Happy Halloween!
Today, I thought I'd put together a list of my top twelve Halloween themed music videos from the 80's, listing them in order of my personal favorites.
Kicking things off is Oingo Boing's 1985 hit, Dead Man's Party. While it's a great song, and the one that started off my love with the band, it comes in dead last because the music video really doesn't offer all that much, in terms of Halloween goodness. It's just them singing, cut with scenes from Back To School intercut in. Not very frightening at all.
Next up is INXS's Devil Inside, from their 1987 breakthrough album, Kick. While it definitely features a dark and edgy music video, what it lacks is a cohesive story element. For the most part, it's just the band playing in what appears to be an underground club.
When Alice Cooper launched his comeback, he did so by releasing 1986's Constrictor, which featured the song, He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask), which was then contributed to Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. The video attempts to have a story to it, but what separates it from great is the minimal appearances by Jason Vorhees, which are mostly limited to scenes from the film.
David Bowie's Scary Monsters And Super Creeps, may have been his first attempt at creating a commercial record, but the video itself is just Bowie being Bowie. I.E. weird for the sake of being weird.
Ozzy and werewolves? What could go wrong? Was it inspired by Michael Jackson's Thriller from the previous year? Or was Ozzy just being Ozzy? The effects are cheesy, and Osbourne himself looks goofy when all decked out as the creature, but man is it a killer song!
Will Smith may have flushed his career straight down the toilet, but that doesn't mean what he produced in the past was terrible. A Nightmare On My Street remains a classic music video, all wrapped in the comedic timing of Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff. The only thing it lacks is an appearance from the man himself, Robert England, more on that below.
Ain't nobody watching you, Rockwell, but your song is awesome. The music video does make an attempt at a story surrounding a paranoid man, but let's be honest, we're all here for the catchy hook chorus by Michael Jackson.
While I will admit the Nightmare On Elm Street themed song from DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince is far superior to the Fat Boys Are You Ready For Freddy, the big guys get extra points for the inclusion of the man himself in the video. Not only does Freddy "Robert England" Krueger appear in the video, but he knocks out a boss rap. This was all made possible by the song being written as the theme for A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.
The video for Lou Gramm's Lost In The Shadows from The Lost Boys film may not have much going on for it, but the song itself is wicked sweet! It remains one of my all-time favorites to this day, along with the film itself.
It's 1984, and you've got ghosts in your house. Who you gonna call? Ray Parker Jr. not only delivered a catchy tune that took over the world but wrapped it all up in a music video that was both edgy for the adults, and fun for the kids. If nothing else, it remains a staple of the 80's.
We all knew Michael Jackson's Thriller would be on here somewhere, and I bet you thought it would be number one. Nope, not for me. In fact, when I initially wrote my list, I had it in sixth place. The only reason it eventually landed here was because I regraded everything after reevaluating things as music videos, and not the songs themselves. Otherwise, this list would have been very different. But, here you go. Thriller.
Michael still gets the number one spot, but he has to share it with his brothers. For me, The Jacksons Torture is not only a far superior song, but the music video is awesome! I dig the extended intro, and visually, its creepy, fun, and a great story all blended together.
While I hope you enjoyed my list, I more so hope you enjoyed watching the music videos, as that was the point of all of this. Either way, happy Halloween!
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