Video Killed the Radio Star

June 19, 2006 6:30 PM

Remember when MTV played videos? Music Videos From the 80's: Over 1,400 Videos!
posted by Doohickie (107 comments total)

I forgot.... [via MOOKIE]
posted by Doohickie at 6:32 PM on June 19, 2006

Remember when MTV2 played videos?
posted by Kattullus at 6:36 PM on June 19, 2006

Don't see Peter Schilling's, "Major Tom." I've been looking for that video for years having caught it once around '83. All I can remember from it are the cars in the junkyard.
posted by jperkins at 6:40 PM on June 19, 2006

Remember when MTV played videos?

As a matter of fact I do; I was 19 at the time. As I recall, the time between videos was punctuated by asinine commentary from idiot VJs. Then they introduced "Pop-up Videos," wherein asinine commentary was served-up in cartoon ballons while the video played.

Now Fuse TV has idiots barging in during videos with asinine commentary.

Why these wanker program directors can't just show the fucking videos without asinine commentary completely baffles me. Does ANYONE really prefer the asinine commentary ABOUT the videos to the videos themselves?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:41 PM on June 19, 2006

And then I think to search youtube and here it is.
posted by jperkins at 6:43 PM on June 19, 2006

The obvious question: How do you save these videos locally? :)
posted by -harlequin- at 6:43 PM on June 19, 2006

jperkins: I looked for the exact same song, then came here....thankyouthankyouthankyou! I get chills still when I hear that, even the Z-Trip remix.
posted by freebird at 6:48 PM on June 19, 2006

Similar list, previously on MeFi
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:49 PM on June 19, 2006

and in the space of four minutes, I am transported back almost twenty years...
posted by jann at 6:53 PM on June 19, 2006

I searched on MeFi for several keywords and the web address and got nothing; it would have been a better FPP with the other list referenced. I somehow missed it last month.
posted by Doohickie at 6:54 PM on June 19, 2006

What is up with the random Dresden Dolls video?

And I still want to marry Edie Brickell. What I am is what I am!
posted by eunoia at 6:55 PM on June 19, 2006

Popup videos were on VH-1, not MTV.

/rocks out to "Video Killed the Radio Star", the first video ever broadcast on the channel.
posted by emelenjr at 6:58 PM on June 19, 2006

it would have been a better FPP with the other list referenced

Actually, they seem pretty much identical. Does that make it a double?
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:02 PM on June 19, 2006

This is so cool! 80's Mtv on demand.
posted by Titania at 7:04 PM on June 19, 2006

Reminds me of a question on a test in my Mass Media class back in '88:
Q: What was MTV's other name in the early days?
A: The Rod Stewart Channel

I got my first taste in 1982 (one video has been stuck in my head for the last 25 years...goes something like "1-2-3 lockbox, yeah!") and became thoroughly disgusted with it around 1992.
MTV had a great 10 year run.
posted by zerokey at 7:04 PM on June 19, 2006

/rocks out to "Video Killed the Radio Star", the first video ever broadcast on the channel.

Hence, the title at the top of the page. ;- )
posted by Doohickie at 7:08 PM on June 19, 2006

I dare any of you to watch the Sammy Hagar video without multiple violent snarfings. I can't believe I used to think that video was rad.
posted by zerokey at 7:11 PM on June 19, 2006

freebird: right on! glad that was of some use to ya.
posted by jperkins at 7:16 PM on June 19, 2006

Eddie Jobson, Ultravox and Donald Fagen! Nice
posted by donkelly at 7:33 PM on June 19, 2006

No Pat Benetar "Ooooo" song, dang.
posted by sidereal at 7:35 PM on June 19, 2006

While I loathe The Killers, they kind of have a point--synths can be used in a context that rocks pretty hard. I'd unsnarkily testify that Duran Duran's "Rio" is one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.

And if I wasn't feeling sympathetic to 80's music, I'd be quite happy to let the Gang of Four and Husker Du clips stand on their own merit.

This is fun, thanks.
posted by bardic at 7:40 PM on June 19, 2006

Check out Aimee Mann surfing up that board to ride that big new wave.

