Continuing our series (click to view all in the series), we’re ranking the music videos of artists or bands that were created during the height of the MTV music video era. Today we’re focusing on the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna, who quickly shot to popularity in the early ‘80s with her eponymous debut album in 1983. In most of our past rankings in this series, we’ve done all of an artist’s music videos, but that’s just crazy when it comes to Madonna as she has so many! So, this week, we’re focusing just on her best music videos from the ‘80s. Often courting both critical acclaim and controversy, Madonna has always been one to push the boundaries of artistic expression in modern music, and today’s music scene wouldn’t be the same without her.
We could go on, but let’s get to what you came here for — our ranking of the ten best Madonna ‘80s music videos.
10. Oh Father (1989)
This black and white video is very serious, and is basically about how a father is abusive to his daughter after his wife passes away. The video features both a young girl and a grown-up Madonna as the abused daughter. It appears that as an adult, Madonna is also now being abused by a lover, though it’s not 100% clear. She does walk away from the guy, but in the end goes to see her dad at the cemetery where her mom is buried, so it’s a little confusing what the message is. There is one scene that flashes back to when she goes to see her mother in her casket, and there is a close up shot of the mother’s lips sewn shut, which definitely feels symbolic. Directed by David Fincher, this video, while good, is so serious that we wouldn’t want to watch it very much, and that’s why it’s in the bottom spot.
9. Like a Virgin (1984)
To be honest, this video was kind of a letdown. In our minds, the video was much closer to Madonna’s live MTV Music Video Awards performance, but it’s not. Instead, this video features Madonna dancing on a gondola that goes around the Venice, Italy canals in a black and blue outfit. These scenes are intercut with her in a wedding dress in a fancy-looking building. She alternately sees an actual lion walking around the city and is pursued by a man wearing a lion mask. In the end she rides off with the guy on the gondola. It’s not bad, but not her best.
8. Cherish (1989)
Mermaids had a real moment in the ’80s with the releases of Splash and The Little Mermaid — Madonna got in on that trend too with this video. Shot in black and white, the video features Madonna in a black dress dancing in the waves of the ocean as she sings on the song. These shots are interspersed with shots of multiple mermen swimming in the ocean, along with a merboy, who Madonna eventually finds on the beach and hangs out with for awhile. The ending is kinda weird, though, as it features the little boy now suddenly having legs and running around, while Madonna stares up at him from a lying position on the ground. Was he never a merboy, and she was just imagining it? Hmm.
7. Borderline (1984)
This video is so ‘80s, sort of like a music video version of the film The 400 Blows, but about the ‘80s. In the video, Madonna is pursued by two different men — a fancy photographer and a more rough and tumble dude. She seems to be more into the rough and tumble guy, and runs off with him, but he starts to treat her like a bit of a jerk. That is, until he sees a shot the photographer took of her on the cover of a magazine, and then he’s like oh wait, she’s actually hot. It would’ve been better if Madonna didn’t end up with either guy, but she kinda goes back with the jerky dude in the end so the video loses what could’ve been a good message.
6. La Isla Bonita (1987)
In this video, Madonna portrays the link between Latino culture and Catholicism by playing two very different characters who each symbolize the restrained and passionate sides of Catholicism. One of the characters is a very pious young woman who watches a group of Latino people dance and play music outside while she prays inside (and also cries for some reason). The other character is a spicy Flamenco-style dancer in a red and black dress who is in the same room, only now the room is red and covered in candles. The people outside try to get Madonna to come outside and join them, but only the more spicy version does, with the other staying in.
5. Open Your Heart (1986)
In this video, Madonna performs in a naughty theater for a bunch of male voyeurs who watch her from small individual viewing booths. A young boy wants to get in to see her too, but the old man at the front of the venue won’t let him in. The men who watch her are all unique in different ways, and won’t look her in the eye when she gets close to their windows. By the end, Madonna comes out of the venue and finds the boy waiting for her — they wear matching oversized gray suits and dance away together, despite the old man trying to stop them.
