!
Roxette – ‘The Look’ Music Video
Roxette’s music video for their number one 80s song ‘The Look’!
“The Look” Lyrics:
1-2-3-4
Walking like a man,
hitting like a hammer,
she’s a juvenile scam.
Never was a quitter,
tasty like a raindrop,
she’s got the look.
Heavenly bound
cause heaven’s got a number
when she’s spinning me around,
Kissing is a colour,
her loving is a wild dog,
she’s got the look.
She’s got the look.
She’s got the look.
What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue.
When everything I’ll ever do I’ll do for you
and I go: la la la la la
she’s got the look.
Fire in the ice,
naked to the T-bone
is a lover’s disguise.
Banging on the head drum,
shaking like a mad bull,
she’s got the look.
Swaying to the band,
moving like a hammer,
she’s a miracle man.
Loving is the ocean,
Kissing is the wet sand,
she’s got the look.
And she goes:
na na na na na na na na.
Queen – ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ Music Video
Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love was a number one hit back in 1980! Enjoy Queen’s music video for their hit single Crazy Little Thing Called Love!
Journey – ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ Live Music Video
Don’t Stop Believin’ was a top ten hit for Journey back in 1981 when it peaked at number 9 on the Billboard charts. The song has sold more digital copies than any other song originally released in the 20th century!
Enjoy this look back at Journey’s live music video for Don’t Stop Believin’!
Rick Springfield – ‘I’ve Done Everything For You’ Music Video
Rick Springfield was a hit machine during the 80s scoring 16 top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. One of those hits was this top ten hit I’ve Done Everything For You, which peaked at #8 in 1981. Enjoy Rick Springfield’s music video for I’ve Done Everything For You!
Cinderella – ‘Gypsy Road’ Music Video
Cinderella were one of the more underrated hair bands of the late 80’s. They only had three top 10 hits on the Billboard rock charts (Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone), Shelter Me and Heartbreak Station), but their 1988 album Long Cold Winter was one of the best albums by an 80’s hair band ever! Gypsy Road was the first single released from the album, and it is still one of our favorite songs from the band. Enjoy Cinderella’s music video for Gypsy Road!
Extreme – ‘Mutha (Don’t Want To Go To School Today)’ Music Video
Extreme are remembered for their number one hit More Than Words, but some of their best music came from their 1989 self-titled debut album. This song didn’t chart, but it’s one of our favorite songs from the band. Enjoy Extreme’s music video for Mutha (Don’t Want To Go To School Today)!
Richard Marx – ‘Endless Summer Nights’ Music Videos
Richard Marx scored a number two hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with Endless Summer Nights in 1988. It was the third single released from his Triple Platinum debut album. Enjoy the music video for Endless Summer Nights from Richard Marx!
Debbie Gibson – ‘Lost In Your Eyes’ Music Video
Young MC – ‘Bust A Move’ Music Video
Young MC burst onto the scene in 1989 and scored a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, Rap and Dance charts with Bust A Move. He scored one more top ten Rap hit in 1989 with Principal’s Office, and then the hits dried up. But, he’ll be remembered forever for this catchy hip hop hit!
Axl Rose – 80’s Superstar Then And Now
Axl Rose rose to fame as the lead singer for the 80’s hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, which he co-founded in 1985. GN’R’s first album, Appetite for Destruction has sold over 30 million copies, and it remains one of the best selling debut albums of all time in the U.S. Rose is currently the lead singer of both Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC. The years have certainly taken their toll on his body, but he’s still one of the best lead singers in the business! Enjoy this look back at Axl Rose then and now!
Guns N’ Roses – Welcome To The Jungle
AC/DC – For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) w/Axl Rose
Belinda Carlisle – ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ Music Video
Belinda Carlisle scored the biggest hit of her solo career in 1987 when Heaven Is A Place On Earth hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. As the lead singer of the Go-Go’s, she had previously scored a number two hit on the charts with ‘We Got The Beat’.
