It’s time to par-tay like the ’80s!
1. Hold Me Now By: Thompson Twins
This was absolutely one of my favorite songs back in the ’80s and I can’t help but really like it now. It’s one of those DEEP ’80s songs. His big puffy hair at the front of his face is awesome. And that tail! Brings back memories. Were there really only 3 of them? Who are the Twins? Are there Twins? And is that Boy George doing all the cool percussion? Cracks me up that they are against a blue screen but are making it look like they’re against a sky with those clouds (they probably decided to add at the end)! They really do use cool percussion and other instruments to make the funky sounds in the song and you can see it all being done in the video. Ooooh, that’s who sings the back up of “Babe your lovin’ heart” towards the end of the song. Alrighty then. Look at that! They branch out to some red/orange-y-ness at the end. Way to keep up a tight budget.
2. Nasty By: Janet Jackson
I think I discovered this song in the 2nd grade at a friend’s house and we had the best time dancing to it! I loved it because I could have A-TTI-TUDE! To me, this is when Janet Jackson was cool and didn’t get weird yet like all the Jacksons seem to get. Hey, is that Paula Abdul walking in behind her? When a boy takes advantage of me I want to be able to stand up in front of the screen at a movie theatre and start a music video don’t you? That would be awesome! Or how about just any time? You know? I think it was empowering for me to see her be so tough when I was so young. And then to have boys dancing with me along the street as I walk would be pretty cool. “Nasty nasty boys…don’t mean a thing…” ha ha! It’s funny how the boys she might like are wearing black and red. And I love this line, “I’m not a fool. I just want some respect. So close the door if you want me to respond”, as she’s getting in the cool car (of course). Oh and this is the best, “No my first name ain’t baby it’s Janet Miss Jackson if you’re Nasty!”–so wait, does she want boys to be nasty or not??? I’m so confused! HEY! There’s Paula Abdul again and what is she still doing in the movie theatre? “Who’s that thinkin’ nasty thoughts?”.
3. Livin’ On a Prayer By: Bon Jovi
Time for another big hear band hit! We’re all livin’ on a prayer right? At least that’s what Bon Jovi says. Couldn’t help but love him back in the day. I remember one of the “cool” DJs on the cool radio station at the time would come back on the air after airing this song and say, “Whoa! I’m a millionaire! Whoa! Livin’ on my hair!” and he thought he was so cool. Of course, I still can’t get that out of my head after all these years. Somebody help me. The video gets so dramatic right in the beginning as the band walks into the shot with big bright lights behind them and with them in silhouette. Well isn’t that weird? We just happened to catch them rehearsing for a concert. And we continue the DRAMATIC effect in black and white. Tommy and Gina really had it tough didn’t they? Oh look at them having so much fun. Not planned for the camera at all. Nope. It’s cool to look at the camera a lot too I guess. Well look at that! Now we see them in concert and it’s in color! Get it?
4. Total Eclipse of the Heart By: Bonnie Tyler
When I was a young gal I wanted a boy to say, “Turn around” and then I wanted to be able to sing, “Every now and then I get a little bit lonely…” and go on and on like the song does. What a pleading emotional song. I still love it for that nostalgic effect but could she have been more emotionally sensational? I can remember in high school my friend and I couldn’t understand “powder keg” and it took us FOREVER to figure out what she was singing. We were so obsessed over figuring that out. It was serious. I think I thought she said “polly gag” or something. You know. The words we make up in our heads for songs we hear. Whoa. This video is soooo dramatic and I have no idea what’s happening. Sooooo much randomness. There sure is a lot of wind blowing where she is. Those beings with light eyes are scary! I am still laughing from the end of the video. You gotta see it. Help!
5. Footloose By: Kenny Loggins
This song was and is still so much fun! Everybody cut footloose! And ya gotta love the movie too. I mean, it had Kevin Bacon. You know we’re all connected to him at this point. And his character sure did show them to lighten up and loosen up I tell ya. Why not dance? You gotta cut loose! I don’t think we’d get the point if they didn’t show so many pairs of different shoes and people dancing in them. Is that Ione Sky? Is that her name? Where’d she go? Anyone seen her lately?
Hope you’re ready to par-tay through the rest of the week now! Have fun!
Nahleen.com: On the Inside Looking Out 
HAHA! Man, that was fun!! I love these 80’s posts, Nahleen. It’s hard to have a bad day after watching these videos.
Yay Kendra! I’m glad you liked them! I have so much fun watching these videos and writing these posts. Some of these videos are almost too much I can hardly contain myself. Ahhhh the days of music videos. Oh how I miss them.
The comments are hilarious! I remember thinking the same thing about the “powder keg”, and I would just mumble incoherently into my hair brush during that part of the song. I also remember trying to stay awake long enough to watch “Friday Night Videos”.
Oh yay you like my comments! Good! You can thank the videos for those. Powder keg is soooo obscure! Why would those 2 words be chosen? It’s as if she was using her hairbrush and mumbling too because she wasn’t even sure what she was singing. So weird. You know I think there should be hairbrush microphones. You had me cracking up.