3 One-Hit Wonders With Music Videos That Are So 1980s

Is there a decade in human history that has more of an aesthetic than the 1980s? If you close your eyes, in a flash, you can picture the Mohawks, the leg warmers, the synthesizer music coming through the mall overhead speakers.

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But that aesthetic was not lost on the music videos of the day—far from it. Below, we wanted to dive into that very fact. We wanted to explore three music videos from three one-hit wonders in the decade that just oozed 80s style and tone. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders with music videos that are just so 80s.

“The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats from ‘Rhythm Of Youth’ (1982)

The super-weird song with a heart of gold, this track, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, is all about finding a safe space to be yourself and cut a rug. It’s also a very strange song with a very strange music video that looks like it’s a parody of something, but actually is just very earnest. It’s important to be yourself, and this music video from 1982 knows that to the core.

“Tainted Love” by Soft Cell from ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ (1981)

A cover of a 1965 track originally by Gloria Jones, Soft Cell’s synth-pop version might as well be in the dictionary under the entry for “1980s”. It is the soundtrack for the era. That distant, nostalgic-yet-new music that the decade became famous for—Soft Cell bottled it and sold it with this offering that raced up to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Relax” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood from ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ (1983)

If the dictionary had Soft Cell under the “1980s” entry, then “Relax” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood would probably be listed just below it. It’s another track that just oozes 80s vibes, offering that same familiar yet new vibe. It’s the synths and the electronic drums. They seem both alien and as normal as your mini Casio Kermit the Frog keyboard.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns