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The 10 Best '80s Music Videos: Poll Results

by Jessica Letkemann  |   August 01, 2011 4:00 EDT

Artists in this Article

a-ha
Aerosmith
Duran Duran
Peter Gabriel
Janet Jackson
Michael Jackson
Cyndi Lauper
The Police
Run-D.M.C.
Madonna
Prince

Three weeks ago, in anticipation of MTV's 30th birthday today (Aug. 1), we asked our readers to celebrate three decades of music television by voting on the best videos of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, each week in a separate poll. Now, we are proud to present the top ten of the 1980s, as voted by you, the Billboard.com readers.

Jump To:
30 Best Music Videos Ever: Poll Results Main Page

 

 

10. "Rhythm Nation"

Janet Jackson (1989)

 


Janet Jackson's 1989 clip had a lot going for it: Years before Coldplay raided the Sgt. Pepper's jacket department, Ms. Jackson and her crew put on their military jackets and did the finely choreographed routine that fans everywhere wore out countless VHS tapes rewinding to memorize.

 

 

9. "Every Breath You Take"

The Police (1983)

 


With its eerie black and white and Sting's earnest/creepy ode to obsessive love, this video captured the Police's glory days.

 

 

8. "Walk This Way"

RUN-D.M.C. and Aerosmith (1986)

 


They weren't just the kings of '80s hip-hop, they were the original kings of great mashups. RUN-D.M.C. spun Aerosmith's familiar rock tune into rap gold, playing loud neighbors with a Spandexed Steven Tyler, who came bursting through their unlaced-Adidas lair.

 

 

7. "Hungry Like The Wolf"

Duran Duran (1983)

 


The fashionable Brit rockers were at their most cinematic in this 1983 clip, directed by Russell Mulachy, which found them raiding through the jungles of Sri Lanka like five would-be Indiana Jones.

 

 

6. "Sledgehammer"

Peter Gabriel (1986)

 


The California Raisins ain't got nothing on Peter Gabriel! He used stop-motion animation and claymation to great effect in making "Slegehammer" a smash hit (and winner of the 1987 MTV VMA for Video of the Year), complete with dancing raw chickens!

 

 

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