There was a time, way before TikTok and Spotify, when people worried that video would kill the radio star. In all fairness, they were right to be concerned. When MTV launched in 1981, it paved the way for a decade of some of the most audacious, cinematic and iconic music videos, where the budgets were almost as big as the hair. We turn our spotlight on a few of our favourites… 

Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart

This epic gothic clip features Welsh songstress Bonnie walking the corridors of an eerie boarding school populated by young boys whose eyes glow bright white. Full of billowing curtains and candelabra, it casts Bonnie as the commanding and ethereal headmistress. It was filmed at Holloway Sanatorium in Surrey, a former institution for the treatment of those suffering temporary mental illness, which closed only a few years before the video was shot. At the end of the video, she shakes hands with one of the boys. A long running legend suggested the boy was Gianfranco Zola, although it was later denied by the former Italian footballer. In September 2023, the video passed one billion views on YouTube. Much like a total eclipse, we all want to get a look. 

WHAM! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

This bright and highly caffeinated clip from 1984 has George and Andrew performing their hit to a crowd of dancing teenage fans. It was shot at Brixton Academy in South London, the duo supported by a full band and backing vocalists. Although there is an outfit change, the opening shots of the video show George and Andrew in the decade’s seminal Choose Life t-shirts. Created by British designer Katharine Hamnett, they were part of an anti-drug and suicide campaign. Later in the video, they change into their iconic sportswear looks. In the 2023 Netflix documentary WHAM! George details how their early style was directed by Andrew. Between the neon colours and UV lighting, there’s no way to snooze through this video! 

Billy Ocean – Loverboy

This sci-fi spectacular music video took inspiration from the infamous Mos Eisley Cantina scene in Star Wars, but was actually filmed at Durdle Door in Dorset! A horse-back riding alien attempts to get the attention of another extraterrestrial being in a crowded cave. After he shoots her partner with a laser, they ride off together into the sunset. Unfortunately Billy wasn’t the one in the alien outfit, instead his performances are interspersed throughout the story. An otherworldly romance might not be the first image that comes to mind when someone says “Loverboy,” but it’s certainly become an iconic and lasting music video! 

Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark 

Filmed in front of a live audience on the opening night of the Born to Run tour at Saint Paul Civic Center in Minnesota, Bruce and his E Street Band played the song twice to allow for enough footage to be captured. It was directed by the Oscar-winning Brian De Palma, known for his work on movies such as Scarface, The Untouchables and Mission: Impossible. However, part of the reason this video has become so iconic is because of the audience member Bruce pulls from the crowd. At the time, and unknown to Bruce, she was a hopeful actress from New York. Courtney Cox went on to find great fame in the TV series Friends, but to many she’ll always be known as the woman who gets to dance with The Boss in this music video. 

Billy Joel – Uptown Girl 

This real life romantic crossover story stars Billy and his band as auto mechanics in an uptown garage, dancing through the grease and spare parts until a glamorous woman drives in to have her Rolls-Royce serviced. The pair drive off together on a motorbike at the end of the video. Played by model/actress Christie Brinkley, she and Billy were married two years later. There are plenty of easter eggs throughout this iconic clip, including a poster of Christie in the garage and a portable TV playing the video for Billy’s previous single, Tell Her About It. Billy later said he wasn’t initially on board with the video’s dance routine, but eventually agreed. Little did he know, his engine-revving moves would make for one of the most iconic music videos of the decade.