Underrated 1980s Music Videos
By Eric Grigs and Mike Jones | September 27, 2026
When MTV began broadcasting in 1981, pop culture was forever changed. And just a few years later in 1984, the channel launched the first MTV Video Music Awards (hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler) to celebrate the biggest achievements in this new media format.
We’re taking a trip back to the “me decade” to dig up a few underrated music videos from the era that never won any awards but deserve an MTV moon man statue for effort and all around fun. These are videos that maybe didn’t live on permanent rotation, but once you saw them, they lived in your brain forever.
Listen to our newest episode of the Pop Trash Podcast for Eric and Mike’s commentary on our top picks, and watch the full videos below.
Juice Newton, “Love’s Been a Little BIT Hard On Me”
This 1982 video masterpiece demonstrates how unserious early music videos were, as escalating comical accidents befall Juice (including a very “Mac and Me” wheelchair off a cliff plummet). Throughout the ’80s, the lengths artists would go to one-up each other and deliver the zaniest video was legendary.
Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine, “Dr. Beat” & “Bad Boy”
Emergency! Paging Dr. Beat! We have an out of control Gloria rescued from jumping off a rooftop due to her raging dance fever. The cure? Giving birth to a boom box! You’ve never seen a hospital block party like this! Next comes “Bad Boy” from a year later in 1985, where Gloria disses her dud of a date to instead have a back-alley jam session with a bunch of background characters from Cats the musical. Music videos of the decade were a lot of random things, but boring was not one of them. Part of the charm and stickiness that kept us all watching was you never quite knew what wild thing would be served up in the next five minutes.
Barry Manilow, “Read ‘Em and Weep”
Bob Giraldi directed this mini film about Barry and his earnest dance troupe’s rehearsal where dual Barrys appear: one on stage as a harlequin and one in the audience watching the show. This slightly rewritten cover of a Meatloaf song appeared on his second Greatest Hits album in 1983. It was, of course, a smash on the Adult Contempoary charts, as well as his final top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sheena Easton, “Almost Over You” & “Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)”
This pair of top 40 hits from her 1983 album Best Kept Secret deliver camp excellence. One is a heart-rending ballad where Sheena has had it with her lover’s devotion to video games and the other is a black-and-white love letter to old Hollywood monster movies. Begin with a scorned lover hoisting a full size arcade over a balcony and stay for the full-sized King Kong hand!
Tracey UlLman, “They Don’t Know”
This track from 1983 covers Kirsty MacColl’s song of the same name, and the video gives us a surprise cameo from Paul McCartney. Its do-wop throwback sound perfectly fits the bittersweet regret felt as she carts her kid around a grocery store, thinking of how life doesn’t quite match the visions of glamour she had for herself in the sixties. Having little exposure in the U.S., Tracey’s stint as an MTV guest VJ helped this single break through and was rush released to the airwaves.
The Pointer Sisters, “Neutron Dance”
It’s been said that Ruth Pointer wanted to pass on this song written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello because she thought it would feed into people’s nuclear fears in the 80s. Thank goodness she didn’t, because we get treated to the Sisters as movie theater ushers who create endless havoc for their boss (cameo by Bronson Pinchot). It could have just been a Beverly Hills Cop clip reel (which it also is) but The Pointer Sisters elevate the material with slick dance moves and flawless ’80s fashion. The fun begins with a staple of ’80s videos: a mini non-musical acting scene to set the stage before the main event begins.
Debbie Gibson, “Electric Youth”
Ending the decade, this 1989 video delivers a long kids bop dance party happening in what looks like a Rainforest Cafe. Debbie and her group of electric youth bust out all the moves in a multitude of vests to put everyone on notice: they’re going to be the next generation to take over the world! According to this video, the youth expected the future to be full of green screen effects and flying keytars.