You're really showing your age. I haven't seen a single one of these. Of course, I was born in 1985.

"There was U2, and Blondie, and music still on MTV" - Bowling for Soup, "1985"

Bonus answer: They're all old

<sigh> Youth is wasted on the young. Kids these days...no respect for tradition and the great classics.

You said, it Eric. Kids these days, sigh...

I'm pretty sure #7 is the late Robert Palmer in "Addicted To Love" That all-girl band he had in the video was hot!!

Interstingly, they were very eye-catching even though none of them was (un)dressed like Britney Spears or Madonna, either. I think that says a lot about what "attractive" actually is about.

It's not that I have no respect for classics, it's just I haven't been exposed to many. In fact, if you show me music videos of today's music, I probably wouldn't be able to identify most of them neither (I don't waste my day away in front of the boob tube. Work and college keep me preoccupied)

Bert, lack of education is nothing to be ashamed of, as it can be remedied. Stick around and pretty soon you, too, can be a master of useless useful trivia, like me and Mr. Freen...

...who, by the way, is correct about the identity of #7. 1 down and 13 to go.

Uh, Bert...just out of curiosity, which category does your time browsing the Gazette fall into: "work" or "college"? ;-)

I'm sorry, I've got an addiction to those pictures of Abbye.

*sigh* I need help

You and Mr. Freen might be able to swing a group discount for therapy! ;-)

There are much worse addictions, of course...

All off the top of my head, or more realistically, the dusty unlit basement, w/ no googling:

#1-4: I recognize the clips, but can't remember anything else about them.
#5: Rick "Don't call me Bruce" Springfield
#6: Walk Like An Egyptian, Bangles
#7: asked and answered, but I knew it
#8: That's Tina Turner, don't know the song, her big one before Private Dancer.
#9: Peter Gabriel doing something serious and overwrought
#10: Billy Idol, Rebel Yell?
#11: Everybody Wang Chung Tonight, by Wang Chung
#12: Guess: Putting on the Ritz by somebody with one name. Alternate guess: One Night in Bangkok, by someone else.
#13: that's Run-DMC, and it's probably Walk This Way
#14: I knew this one, but my survival instincts scrubbed it because the band and song were so very bad. Something angsty about women.

Send help. Please.

And so you'll think less of me, I still consider Everybody Wang Chung Tonight a classic Saturday night party song.

Scott, I must admit to being pretty -- no, make that very -- impressed (although you missed at least one that I thought would be a lock for you). Going through your list...

#1-4: Keep thinking; I can't believe you don't have an inkling about #1 & #2
#5: Nope
#6: Yep (weren't they just the cutest things?)
#7: I believe you
#8: Nope
#9: Right guy, but the song is hardly serious. Anybody know it?
#10: Right guy, wrong song. Admit it; you have a pair of boots like this, don't you?
#11: Yep (and the song is still more listenable than 90% of the music being made today)
#12: Nope, although you're edging periously close with the "one name" thing
#13: You must have a thing for shoes, hombre, since you got this one right. I happen to believe that the pairing of Run DMC & Aerosmith on this song/video was a creative home run, btw.
#14: Hmm...don't think I can even accept your premise about the band's quality, considering it's still around today and doing pretty well, thank you very much.

So, you've added three new complete answers and partial answers to two others. Great job!

OK, since I've embarassed myself with so man wrong, let me dig even deeper into my Bag of Ineptitude (Still Google-Free):

#1-3: Ugh -- not a clue. #2 might be that funky Herby Hancock video, but that's a pure guess.
#4: Uptown Girl, with Billy's model chick girlfriend????
#5: I thought I had this one nailed...
#8: Is that then Patti Labelle doing Voulez vou blah-blah?
#9: Shock the Monkey? Salisbury Hill?
#10: White Wedding? Really, just about any video he did featured his faux cowboy boots. (No, I ain't got no boots like that, TYVM.)
#12: Falco is the name I was thinking of, but ONIB was his lone hit, so far as I know (unless you're throwing some severe curves here.)
#13: The video spent a lot of time on those Adidas stomping out the beat. Yes, it was a home run, and it dragged Steven Tyler back into the limelight.
#14: I think Fee Waybill and the Tubes did one of those b&w with color splash sketch book things, but they're long gone (and a dang good band to boot).