Although I find the concept of work safe videos ironic. Aren't you supposed to be working? We're all obviously underemployed.
posted by nyxxxx at 7:41 PM on June 19, 2006

Every time there's a music video thread, I'm really happy and I have to look to see what DEVO they have, but I'm always disappointed that they only have the David Letterman show's version of "That's Good", so I have to look for more videos and find "Are We Not Men?" and I'm really happy but I'm always disappointed that the album version is so much better, so I have to go and listen to the record, and I'm really happy but I'm always disappointed that I'm not Mark Mothersbaugh.
posted by yhbc at 7:42 PM on June 19, 2006

Can anyone here remember the song that went something like "You gotta have a lotta cash to live in New york" "You gotta have a lotta xxx to live in Nw York"...it was a list of all the things you have to have to live in New York. Have been trying to remember the lyrics for 20 years and enough to Google the dang song but haven't had any luck. Anyone?
posted by nickyskye at 7:45 PM on June 19, 2006

Oh, and thanks for the post!
posted by nickyskye at 7:45 PM on June 19, 2006

I was in a diner today, and they were playing Supertramp's "It's Raining Again", and I was thinking about how they used to play that on MTV like every ten minutes, but I hadn't seen it in twenty years.

So thanks to you, now I've seen it anew. Man, was that some cheesy shit.
posted by fungible at 7:53 PM on June 19, 2006

eh, they're all just youtube embeds.
posted by puke & cry at 7:55 PM on June 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

zerokey: I believe that's a Sammy Hagar song.
posted by fungible at 7:55 PM on June 19, 2006

oops, you knew that.
posted by fungible at 7:56 PM on June 19, 2006

*revives long-dead crush on Blow Monkey's Dr. Robert*

: >
posted by amberglow at 8:02 PM on June 19, 2006

Man, still no Pat Benatar Shadows of the Night video. I mean, who wouldn't want to see Pat Benatar fantasizing about being a WWII ace pilot who plants a bomb in a Nazi castle?

And clearly the pinnacle of music video television has been reached with Fuse's Pants-Off Dance-Off (NWS, naturally).
posted by Kosh at 8:03 PM on June 19, 2006

I'd completely forgotten about China Crisis.
posted by juiceCake at 8:08 PM on June 19, 2006

And I love that Dalis Car is actually on that list!
posted by juiceCake at 8:09 PM on June 19, 2006

Popup videos were on VH-1, not MTV.

They were also pretty late in the game. When people ask if you remember music on MTV, they're not talking about 1996.
posted by RavinDave at 8:11 PM on June 19, 2006

I still blame Ken Ober and Colin Quinn for the demise of MTV, darn them!

Still hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago. *sigh*
posted by snarkywench at 8:14 PM on June 19, 2006

so much great stuff here--thanks! (Blancmange! Bronski Beat! Danny Wilson!!!! EBN-OZN!!!!! ...) /feels 20 years younger
posted by amberglow at 8:23 PM on June 19, 2006

Who doesn't think of Dolly Parton's Jolene when they think of music in the 80s?

yhbc: How about DEVO on Fridays?

Mark Mothersbaugh in the 80s, maybe. Today, not so much.

Wow, I just watched Elvis Costello's Veronica for the first time in years. There is a line I remember so differently.

Why do I remember "while telling her she must sit still" as "and if they don't nobody else will"? Odd. I guess age is catching up with me.
posted by ?! at 8:26 PM on June 19, 2006

there's also the grateful dead doing cassidy on tom snyder's tomorrow show in that list ... nice
posted by pyramid termite at 8:29 PM on June 19, 2006

that ELO song from Xanadu! lol!
posted by amberglow at 8:31 PM on June 19, 2006

yhbc: How about DEVO on Fridays?

Who remembers Fridays??
posted by Doohickie at 8:35 PM on June 19, 2006

and Veronica holds up as a wonderful video and song -- still

Fairground Attraction! "it's got to beeeeeeeee perfect..."
posted by amberglow at 8:41 PM on June 19, 2006

A young Madonna: Like a Virgin, in her very best Desperately Seeking Susan wardrobe!
posted by Doohickie at 8:42 PM on June 19, 2006

Who remembers Fridays??

I remember seeing Wendy O. Williams & the Plasmatics on Fridays. I was 13 yrs old. It freaked my shit right out.
posted by Chrischris at 8:45 PM on June 19, 2006

Feels Like Heaven! (can you tell i'm working my way down the alphabet?) : >
posted by amberglow at 8:46 PM on June 19, 2006

eunoia: Sorry, mate. She loves only me.
posted by Sparx at 8:48 PM on June 19, 2006

that Front 242 video--it's the nest egg!

(i missed Carolyn's Fingers--fabulous fabulous beautiful song)
posted by amberglow at 8:53 PM on June 19, 2006

oooo---Cry
posted by amberglow at 8:56 PM on June 19, 2006

This is, like, so totally awesome.
posted by blendor at 8:57 PM on June 19, 2006

Who else remembers Randee of the Redwoods and Jimmy the Cab Driver?
posted by frogan at 8:58 PM on June 19, 2006

Hmm. Only one Duran Duran and it's not Rio or Hungry Like the Wolf. Only one Psychadelic Furs and it's not The Ghost in You. Only one Culture Club and it's not Karma Chameleon.

