1980s Music Videos Medley Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zombies

The music video begins with Michael and his girlfriend watching a horror film, but then it somehow transitions to real life! Perhaps the best part of the video is the final seconds, as Michael appears to be not as human as he seems.

The MTV's countdown of the best music videos of the 1980s was broadcast in 1989. In the MTV Music Video Awards (MVAs) of 1984, the video won three awards: Best Overall Performance in a Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreography in a Video.

Answer: Appliance deliverers

The music video shows an animated deliverer/installer watching a TV that is broadcasting Dire Straits playing the song. The deliverer is sucked into the television as the song begins. The video then shifts to images of the members of Dire Straits playing the song.

The video won the MVAs for Video of the Year and Best Group Video in 1986. It ranked at Number Three on MTV's list during its overall 1989 countdown.

Answer: Land of Confusion

The video for "Land of Confusion" featured Splitting Images Puppets. Some of the puppets are made to vaguely resemble the members of Genesis, including its lead singer, Phil Collins. Scenes in the video involved tramping through misty swamps, and wrinkled puppet heads.

Although it did not win any of MTV's MVAs, it was nominated for seven when it was released in 1986. It also still managed to reach Number Ten for the decade on MTV's top 1980s music video list.

Answer: Addicted to Love

"Addicted to Love" was a 1986 hit for Palmer, and the video followed suit. It featured Palmer singing the song with a back-up of seemingly identical girls. It won Best Male Video in that year's MVAs, and was nominated for four more awards.

Answer: Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer"

The 1986 video for Peter Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer" featured animation from Aardman Animations. It won nine MTV MVAs in 1987, including Video of the Year and Best Experimental Video. It was nominated for Viewer's Choice, but lost out to U2's "With or Without You".

Overall for the 1980s, however, "Sledgehammer" made it up to Number Two on MTV's countdown - an incredible achievement!

Answer: Dude (Looks Like A Lady)

Aerosmith is known for its slightly off-color songs and videos, and the video of "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" continued this tradition. The video didn't win any awards at the MVAs, but it was nominated for two. The video is a mix between clips of the band performing to the song, and band members dressed to look like women.

"Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" reached Number 22 on MTV's 1980s countdown. For other videos, however, Aerosmith won three Viewer's Choice awards until the award was discontinued in 2006.

Answer: Take on Me

A-Ha's song "Take on Me" was released in 1985, and reached Number Two on the UK Singles Chart that year, while also hitting Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. To coincide with this smash hit, a music video was created that involved first filming the musicians and actors, and then drawing them based on this filming, creating frame-by-frame drawings that took 16 weeks to create. The result was a story that showed a girl who took a chance on a young man come to life in a comic book; he shows her into his world, only to be taken back to the real world when he is attacked by a competitor of his. However, he manages to survive his attacker and break back into her world to be with her.

The music video won six MTV awards and was nominated for two more in 1986. Its wins included Viewer's Choice, Best Concept Video, and Best New Artist in a Video.

Answer: "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

"Wanted Dead or Alive" was a hit record off of Bon Jovi's 1986 album "Slippery When Wet". This album also featured the songs "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer", both of which hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100. "Wanted Dead or Alive" wound up hitting Number Seven.

In 1987, the "Wanted Dead or Alive" music video was nominated for just one MVA: Best Editing in a Video.

Answer: Born in the U.S.A.

"Born in the U.S.A." was a hit for Bruce Springsteen in 1984, off of the album of the same name. The video ended with a shot of Springsteen that adorns the album cover. It hit Number Eight on MTV's Top 100 list, although it won no MTV awards.

Answer: Legs

The music video for "Legs" by ZZ Top centered around a female shoe store clerk with shapely legs who is continually bothered by those around her. The band members play and appear in different moments of the video, two of them using sheepskin-covered guitars. At last, the clerk is given an image change and appears as an in-style young woman, much to everyone's surprise.

The song "Legs" hit Number Eight on the U.S. Billboard Pop Chart. It hit Number 60 on the Year-end charts for 1984. The music video was placed on Number Six on MTV's Top 100 music videos of the 1980s.