OK, I've racked my brain enough -- I'm gonna go check out VH1's web site.

Scott, you're inching forward...not quickly, but still moving forward. To wit...

#1-3: Keep thinking; I'll have to throw out some hints in a day or so, I guess
#4: Good catch on Billy Joel and his chick (Christie What's-her-face)...but wrong song
#5: This one's hard because it's such a stock shot for an 80s band
#8: Nope. And nope.
#9: Nope. And nope.
#10: Nope.
#12: Falco is right, but I can't believe you're overlooking his biggest hit.
#14: Nope.

So, let's recap: you've added two correct artist names. We still need 10 song titles and six artists.

I'm going to leave an overall hint in an update to the main post.

I'll definitely need hints, short of The Google. I just cannot think of any other Falco song AT ALL. I'll never get Billy Joel because I hate him. #4 has an oddly-shaped guitar, but it's not kicking over any synapses. And I don't know any other Gabriel. I'm done, I guess.

I had to google Falco, or I wouldn't be able to slepp. I was so wrong it's funny. I hate my brain.

I won't tell, though.

Welcome to my world, most times, most subjects! ;-)

This is still working on me.

Is #8 Aretha?

Billy Idol had so many videos and MTV played all of them, I can only keep guessing...Got to be a Lover? Eyes without a Face? Catch My Fall? I'm so ashamed of myself for knowing and remembering all of these.

I'll do my best to wait for your hints. ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!

Ok Eric, Here is my stab at it. I looked at Scotts answers for help but haven't fully compared the lists.

#1 - ?????
#2 - Herbie Hancock - Rock-it
#3 - ?????
#4 - ?????
#5 - ?????
#6 - The Bangles - Walk like an Egyptian
#7 - Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
#8 - Aretha Franklin - Pink Cadillac
#9 - Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
#10 - Billy Idol - Money, Money?(the only one Scott didn't guess)
#11 - Everybody have fun - Wang Chung
#12 - Falco - Amadeus
#13 - RUN DMC - Walk this Way
#14 - A-Ha - Take on Me

So how did I do? Don't leave me hanging long....

Shannon, you've filled in a couple of gaps, anyway.

#2: Nope
#8: Yep, it's Aretha (Scott!!), but wrong song.
#9: "Sledgehammer" ii is!
#10: Nope; Scott included the right song in his scattershot list, but we need a definitive answer.
#12: Yep
#14: Nope

Shannon has added three of the missing answers, two songs and one artist.

There are still seven songs (#s 1,2,3,4,5,8,10,14) and five artists (#s 1,2,3,5,14) unidentified.

I still carry a torch for The Bangles. Saw them in concert on television last summer ... they still roock!

I'm going to go with Got to Be a Lover for Billy Idol. That slide-step fits some of the guitar work (and that was important in those days.)

Is Aretha doing a soundtrack song?

Scott, that's a big 10-4 for Billy...and bonus points for the logic!

And, you're on the right track for Aretha.

Eight songs down; six to go...and soon to be five, if Scott's tenacity/guesswork pays off.

Is #1 Tough enuff by the Fabulous Thunderbirds?

The more I look at #4, the more it looks like a bass, and the hair looks maybe grayish, but the lighting's so bad.

Could it possibly be Paul McCartney?

I got the Bonus extra credit now: They're all from 1986.

Common lemme feel special this one time. I at least got one thing right, even though I had a little, err, a lot of help from the 12/5 update.

Craig, you got it, bud! (Can't believe that Chaffin missed that.)

Six songs are now left unidentified (I miscounted previously; my bad) and four artists. We're getting down to the toughies.

Bert, as much as I'd like to give you some nuturing positive feedback (I know how much kids need it nowadays) I'm afraid the world just isn't that nice a place.

The bonus question is still in play...what do all of these videos have in common?

Oh, and Scott...you don't even have the right gender, much less the right name! Hey...there's another hint!

Uh, you did mean #3, didn't you?

I'm trying to download (legally of course via musicnow.com) some of these songs to become "a master of useless trivia, like [Eric] and Mr. Freen." Is #11 called "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung instead of "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight"????

Actually, I meant McCartney w/ the bass @ #5. That's such a generic, poorly-lit pose, it could be anybody.

#2 (from a commenter on my site: ZZ Top, Rough Boys. No credit for me. That was not a song I liked very much.