One could wish for a slightly more iconic collection, but still, fun.
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:03 PM on June 19, 2006

I feel your pain, George. It's not a perfect link...
posted by Doohickie at 9:05 PM on June 19, 2006

On the other hand, the one Peter Gabriel song is Sledgehammer.
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:06 PM on June 19, 2006

Doohickie: Didn't miss an episode. Michael Richards, Melanie Chartoff, Larry David, "Ganja! Yeah. Yeah. Yeah," Playing piano with a dancing chicken on your hand, The Pharmacist, Men Who Hug, and Andy Kaufman.

What the hell was I doing with my life?


Figured out my Veronica issue. That wasn't the original video. It's been cut to his acoustic version of the song. The original is here. Typically I noticed the lyric change, but didn't realize I was listening to an acoustic version.
posted by ?! at 9:06 PM on June 19, 2006

Who remembers Fridays??

I remember seeing The Clash, The Talking Heads, The Pretenders, and King Crimson on Fridays.

Devo on Saturday Night Live completely freaked me out and blew my mind. In a good way.
posted by marxchivist at 9:11 PM on June 19, 2006

Fridays mostly blew goats, but I'll never forget the Transphibians.
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:12 PM on June 19, 2006

What's up with the "Choose life" t-shirt in this video? Did that mean something else in the 80s?
posted by delmoi at 9:17 PM on June 19, 2006

Van Halen's "Jump" was the first music video I ever saw.

I have it downloaded somewhere, but this is still fucking awesome.

(Needs more "These Dreams" era Heart videos, though...)
posted by Cyrano at 9:28 PM on June 19, 2006

That was before the whole abortion thing was so.... contentious
posted by Doohickie at 9:28 PM on June 19, 2006

Neat!

But.. how long before the Hammer of the RIAA comes swinging down on the web host?
Those bastards. :|
posted by drstein at 9:36 PM on June 19, 2006

What's up with the "Choose life" t-shirt in this video? Did that mean something else in the 80s?

I don't recall it having anything to do with abortion.
It was a time (when people seemed to care) about famine and war in Africa.
The Cold War was deeply embedded in the lives of most of the West.
There was this sense of hopelessness; "Choose Life" conveyed some degree of hope...a king of 80's neo-hippy mantra.

Stop fighting, love a little and start living..Choose Life...

At least, that's what it meant to me as an over-idealistic teen.
posted by zerokey at 9:55 PM on June 19, 2006

kind of..not king (could have been king though)
posted by zerokey at 9:56 PM on June 19, 2006

Hey, King Crimson with Adrian Belew ... never have seen any videos for them.

FINALLY!


Thanks.
posted by Relay at 9:59 PM on June 19, 2006

zerokey captured what I remember too...
posted by Doohickie at 10:02 PM on June 19, 2006

What's up with the "Choose life" t-shirt in this video? Did that mean something else in the 80s?

Even back then, I thought it was just George Michael being too scared to wear a Boy Toy t-shirt.
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:20 PM on June 19, 2006

I mean, who wouldn't want to see Pat Benatar fantasizing about being a WWII ace pilot who plants a bomb in a Nazi castle?

I want to see this. Very much. Pat Benatar is playing in my city tomorrow but it is about $90 and I can't afford it.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 10:34 PM on June 19, 2006

Pat Benatar ... is about $90

You're fucking kidding me, right?
posted by frogan at 10:41 PM on June 19, 2006

This video reminds me of my high school days, when Georgia was sort of cool. The B-52's made me the man I am today (for better or worse, depending on who you ask).
posted by BoringPostcards at 10:48 PM on June 19, 2006

This is my new favorite video.
posted by JT at 11:13 PM on June 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Man, still no Pat Benatar Shadows of the Night video. I mean, who wouldn't want to see Pat Benatar fantasizing about being a WWII ace pilot who plants a bomb in a Nazi castle?

With Bill Paxton! He was, for reasons unknown, the only one in her gang who wasn't a member of her band.

He also directed the video for the Barnes & Barnes classic Fish Heads.

What a dude.
posted by Dreama at 11:54 PM on June 19, 2006

What's up with the "Choose life" t-shirt in this video? Did that mean something else in the 80s?

