1. 1984 - The Cars - "You Might Think"
Directed by Jeff Stein, Alex Weil, and Charlie Levi
The Cars "You Might Think" video was not only a masterpiece of video special effects, but also a piece with a great sense of humor. Who can forget Ric Ocasek flattening his video girlfriend in a runaway toy car? Or Ric Ocasek as King Kong?
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2. 1985 - Don Henley - "The Boys Of Summer"
Directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino
Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" struck a serious chord with listeners in its depiction of changing values and the corruption of age and money. The video depicting bored, stressed adults haunted by images of summers past hits a note of perfect synergy with the song.
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3. 1986 - Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing"
Directed by Steve Barron
Dire Straits "Money for Nothing," a satire on the MTV generation, gets state of the art computer animation to spice up what might have otherwise been a simple performance video.
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4. 1987 - Peter Gabriel - "Sledgehammer"
Directed by Stephen R. Johnson
This song and video turned Peter Gabriel into a pop superstar. The video remains one of the most innovative works of animation ever. MTV's support of the video helped the song "Sledgehammer" climb to #1 on the pop singles chart.
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5. 1988 - INXS - "Need You Tonight / Mediate"
Directed by Richard Lowenstein
It is possible that INXS' video for "Need You Tonight" would have been inventive enough to win them the award for Video of the Year. It utilized a collage video technique that matched the kinetic energy of the song. However, with their tribute to Bob Dylan's classic "Subterranean Homesick Blues" clip in the "Mediate" section of the video, they took it all to an entirely different level.
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6. 1989 - Neil Young - "This Note's For You"
Directed by Julien Temple
Neil Young took on pop and rock artists perceived as corporate sellouts by creating sharp, some may even say vicious, satire on commercials of the day.
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7. 1990 - Sinead O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U"
Directed by John Maybury
The music video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" made Sinead O'Connor's face unforgettable. The screen-filling tight focus on her face with hair severely cropped served to emphasize the drama in Sinead O'Connor's vocal performance.
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8. 1991 - R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
Directed by Tarsem
R.E.M.'s video illustration for their song "Losing My Religion" is possibly one of the most self-consciously artsy music videos of all time, but it all works tremendously well. The classical tableaux vivant is utilized along with religious and artistic analogies to illustrate the music.
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9. 1992 - Van Halen - "Right Now"
Directed by Mark Fenske
Van Halen's "Right Now" video remains nearly as arresting today as when it first appeared. Most of the things depicted as going on "right now" in the video are still going on and are still an indication of just how huge and complex our world is.
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10. 1993 - Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"
Directed by Mark Pellington
Pearl Jam's video for "Jeremy" remains a tremendously powerful and iconic video depicting the horrors of teen suicide. In this case the song is based on a news story of a teenager who shoots himself at school in front of his class. The visual imagery is difficult to forget.
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