The 10 greatest Classic Rock music videos

2 August 2024, 08:00

To celebrate 43 years since MTV launched on our screens, let's take a look at some the most iconic videos to grace the network.

By Radio X

@RadioX

MTV began broadcasting in the US on the 1st of August 1981 and in Europe on the first day of August in 1987. It all started with the words.. "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll". To mark this momentous event, Radio X Classic Rock has picked ten of the greatest music videos for your visual pleasure.

1. R.E.M. – Losing My Religion

   

   R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (Official HD Music Video)

   Tarsem Singh directed this painterly clip for R.E.M.'s breakthrough hit, which saw singer Michael Stipe lip sync to the vocal on camera for the first time. There are nods to the artist Caravaggio, the story of Saint Sebastian and Andrei Tarkovsky's film The Sacrifice. Arty.

2. David Bowie – Ashes To Ashes

   

   David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

   Bowie, a selection of Blitz club kids, a beach in Sussex and an exploding kitchen. The superstar revisited the grim tale of Major Tom with this incredible collaboration with director David Mallett, who hones his craft on the Kenny Everett Video Show on TV. At the time, it was the most expensive music promo ever made, costing £250,000 - but it was worth it, giving Bowie his second Number 1.

3. Joan Jett – Bad Reputation

   

   Joan Jett & The Blackhearts "Bad Reputation" - Official Music Video (1983)

   Further proof Joan Jett is the coolest person on the planet.. as the former Runwaway leads her gang on a mission of mischief through the streets of New York.

4. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall

   

   Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two (Official Music Video)

   Artist Gerald Scarfe designed the sinister marching hammers and the ghoulish teacher, bleak footage of London in 1979 and a children's choir filled in the rest of this clip that became familiar over Christmas 1979 and into the first days of the 1980s.

5. Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer

   

   Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (HD version)

   Aardman Animations (later of Wallace & Gromit fame) and the Brothers Quay provided stop motion model animation and live action pixilation to create a dazzling clip that gave the former Genesis frontman an international hit. Gabriel spent 16 hours under a sheet of glass while model cars, train tracks, popcorn and even plucked chickens were manipulated frame by frame around him.

6. Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train

   

   OZZY OSBOURNE - "Crazy Train" (Official Video)

   Bleached out visuals, a flying V guitar and a lasting tribute to the late great Randy Rhoads make up Ozzy's first solo single after getting the cold shoulder from Black Sabbath.

7. Guns N’ Roses – November Rain

   

   Guns N' Roses - November Rain

   Slash steals the show with a 'copter-based view of his stunning solo, as Axl Rose makes the world's most expensive wedding video.

8. Judas Priest – Breaking The Law

   

   Judas Priest - Breaking The Law (Official Music Video)

   Rob Halford leads the metal pioneers in a raid on a bank, using their guitars to keep that cash moving! The single peaked at Number 12 in the summer of 1980. Beavis and Butthead loved it.

9. Tom Petty – Don’t Come Around Here No More

   

   Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More (Official Music Video)

   Tom Petty leaps down the rabbit hole, dons the Mad Hatter's headwear and goes full-on Alice In Wonderland in the video for his 1985 single. Eurythmic Dave Stewart appears as the catepillar, playing sitar (of course).

10. Dire Straits – Money For Nothing

    

    Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (Official Music Video)

    "I want my MTV" was a slogan used by the channel to encourage fans to petition their local cable provider to sign up for the station... and it was used as Sting's opening vocal. The computer animated characters were innovative for the time, although their distinctive simple, blocky style was used to great effect.