I always thought it was an anti-drug message - wikipedia agrees. The designer is British, and it was the tail end of the punk era; abortion was probably the furthest thing from her mind when she chose the slogan.

Great post!
posted by goo at 12:51 AM on June 20, 2006

How could Donnie Iris' seminal Ah, Leah be excluded?
posted by wsg at 1:04 AM on June 20, 2006

What is up with the random Dresden Dolls video?

80s cover from 80s retro-ish band. Then again seemingly no other modern covers of 80s songs, so it does stick out.
posted by dgaicun at 2:15 AM on June 20, 2006

And I still want to marry Edie Brickell.

You'll have to bump off Paul Simon first ...
posted by bwg at 2:40 AM on June 20, 2006

I was wondering what need be done to see these again.
to be fair, MTV does air an hour of top 10 videos during any 24-hour cycle.
so I've heard.
posted by Busithoth at 5:19 AM on June 20, 2006

My recollection is that the VJ's only became obnoxious and intrusive around the time of Live Aide, when MTV used the event as a giant commercial for themselves instead of its stated purpose. I recall legendary performers in the background while the camera was focused on Martha Quinn bobbing her empty head to the music and some other fool explaining the ID card system WHILE Paul McCartney played in the far background.
posted by RavinDave at 5:49 AM on June 20, 2006

Thanks, Doohickie. I'm little enough to have missed a lot of these the first time around (or to have had them imprinted on my four-year-old mind--explains a lot). And the New Kids video: apparently I still know that song reeeeallly well.
posted by dame at 6:06 AM on June 20, 2006

What's up with the 'Choose life' t-shirt in this video? Did that mean something else in the 80s?

Trainspotting:

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?

posted by kirkaracha at 6:30 AM on June 20, 2006

*Looks at list; looks at local HD full of videos; suddenly realises he's nearly 40...*

You young people, with your Yoo-chube and your Googly-video and your Poppy-up thingys. In my day, we had to wait a week until Saturday night's Rage to see the old videos!

Oh wait - that was just last weekend. Now get off my lawn...
posted by Pinback at 6:30 AM on June 20, 2006

A bit late on this thread, but I put together a similar archive of youtube stuff a few weeks ago (here), but as an electronic music geek I was focusing on mostly synthpop, new wave, ebm, a bit of krautrock and other stuff.
posted by p3t3 at 6:32 AM on June 20, 2006

What's up with the "Choose life" t-shirt ...
... it was an anti-drug message

You know, I never knew it specifically referred to that. That whole bit in Trainspotting has a whole nother level now.

Also- god, this post makes me feel old. But anything with Devo in it is good.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 6:34 AM on June 20, 2006

Damnit! Sorry, Kircharacha, should've hit Preview.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 6:35 AM on June 20, 2006

Awesome! and 80's music wasn't all bad. Peter Gabriel! Boy George! and yes even Michael Jackson!
posted by bluesky43 at 6:39 AM on June 20, 2006

Depeche mode!
posted by NewBornHippy at 6:56 AM on June 20, 2006

To download YouTube files directly: this or this or this. There's a Firefox extension as well.
posted by waxbanks at 7:14 AM on June 20, 2006

My god, I hate the 80's.
But I love the escapism of the music videos. Totally self-absorbed in thier own little world of self-promotion. Music video, a 3 minute commercial for an artists album. They sold the idea of airing 3 minute commercials and called it MTV. And the public ate it up.

Gah, I need to stop watching Skinny Puppy videos.
posted by daq at 7:14 AM on June 20, 2006

Can anyone here remember the song that went something like "You gotta have a lotta cash to live in New york" "You gotta have a lotta xxx to live in Nw York"...it was a list of all the things you have to have to live in New York.

Fear's "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones," perhaps?
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:13 AM on June 20, 2006

Waitaminute...it’s all coming back....just...music...and video?
What did we trade that for?
Thanks.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:16 AM on June 20, 2006

Waitaminute...it’s all coming back....just...music...and video?
What did we trade that for?

This. Because it's easier to sell ads and track ratings for 30- and 60-minute shows than 4-minute videos. (NY Times)

If you love/hate the blossoming/infestation of reality TV, you should give MTV a large share of the credit/blame.
posted by kurumi at 9:01 AM on June 20, 2006

<Insert comic from Bloom County of Milo watching MTV with sunglasses and a suit on, while Opus sits peacefully ignorant outside,oblivious to the cosmic shift going on in american culture/>
posted by blue_beetle at 10:15 AM on June 20, 2006

I will take this opportunity to declare that Ultravox's "Vienna" is the greatest video of the era.
posted by scody at 10:35 AM on June 20, 2006

What's up with the "Choose life" t-shirt ...
... it was an anti-drug message

You know, I never knew it specifically referred to that. That whole bit in Trainspotting has a whole nother level now.

