Watch All the Videos That Won at MTV’s Very First Video Music Awards in 1984
By the time MTV held its first Video Music Awards (VMAs) ceremony on Sept. 14, 1984, music videos had really come into their own as a cinematic art form. There were increasingly big budgets to produce them; creative visuals and special effects helped bring the popular songs they accompanied even more to life; and they were increasingly drawing in big Hollywood names to direct them, as John Landis did with the landmark video for Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller,” with some of these videos even having high-profile premieres like movies.
The “Thriller” video was among the nominees across 16 categories at the first VMAs ceremony, which recognized the best videos released between May 2, 1983, and May 2, 1984.
This timespan encompassed the release of what are still some of the best remembered videos of all time, works of art that are also highly entertaining, and not just for the generation that experienced them the first go-round: Many have racked up millions — and, in some cases, over a billion — views on YouTube in our modern era (I’ve certainly contributed my share of views to a lot of these).
Remind Along with “Thriller,” that yearlong span saw the release of iconic music videos like the ones for Herbie Hancock‘s “Rockit,” The Cars‘ “You Might Think” and Cyndi Lauper‘s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” among others.
All the ones you might expect from this time found their way into the nominations at the first Video Music Awards, and came away with varying degrees of success. (Or a notable lack of success: Billy Idol received five nominations altogether for the “Dancing With Myself” and “Eyes Without a Face” videos, but when the night ended, he went home without a single Moonman statuette.)
Below the image, you can read about — and, more importantly, watch and listen to — all the winning videos across all the categories from the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards.
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Herbie Hancock juggles all five of the Moonman statuettes he won at the 1984 MTV VMAs for his “Rockit” music video
CATEGORIES & WINNERS — 1984 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS
Video of the Year: “You Might Think” — The Cars
The Cars’ clever and creative video had six nominations overall. For Video of the Year, it beat out some tough competition: Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and The Police‘s “Every Breath You Take.”
Best Male Video: “China Girl” — David Bowie
This was his only win, but Bowie received four nominations overall between the videos for “China Girl” and “Modern Love.” He also received the Video Vanguard award, along with The Beatles and Richard Lester (presumably because the classic 1964 Lester-directed Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night can certainly be seen as a precursor to the age of music videos that came a few decades later).
Best Female Video: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” — Cyndi Lauper
Although she won just one VMA, Lauper was the most nominated artist that year, receiving nine nods (six for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and three for the “Time After Time” video).
Best Group Video: “Legs” — ZZ Top
Between the videos for “Legs,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Gimme All Your Lovin,'” ZZ Top had six nominations altogether, winning two (you’ll see the other winner below).
Best New Artist in a Video: “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics
The video that, according to Rolling Stone, “made Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart MTV superstars.” That assessment was not wrong.
Best Concept Video; Most Experimental Video; Best Special Effects in a Video; Best Art Direction in a Video; and Best Editing in a Video: “Rockit” — Herbie Hancock
Hancock’s classic video — with its effects by Godley & Creme, art direction by Jim Whiting and Godley & Creme, and editing by Roo Aiken and Godley & Creme — tied with The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” for most nominations. Winning five of those eight categories made Hancock the big winner at the 1984 VMAs.
Best Stage Performance in a Video: “Jump” — Van Halen
Van Halen’s vid also received nods for Best Group Video and Best Overall Performance in a Video.
Best Overall Performance in a Video; Best Choreography in a Video; and Viewer’s Choice: “Thriller” — Michael Jackson
Jackson and Michael Peters shared the choreography award. MJ won the second-most number of VMAs that year, after Hancock. (All three of Jackson’s awards were accepted by Diana Ross on his behalf.)
Best Direction in a Video: “Sharp Dressed Man” — ZZ Top
ZZ Top’s video was directed by Tim Newman.
Best Cinematography in a Video: “Every Breath You Take” — The Police
With eight nods, “Every Breath You Take” tied with “Rockit” for the most-nominated video that year. Director of photography Daniel Pearl won this category for his cinematography.
Special Recognition Award: Quincy Jones
Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood presented this award to Jones.
Remind