Ten Criteria for the Perfect 80's Music Video, Groups Beginning with N

Compiled mostly by Chris Pyhtila with the help of Andy Pachmayer, Chris Burger, and Aaron Fynewever

Further commentary added by ChuckyG and various web visitors...

This page currently edited by: Rio Rhodes. Past editor: Rock 'n' Roll Fan


The Original Criteria

  1. At least one babe
  2. Poofy hair
  3. Torn clothing
  4. Cheesy keyboards
  5. At least one change of clothing
  6. Stage effects (smoke, lasers, etc.) or visual effects (artist jumping through a TV, disappearing, etc.)
  7. Wild instrumental or record scratch solo
  8. A storyline
  9. A cool car (although any kind of transportation is acceptable, like a plane or a car or a motorcycle)
  10. Sunglasses

Songs beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]
Natalie Cole's, "Pink Cadillac"
  1. Babes? Natalie is definitely a babe in this one...She also has several babes dancing in the background...
  2. Poofy Hair? Natalie and the babes sport poofy 80's hairdos
  3. Torn Clothing? I believe the mechanics have torn clothing...
  4. Cheesy Keyboards? Loaded with them!
  5. At Least One Change of Clothing? I think some of the background dancers shed their jackets...
  6. Stage Effects? There is a cool edit in the extended version that repeatedly shows Natalie singing PI-PI-PInk...It's a cool effect...
  7. Wild Instrumental solo? There is an instrumental break in this song...
  8. Storyline? Natalie is at the gas station and a pink cadillac pulls up and she is engrossed with the vehicle!
  9. Cool Automobile? Yes...A Pink Cadillac!!!
  10. Sunglasses? Natalie has sunglasses on at the beginning and then the Pink Cadillac pulls up and she takes them off and does a double take!
Submitted by: Dan
Nelson's, "After The Rain"
  1. Babes? Well, the dudes kinda look like babes.
  2. Poofy Hair? The entire band is a big poof
  3. Torn Clothing? I think they're jeans are ripped.
  4. Cheesy Keyboards? Oh yes, when they're playing in the "mountains"
  5. At Least One Change of Clothing? From awful 80's clothing to awful 80s duster coats!
  6. Stage Effects? Lots of smoke, and a magic feather
  7. Wild Instrumental solo? Big guitar solo
  8. Storyline? A friendly indian, a feather and a Nelson concert can make getting abused at home all better.
  9. Cool Automobile? Darn they forgot one of these.
  10. Sunglasses? They forgot these too.
Submitted by: Sarah
Nena's, "99 Luftballons"
  1. Babes? Nena, guess she counted as a 'babe' then?
  2. Poofy Hair? Well most of the band has that
  3. Torn Clothing? I guess 5 punky leather jackets could do..
  4. Cheesy Keyboards? ohh yeah!! Even close ups on solos :o)
  5. At Least One Change of Clothing? Sort of, they close the jackets for the 2nd part of the vid' at night
  6. Stage Effects? ya bet! Hundreds of "Explosions" and colored smokes..
  7. Wild Instrumental solo? I call it the 'instrumental' part
  8. Storyline? A spooky 'babe' playing with balloons in the forest?
  9. Cool Automobile? ok, 1st shortage. Probably killed the budget on "explosions"
  10. Sunglasses? That would be the 2nd shortage...
Submitted by: Pascal
Nena's, "Just A Dream"
  1. Babes? Yes, another Nena song besides 99 Luftballons. She had many, and quite a lot of them were huge hits in Germany. in 1982, the band went to number 5 in the German charts with "Nur Getraumt". In 1984, they were planning an international album, and thus decided to remake some songs in English, ("99 Red Balloons" comes to mind)...Well, Nur Getraumt, which means "Only a Dream" was remade in English as "Just A Dream. Protest if you want, but I consider Nena to, yes, be a babe, and quite a sexy one. She still looks radiant today. She is a successful solo artist in Germany now.
  2. Poofy Hair? Yes, the entire band rocked the big hair...or really, it was moderately big hair, not too outlandish. They were definately not some stupid metal hair-band with a lead singer that dry-heaved into microphones
  3. Torn Clothing? Nena's outfit on stage was usually something like so: 1. Tight pants 2. An armless, rather baggy shirt that she would bind at the waist with a belt...Her on-stage shirts almost always featured the Rolling Stone's trademark tongue. 3. Her always-present, thin gold chain with hoop earrings or her guitar-pick earrings. 4. A headband and a wristband There's bound to be some torn clothing in there somewhere, it's just not made obvious in the video
  4. Cheesy Keyboards? I don't think they're cheesy, but, yes, there is a keyboard chorus in nearly all Nena (as a band) songs. They even had a keyboardist, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, as part of the band rather than different keyboardists who would tour with them.
  5. At Least One Change of Clothing? Yes...I think there are three
  6. Stage Effects? Whenever the band is on stage there are lighting effects and there is dry ice.
  7. Wild Instrumental solo? No.
  8. Storyline? No, not particularly. The song itself has a storyline but the video doesn't.
  9. Cool Automobile? Their tour bus that they board at the end of the video. Tour busses are of course cool, because they are made to accommodate the normally high-maintenance rockstars
  10. Sunglasses? Yes, Nena wears them when running onto the stage.
Submitted by: Michael Spencer, UK
Nik Kershaw's, "Wouldn't It Be Good"
  1. Babes? Must be and he got it bad, she don't know how bad he got it!
  2. Poofy Hair? Nik Kershaw? Absolutely!
  3. Torn Clothing? Um - he does wear a glow in the dark jumpsuit. Must have had a rip in it somewhere.
  4. Cheesy Keyboards? Yup yup & yup!
  5. At Least One Change of Clothing? I think his jumpsuit at somepoint goes all chameleon and he blends in with his surroundings.
  6. Stage Effects? The jumpsuit!
  7. Wild Instrumental solo? The keyboard has a bit of a go.
  8. Storyline? Some neuclear espionage thing.......I'm sure he runs through Sellafield at some point - explains the jumpsuit!
  9. Cool Automobile? Hmmmmm not sure
  10. Sunglasses? Because of the nature of the jumpsuit, I'm sure someone in the vid wears them. The baddies!
Submitted by: heather
Songs beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]
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