Enjoy this look back at Belinda Carlisle’s music video for Heaven Is A Place On Earth from 1987!
Michael Damian – ‘Rock On’ Music Video
In 1989, Michael Damian hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with Rock On! The song was featured in the 1989 movie Dream A Little Dream starring the Coreys (Corey Haim and Corey Feldman). Rock On by Damian was ranked number 99 on VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the ’80s!
N.W.A. – ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Music Video
Straight Outta Compton was N.W.A.’s most successful single, and it has become one of the most famous rap and hip hop songs of all time. It peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1988 and hit number 13 on the R&B charts.
The original lineup of N.W.A. was Easy-E, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Arabian Prince and the one and only Ice Cube. Enjoy N.W.A.’s music video for Straight Outta Compton!
Whitney Houston – ‘Saving All My Love For You’ Music Video
Whitney Houston’s first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 charts was Saving All My Love For You. She also won her first Grammy award for the song, taking home the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Enjoy Whitney Houston’s music video for Saving All My Love For You!
Motley Crue’s ‘Wild Side’ Music Video
Motley Crue’s Wild Side was the 2nd single released from their 1987 Girls, Girls, Girls album. While it has become one of the band’s signature songs, and the video below was a fan favorite on MTV, the song didn’t chart on either the Hot 100 or Rock charts.
The music video features drummer Tommy Lee playing drums while upside down and spinning above the crowd. Enjoy Motley Crue’s music video for Wild Side!
Def Leppard – ‘Rock Of Ages’ Music Video
Rock of Ages was a number one rock hit for Def Leppard back in 1983. For years, the four German words at the beginning of the song were rumored to mean so many things, but in reality, gunter glieben glauchen globen mean nothing. It was just gibberish said by Def Lep’s famous producer Mutt Lange during one of the later takes of the song. Enjoy Def Leppard’s music video for Rock of Ages!
Michael Jackson – ‘Billie Jean’ Music Video
Billie Jean was Michael Jackson’s second single released from his album Thriller. It is one of the best selling singles of all time. It was a number one hit in the US and the UK at the same time, and it won two Grammy Awards and an American Music Award. Enjoy Michael Jackson’s music video for Billie Jean!
Twisted Sister – ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ Music Video
Twisted Sister’s music video for We’re Not Gonna Take It took MTV by storm back in 1984. I remember the first time I saw the video on MTV. I couldn’t wait to see it again because there was so much to see in the video, and any one who grew up in the early 80s could relate to the kid in the video who just wanted to rock! Enjoy Twisted Sister’s music video for We’re Not Gonna Take It!
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – ‘I Love Rock N’ Roll’ Music Video
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts hit number one on the Billboard Pop and Rock charts in 1982 with I Love Rock n’ Roll! Jett’s version of I Love Rock N’ Roll was ranked number 89 on the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs by Rolling Stone, and in 2011, the song made their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list coming in at #491! And, the song was inducted into the Grammys Hall of Fame in 2016. Enjoy Joan Jett’s music video for I Love Rock N’ Roll!
‘I Love Rock N’ Roll was written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows in 1975. Just for fun, we’ve added the Arrows version below as well. Enjoy!
Whitesnake – ‘Here I Go Again’ Music Video
With all the success that Whitesnake had during the 80s, it’s amazing that Here I Go Again was their only number one single. It hit number one on the Billboard charts in 1987.
They followed it up with a number two hit with Is This Love. They would score two more top 40 hits with Fool For Your Loving and The Deeper The Love. Their reign at the top was brief, but this song and video has stood the test of time and can still be heard from coast-to-coast on not only classic rock stations, but also easy listening stations as well.
Enjoy Whitesnake’s music video for Here I Go Again featuring lead singer David Coverdale’s eventual wife, Tawny Kitaen.
Van Halen – ‘Panama’ Music Video
Panama was the third single released from Van Halen’s 1984 album. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Rock charts and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Enjoy this look back at Van Halen’s music video for Panama!
