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10 iconic 1980's music videos to watch
Molly Duffy
Oct. 5, 2020 11:45 am
Music Television, or MTV, premiered in 1981. The first music video they ever aired — this was before you could just look anything up on YouTube — was 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by the Buggles.
The channel changed music forever. Succeeding in the music industry was no longer just about sounding good, artists and bands had to look cool too.
These were the top music videos of the decade, according to MTV's official Top 100 Videos of the 1980s. Although they aren't airing on MTV anymore, they are all available online. They are bizarre, colorful, even political — and all helped define the generation.
10. 'Land of Confusion,' Genesis
9. 'Need You Tonight/Mediate,' INXS
8. 'Born in the U.S.A.,' Bruce Springsteen
7. 'Sweet Child O' Mine,' Guns N' Roses
5. 'Wanted Dead or Alive,' Bon Jovi
4. 'Pour Some Sugar on Me (Version 2),' Def Leppard
3. 'Money for Nothing,' Dire Straits
2. 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel
1. 'Thriller,' Michael Jackson
Comments: molly.duffy@thegazette.com
Jon Bon Jovi plays guitar with his band Bon Jovi in New Jersey in 2002. (AP Photo/Jeff Zelevansky, File)