Here are my final videos for your consideration. I found that most of these are still visually powerful in helping frame a time and place from my past, and maybe your past too. I added an honorable mention section at the bottom. Enjoy and let me know what yo think by replying to the post!
Don’t Come Around Here No More – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1985
You either got this video or you dismissed it. I think I got it – Tom Petty made good music and had a sense of humor. A lot of people dismissed the video and him, until Full Moon Fever came out in 1989.
Money For Nothing – Dire Straights 1985
Behold the future! Computers? Microwaves? Sting? This video had it all and was the high water mark for Dire Straights.
And She Was – Talking Heads 1985
Maybe not their best song – or even video from 1987 – but in 2012 it’s still pretty cool. Weird cool.
Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel, 1986
Before Sledgehammer, all I had to judge Peter Gabriel on for videos was Shock the Monkey. I am glad this video came along because Shock the Monkey was weird. Bad weird.
With or Without You – U2, 1987
The Joshua Tree tour made a stop in Lexington, KY. Four of us piled into a 78′ Camaro and made the drive from Hopkinsville. On our way out-of-town, we had a brush with disaster: the drivers ed teacher from my school pulled up next to us at a stop light. It was a Ferris Bueller moment and did I mention we ditched school that day?
We ducked, he turned, and we were on our way to see U2! The concert was great and it’s a lasting memory from high school days.
Honorable Mention
Better Be Home Soon – Crowded House, 1988 – Not a big hit, but the effort is worthy of mention.
It’s the End of the World As We Know It – REM, 1987 – This was the first REM song I liked and gave me a reason to give them another listen.
(Get It On) Bang A Gong – Power Station, 1986 – Robert Palmer was on a roll! Who knew the guys from Duran, Duran could tear it up!
Addicted to Love – Robert Palmer, 1985 – Didn’t see this coming, but “Palmer Girls” became iconic.
Rain on the Scarecrow – John Mellencamp, 1985 – There was an interview with some farmers who were going under at the beginning of this video. We lost our farm a couple of years before, so I connected to this song/video/plight. It also reminds me of Farm Aid.
Stand Back – Stevie Nicks, 1983 – Most remember her for Fleetwood Mac, but Ms. Nicks was HUGE in the early 80s.
Legs – ZZ Top, 1983 – Cars. Chicks. Beards. Riffs. Perfect.
Hungry Like the Wolf – Duran, Duran, 1983 – Is the wolf hungry enough to eat Simon Lebon? Regrettably, the wolf is not up to the task.
Waiting on a Friend – Rolling Stones, 1982 – While watching this one you’ll see a wasted Keith Richards shuffle through the Village, fall down on a guy sitting on some steps, then shuffle off to a bar with Mick to join the rest of the band (along with some women of ill repute) and to “pretend” play the end of the song as it fades out. I don’t think they knew what they were doing, but it was the early days so they get a pass.
Dadford 
Sheila
/ April 19, 2012The music video was such a huge part of our teen/youth/high school experience- staying up all night watching ‘Night Tracks’ on the phone with your friends, nabbing an ‘I want my Mtv’ pin for my denim jacket- at the time, videos were the only window to a cool, evolving, pop-culture world outside our small hometown; they were transformative and influential. But you had to keep up, or risk being cast as out of it. What you liked or didn’t defined you. Did you like Tiffany videos, or Ratt videos, or Prince videos? It spoke volumes about you. And how else would you know what kids were wearing in Los Angeles, or NYC, or Miami? They launched a thousand trends and made you feel like you were on the inside, part of what was going on in ‘the rest of the world’ beyond your front door. And that is a mighty powerful thing for a kid.