Behind-The-Scenes Stories From Beloved '80s Music Videos (2024)

Cyndi Lauper burst onto the scene in 1983 with her debut albumShe's So Unusualand the single "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." A cover ofRobert Hazard's 1979 song of the same name, "Girls" introduced Lauper to the world in a big, peppy way. If thoseinvolved with producing the music video had foreseen the song's success, perhaps they would have thrown more money into it.

A 2018 Auralcravearticle lists the music video's budget somewhere around $35,000. The team skimped and saved where they could, hiring friends and family for many of the needed roles. The woman who plays Lauper's mom in the video, for example, is heractualmom. It's easy to tell she isn't a professional actor when she looks directly into the camera for a momentary glance during the video's opening. But kudos to her for helping out her daughter.

Tom Petty's music video for the 1989 single"Runnin' Down aDream" is clearly based on Winsor McCay's industry-defining comic stripLittle Nemo in Slumberlandthat ran from 1905 to 1927.

The video begins with a live-action Petty popping up into the frame and slowly opening a thick, dark book. He gestures for the viewer to hop inside. Then we are introduced to a cartoon version of the book, titled Runnin' Down aDream,filled with comic book panels. A stogie-chomping, imp-like man, meant to conjure comparisons toNemo's Flip, then awakens the cartoon Petty from his peaceful sleep to go have adventures in a Slumberland-like reality.

A wide ride awaits Petty as he finds himself in all kinds of wild predicaments. It's all good though... he's just runnin' down a dream.

CGI isubiquitous now, but for people of a certain age, the first revolutionary use of CGI they remember seeing was Dire Straits' 1985 music video for"Money for Nothing." The video fades in from black, guest star Sting sings "I want my MTV," and viewers feast their eyes on a television set in a living room that is entirely computer-generated.

The video goes on to feature multiple CGI people and a CGI dog interspersed with footage of the band performing. It's not the most impressive thing you'll see today, but this was a full 10 years before Pixar'sToy Storywas released and convinced everyone CGI was the way of the future.

You might know Peter Gabriel for his song"In Your Eyes" from the 1989 cult-hit movieSay Anything, or as the guy who sang the credits song forWALL-E.But "Sledgehammer," the lead single from his 1986 albumSo, was an even bigger hit than "In Your Eyes." Much of that success came on the back of the music video, which is reportedly MTV's most played music video of all time.

Although the creative team behind the video deserves a lots of credit for coming up with the idea to use stop-motion animation for the whole thing, Gabriel deserves a shout-out, too. He apparently spent16 hours lyingunder a glass sheetduring filming of the video, all for the sake of art.

Tom Petty's 'Torso Cake' Cutting Scene In 'Don't Come Around Here No More' Led To A Cannibalism Controversy

Tom Petty's 1985 music video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" isthemed around Lewis Carroll's novelsAlice's Adventures in Wonderlandand Through the Looking-Glass. The scene from the video that got the most notice was the so-called "torso cake" moment, wherePetty, dressed as the Mad Hatter, cuts pieces from Alice's body as if it were a cake.

Director Jeff Stein said in a 2020 Yahoo interview thatthe scene led to significant controversy at the time:

I was cited for promoting cannibalism by a parents/teachers group. I thought, "Well, thishasto be a career-high, if you can bring back cannibalism as a fad!"

Stein also said the crew had only one custom Alice cake, which meant they had a single take to get it right. Petty got it right.

The Lead Singer Of A-ha Dated His ‘Take On Me’ Co-Star For A Year Afterward

The "Take On Me" music video's story doesn't make much sense, but it doesn't have to. It turns out the magical, romance-fantasy music video genre doesn't need to adhere to traditional storytelling structure.

"Take On Me" works in part because of thewondrous visuals and chemistry between actress Bunty Bailey and A-ha lead singerMorten Harket. And, wouldn't you know it, said chemistry led to some fireworks off-set. Bailey and Harket ended up dating for a little while after filming the video.

Bailey also starred in the music video for another of A-ha's 1985 singles, "The Sun Always Shines on TV," where Harket's character from the "Take On Me" video reverts back to animated form and runs away. So much for the happy ending.