'80s Video Hits 2

MTV changed the way we look at music. In the '80s the channel started to provide us with images we'd forever link to songs. From Billy Joel's choreography (and a guest appearance by Christie Brinkley) to Dire Straits' animated 5 o'clock shadow and Herbie Hancock's animatronic mannequins, these songs and their video interpretations helped define this brave new network.

Sound and image continue to forge unbreakable ties, in Next Steps.

In the '80s music videos launched careers, championed bold new music, and provided superstars the chance to splurge a fortune on their visuals. We challenge you to listen to these songs and not remember the videos that seared them into our memory, from the foppish riverside lounging of "Long Hot Summer" to Cher astride a naval cannon on "If I Could Turn Back Time".

Listen to another batch of widescreen tunes, in Deep Cuts.

MTV introduced a whole new visual language that changed the way we perceived music . . . and the cinematic scope of pop often realised its full potential when songs and movies became inextricably linked — some video hits were ready-made trailers. Cases in point: a-ha's pact with James Bond for "The Living Daylights" and Limahl's fantastical detour for "Never Ending Story".

Close your eyes when listening to these songs, and you'll be transported back to the '80s and the early days of MTV: a time that saw up-and-coming artists launched into the stratosphere, thanks to the creation of revolutionary techniques in visual storytelling. When combined, two great art forms — music and moving pictures — created something bigger (and often sillier) than either. In any event, the pop video became a cultural phenomenon. These are the songs that spawned a network and a whole new era in music.