#14: the hint that they're still together has slobber-knocked me.

I was never a big T-Birds fan -- thought they were too slick for Texas.

I'm also gonna stab at the theme: songs from movies.

OK -- ready for your hints. Make them toughies, not easy ones.

Ah, Bert, grasshopper...a quick study you are indeed to have caught my intentional juxtaposition of the second line of the refrain with the title line in order to reinforce the learning process.

Either that, or you caught my screw-up. Your choice.

Scott, I've credited norbizness with the ZZ Top video hit.

Good guess on the bonus question. Good, but wrong.

Hints forthcoming on the post itself.

I dunno Eric, #14 looks a lot like "take on me" from A-ha. The video is linked below.

http://launch.yahoo.com/artist/default.asp?artistID=1000252

Shannon, I can't look at the video you link to (it requires "Netscape 4.7 to view on a Mac"...what's up with that?), but I can assure you beyond any shadow of a doubt that this screenshot was not taken from an A-ha video.

You were just testin us Eric, and I passed that test by "studying"

I do like the song though. I've been missing out on some good classics!

#5: Duran Duran probably singing Save a Prayer (I was a hideous Duran Duran fan. If I get this wrong I'll have to live in shame. SHAME!)

#8: Aretha Franklin - Freeway of Love or Pink Cadillac or Sisters Are Doin' it For Themselves (that duo with Annie Lennox)

#14: INXS

Ok, #8 is Aretha singing Jumpin' Jack Flash (it's a gas, gas, gas!)

#4: Eurhythmics

(however you spell that)

No, sorry, #3 is Eurhythmics.

Mr. Mister , Kyrie? (#5)

Just a stab in the dark, is #14 Kurt Cobain's old group? Don't know the name of it, guess I'm just too old. I couldn't name one of their songs if you put a gun to my head.

Ok then, #14 is INXS, but I cannot think of the song right now. (Suicide blonde?)

Well, my hints were apparently helpful...perhaps a little too helpful! Anyway, we've got some new correct answers:

Lower-case Denise is correct about #3; it's the Eurythmics. Still need a song title, though. She also correctly identifies Aretha's version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (complete with that hunky Keith Richards; the song is from the forgotten movie by the same name).

Craig nails #5: Mr. Mister doing Kyrie. (I thought this one might be the most difficult of the 14, since the pose is the prototypical overly-dramatic backlit-with-smoke simulated live concert rock star stance. There was a rule that it had to be used at least once in every music video shot between 1984 and 1989. Only Peter Gabriel and Robert Palmer were issued waivers.)

And, finally, Denise (lower-case again) puts an end to the Great Catorce Controversy by correctly identifying #14 as a song by INXS (lead singer Michael Hutchence committed suicide in 1997...with some, um, interesting rumors about the circumstances of his death.) Still need a song title, however.

Shannon, INXS is essentially the Anti-Ah-ha, which is why your insistence on the latter group was a source of much amusement. ;-)

Denise (upper-case) gets a few sympathy points for latching onto Kurt Cobain. He would have been 19 years old in 1986, which theoretically made him old enough to be in a bigtime music video. However, Nirvana wasn't formed until 1987.

So, to recap: we still need three song titles, for #s 3, 4 and 14.

14 is INXS. Not certain which song, I think "what you need"?

5 is Mr. Mister (pick one of their hits, Broken Wing or Kyrie?)

Johnny Mac takes a swing...and it's outta here!

You're right; it's "What You Need." Good job...

Harumph. I would like to take exception to the earlier characterization of #14 as "doing pretty well, thank you very much."

Is it something simple like, they were all MTV Video Award Winners?

Bonus Question Answer: They were all hit singles in the year 1986?

Scott, don't go getting all lawyerly on me. It's not like it would have made any difference I'd said "they're still around, clinging to some wispy vestiges of fame in an ultimately futile attempt to keep from vanishing into the obscurity of a footnote in the Great History of Rock and Roll."

Now, would it?

And, by the way, your bonus answer is tantalizingly close, and I'm tempted to give it to you to avoid more whiny recriminations. ;-) But, ever true to my principles, I have to withhold the cigar.

