The 5 Most Hilarious Music Videos of the '80s

Pretty much everything I've posted here so far has been an album review. But not today. Today it's time to delve into that goldmine of comedy: the '80s music video. There are tons and tons that could have made the list, but here I've listed my five personal favorites.

Pat Benatar, “Love is a Battlefield”

This one is like a five-act play, all on its own.

Most of these videos keep the action separate from the song. The video for “Love is a Battlefield,” however, actually interrupts the song with dialogue. In the opening scene, Pat is getting kicked out of her house. The scene goes like this:

Pat (singing): We are strong!

Pat’s Father (speaking): You leave this house now!

Pat (singing): No one can tell us we’re wrong!

Pat’s Father (speaking): And you can just forget about coming back!

I don’t know about you, but if I was getting kicked out of my house, I’d certainly put up a bigger fight than singing things that have nothing to do with what’s actually going on.

She then looks up longingly at the window, where a young man looks out. This is presumably supposed to be her boyfriend. But why is her boyfriend in her house? Who knows. Maybe it’s her younger brother, although that would make the longing look she gives him much creepier.

With nowhere to go, Pat decides (naturally) to become a prostitute. Later in the video, she and her fellow dancers are being harassed by a creepy man with golden teeth. As dancing is their main skill, they deal with this problem by banding together and literally dancing him out of the building. After this ordeal, Pat sets off on the road again, leaving us wondering what would happen to her afterwards. I guess we’ll have to watch the “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” video to find out…

Judas Priest, “Breaking the Law”

If you’re a metal band trying to make a video of your song called “Breaking the Law,” I imagine your natural idea would be to combine the concepts of metal and law-breaking. Judas Priest carries that out with this video, in which they rob banks solely by using the power of metal. Can you beat that?

Journey, “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”

The scene: an abandoned shipyard. Suddenly the members of Journey appear out of nowhere, playing invisible instruments. Then just as suddenly the instruments appear in front of them! There’s no logical conclusion to draw, other than the fact that these guys are clearly wizards.

We then cut to a very '80s-looking woman, walking down the boardwalk. The Journey members’ instruments have disappeared, so they are miming again. Steve Perry begins to sing, sporting a mullet and wearing what may or may not be a woman’ one-piece bathing suit under his jeans. We continue to cut back and forth between the woman and the band, whose instruments continue to disappear then reappear. Now these wizards are just showing off. We also get close-ups on Steve Perry’s face from a variety of different angles. Perry is really acting his heart out in this video. The members of Journey continue to sing near and around this mysterious woman, though she gives no sign that she can see or hear them. Maybe they’re not wizards, but ghosts?

This one just has to be seen to be believed.

Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up"

I couldn't possibly have left out this classic, which features a lot of random dancing in front of brick walls, and Rick Astley looking extremely awkward and roughly 12 years old. (Side note: Is that his real voice? How does a 12-year-old have a voice that deep?). He's not the only one dancing either; the video features a variety of bizarre five-second cameos from various people doing weird dances. This is a true gem, and soooo '80s.

Stevie Nicks, “Stand Back (with commentary)”

It wouldn't be a list of ridiculous things from the '8-s without Stevie Nicks. The video is pretty funny by itself, but the commentary by present-day Stevie Nicks adds a lot to it. It’s great to hear one of these videos commented on by the artist today, as Stevie lays into her own video. saying things like, “I can’t remember what the hell my idea was” and “it looks so completely stupid.” She even criticizes her own lyrics: “’take me home,’ what the heck does that mean?” The basic idea of the video is a rough Gone with the Wind theme, but carried out in a very over-the-top 80s style. Though she spends most of the commentary making fun of the video, present-day Stevie still gives us plenty of reasons to laugh at her, providing transitions like “and now, we’re in the Civil War” and “suddenly my house is burning down.”