But "Wake Me Up" came out 12 years before Trainspotting?
posted by snarkywench at 10:37 AM on June 20, 2006

It was fun to watch the before-they-hit-it-really-really-big videos, such as the Kids, Inc. video (featuring a young Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie from the Black-Eyed Peas, and Martika), the Menudo video (with a wee Ricky Martin), and the New Edition video (with a pre-crack Bobby Brown)
posted by SisterHavana at 10:41 AM on June 20, 2006

This is good stuff. I remember the first music video I saw was actually on HBO (before MTV). It was Madness with "One Step Beyond". They have "Our House" in this list but sadly, not One Step Beyond.
posted by genefinder at 10:58 AM on June 20, 2006

I remember seeing "One Step Beyond" before MTV too. Used to congratulate myself on being cutting edge, now I couldn't name an artist in the Top Ten (which probably is a good thing).
posted by Ber at 11:41 AM on June 20, 2006

Coincedence? Pitchfork offers up "100 Awesome Music Videos." Lots of good stuff from the 90's, including the runaway milk carton in Blur's "Coffee and TV" and Spike Jonze's "Shady Lane" for Pavement.
posted by bardic at 12:07 PM on June 20, 2006

The Strawberrry Switchblade epitomizes the style of the era for me, and A-HA' s Take On Me is amazing considering the handwork necessary before the age of slapdash digital animation.
posted by squalor at 12:21 PM on June 20, 2006

Lots of good stuff from the 90's

After my time. I lost touch with MTV in the mid-80s after college graduation and before I could afford cable.

"Take On Me" is pretty awesome, yeah...
posted by Doohickie at 12:23 PM on June 20, 2006

I liked when they put the "Take On Me" video in Family guy.
posted by p3t3 at 12:55 PM on June 20, 2006

But "Wake Me Up" came out 12 years before Trainspotting?

...That's what I meant, that Trainspotting was referring back to the shirts, etc. I may have had a bit of a syntax problem. Err, sorry for the derail.

Funnily enough, we sometimes work with a marketing company called "Aha!" in which nobody is old enough to know why I can't say their name with a straight face.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:57 PM on June 20, 2006

My favorite song when I was a kid, which is now one of my son's favorite songs....China, by Red Rockers.

Good Lord, what a cheesy video.
posted by Lucinda at 1:04 PM on June 20, 2006

goo: Check out who created the Katharine Hamnett article. ;-) (And it's only been improved, like, 5% or so.)

Being a big Aimee Mann fan, I (long ago) checked out the Voices Carry video, and I was struck at the 80s-era feminist iconography -- it's just a promo clip, but the boyfriend was pretty crude, and she pulls out the guitar multiple times to make sure you get that she's not just a pretty face fronting the band, and such.

"Take On Me" is still an awesome achievement, maybe even more so considering it's pre-CGI. I always loved the concept, and the way it turns inside-out at the end -- pretty heady stuff for a pop song. Always did wonder what ever happened to Bunty, though.

Who remembers Fridays??

I do, I do. Kramer was on it before he was Kramer.

Who remembers Don Kirshner's Rock Concert? (That's where I got DEVOrginized.)
posted by dhartung at 3:56 PM on June 20, 2006

Remeber when mtv played electronic music?

mtv's AMP!
posted by Espoo2 at 3:57 PM on June 20, 2006

Thanks for this link. Spent the last hour remembering another time. Sad, yet cool.
posted by UseyurBrain at 4:07 PM on June 20, 2006

Kramer was on it before he was Kramer.

He was also in Young Doctors in Love and Transylvania 6-5000.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:43 PM on June 20, 2006

I'd unsnarkily testify that Duran Duran's "Rio" is one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.

posted by bardic at 7:40 PM PST on June 19 [+fave] [!]

I may wind up closing this thread since I'm so late to it, but I can't help but note that every time I hear "Rio," Simon LeBon sounds like Bill Murray doing his lounge-singer bit on "SNL."
posted by diddlegnome at 6:53 PM on June 20, 2006

YouTube's flash player is permanently severing the parts of my brain that require lip movement to match sound.
posted by dhartung at 7:24 PM on June 20, 2006

Who remembers Don Kirshner's Rock Concert?

I remember watching Deep Purple on Rock Concert in... 1973? 75? Something like that.
posted by Doohickie at 7:32 PM on June 20, 2006