Andy, your Geekhood is showing. Not by any stretch of the imagination could Aretha Franklin's cover "Jumpin' Jack Flash" be considered a hit single, even in 1986, a year in which Lionel Richie had not one but two songs in the Top 100. The only reason it made this list is...oops...you almost caught me there! ;-)

Alright, well #4 is "Uptown Girl" and I am still thinking about the rest.

Alright...

#3 is "Missionary Man"

And they were all Top 40 hits in 1986 ... even if that's not the answer to your bonus question.

Is #4 Modern Woman by Billy Joel?

And #3 is Missionary Man or something like that.

Weren't all of these songs in movies?

Andy comes through this time! "Missionary Man" is indeed the song immortalized by this Eurythmics' video. That screen shot, by the way, is a melting wax cast of Annie Lennox's head, with the scene run backwards to make it appear that her head is being created from nothing. Of course, this effect (run forward) was used much more effectively in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" five years earlier.

Andy's assertion that these songs all charted in the top 40 during '86 may well be true; I haven't researched them from that perspective. But that's not the answer I'm seeking. It it had been, I'd have provided audio clips. (hint, hint)

ToddCommish, don't be led astray by the appearance of Christie Brinkley. She appeared in more than one of Joel's videos. IOW, this one's not from "Modern Woman." (Well, I'll admit that I don't know if she appeared in "Modern Woman." I don't even know if there was a video for that song.)

And Andy beat you to "Missionary Man" by 8 minutes. So close to immortality.

Grrr...lawyerly? That's downright insulting (I'm dealing with 11 lawyers over a fantasy football matter, and if I ever were to snap and go postal, these 11 would be the first up against the wall.) Your description, though, sent me off into the mists of Van Hagar and suchlike videos. INXS was a long way further into the mists. Again, Grrrr.

So, to the bonus round - one last question: is this list a set, a subset, or a super-set? Considering how obscure freakin' INXS and Mr. Mister (Mr. Mister????) was, I'm afraid I'm going to learn that it was the Top 14 Requests in Kowloon Video Bars. Because, let's face it -- there isn't anything distinctive about many of these.

Either that or, knowing you, "They were all made on a Macintosh." heh heh

Grrrr?

Anyway...fair question. These videos are a subset. There's nothing about them as a unique group that binds them together, other than that they are each members of the same subset.

Grrrr?

Were all the videos nominees/winners of MTV's Music Video Awards?

Craig, that was someone else's guess earlier. That's not the answer...but you're on the right track.

AUUGGHH! I completely guessed wrong about Duran Duran. My excuse though is that I wasn't even *in the country* when these songs came out. I was in Switzerland trying to be a missionary and they didn't have MTV there at the time. When Craig suggested Mr. Mister, though, I knew that was probably it because their songs came out when I was over there. Duran Duran was *so* 1984 anyway.

The Keith Richards clue pretty much gave away the Aretha Franklin song.

Also, hasn't a Christian group covered that Mr. Mister song, "Kyrie" recently?

Eric, you should do this again sometime. It's been fun to reminisce.

OK, Denise...you get a pass! (You'll have to enlighten us sometime about your experiences in Switzerland, by the way. I've never heard of anyone going there as a missionary.)

I also am not familiar with a Christian cover to "Kyrie." Sounds intriguing...

(FWIW, I liked Duran Duran also, especially "Rio.")

I'm glad you enjoyed the quiz. It was pretty time-consuming to pull together and administer, but it did seem to generate quite a bit of interest, so perhaps I'll rest up and try it again. I have some old VHS recordings of music videos going back to around '83 or '84 (anybody remember "Night Tracks" on WTBS?). I appreciate your participation!

Since they are a subset of something close to the MTV Video hoo-has, I officially give. There are about 40MM things that fit that description.

#4 - Keeping the Faith?!?

Nope. (Do I hear the soft rustling of straws being grasped at?)

Taking a stab at the bonus... though I had to get my video fix off of Friday Night Videos since we didn't have cable...

I think MTV used to do a "top ten" thing back then... and I'm guessing these were all on it at some point. Probably the last/only time for most of them...

Oops, should have refreshed. For trivia, the MTV Video awards started in 1983... I'm 90% sure.

Jack, if I hadn't been so lazy, I would have done my research first. According to this website the first MTV Video Music Awards were given in 1984, so you were pretty much on the money.

The initial recipient of Best Video? "You Might Think" by The Cars.