4. Papa Don’t Preach (1986)
In this video, the story is fairly straightforward — Madonna has a cute mechanic boyfriend (who looks like a cross between Jake Gyllenhaal and Jared Leto) who she has fallen for and gotten pregnant by. While it’s unclear if she has told the guy if she is pregnant, she is wrestling internally with whether to tell her father. In the end, she decides to tell her dad, and while he is disappointed at first, he comes around and hugs her by the end. The story is intercut with shots of a very svelte Madonna in a black bustier and capri pants dancing in a dark room by herself, which is in contrast to her character in the video, who wears baggy pants and a large shirt. It’s a pretty effective and memorable video, and Madonna looks really bangin’ in those dancing shots.
3. Material Girl (1985)
One thing you can say about Madonna’s videos compared to many others we have recently watched is that they almost always have a story and more than just singing/dancing at a camera, and this video is no exception. Here, the music video is actually about making the music video, with Keith Carradine playing one of the producers who kinda has a crush on Madonna. While he thinks he needs to woo her with expensive things, that’s not the case — in the end, he wins her over with a bouquet of flowers. These story shots are intercut with Madonna in her pink dress dancing and singing the song as she is draped in jewelry. This video is super memorable and one of her only older videos to be remastered in HD for a reason!
2. Express Yourself (1989)
Here we have another video directed by David Fincher — and a very ambitious video at that. The video is in a sort of futuristic setting where a bunch of hunky men are basically slaves to these corporate-type goons who watch them work in a factory. It seems like Madonna may also be a sort of slave as well, only a more sexual type of slave than one working in a factory. One of the more iconic shots in the video is definitely when Madonna is wearing a suit like the corporate guys and dances around the warehouse. In the end, one of the slave guys finds Madonna naked in bed — this is amid shots of the other slave dudes fighting each other. It’s not 100% clear what is supposed to be going on in a literal sense, but it seems to be a statement about being a slave to corporate culture and breaking free of that? Or are we just reading too much into it?
1. Like a Prayer (1989)
Madonna witnessing a group of men accost a white woman. A black man then comes up to check on the woman, and police arrest the black man for being the one to accost her. Madonna has seen the whole thing, but is afraid of the bad dudes, so she goes to the church seeking help, and there encounters a black saint behind bars, played by the same guy who was arrested earlier. Though the saint comes to life and leaves the church, eventually he comes back and goes back inside the bars, turning back into a statue. In the end, Madonna goes to the police and tells them what really happened, and the man is released. The video ends with everyone bowing as if they were in a stage play, with curtains closing over them. We loved this video back when it first came out, and still love it to this day!
Which is your favorite ‘80s music video from Madonna? Let us know in the comments!
- Actor Leon Robinson (you probably remember him most from Cool Runnings) portrayed the saint in the “Like a Prayer” video — the saint was based on Martin de Porres, the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony.
- The music video for “Express Yourself” was inspired by the classic 1927 film Metropolis. The budget for the video was $5 million, and was the most expensive music video in history at the time it was made in 1989.
- The “Material Girl” music video was inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s performance of the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
- Mary Lambert directed a number of Madonna’s music videos above, including “Like a Prayer,” “La Isla Bonita,” “Material Girl,” “Like a Virgin,” and “Borderline.” She has also directed some feature films, including the 1989 Steven King horror classic Pet Sematary.
- Madonna’s look for the “Open Your Heart” music video was inspired by a combination of two actresses: Marlene Dietrich in the movie The Blue Angel, and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.
- Actor Leon Robinson (you probably remember him most from Cool Runnings) portrayed the saint in the “Like a Prayer” video — the saint was based on Martin de Porres, the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony.
- The music video for “Express Yourself” was inspired by the classic 1927 film Metropolis. The budget for the video was $5 million, and was the most expensive music video in history at the time it was made in 1989.
- The “Material Girl” music video was inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s performance of the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
- Mary Lambert directed a number of Madonna’s music videos above, including “Like a Prayer,” “La Isla Bonita,” “Material Girl,” “Like a Virgin,” and “Borderline.” She has also directed some feature films, including the 1989 Steven King horror classic Pet Sematary.
- Madonna’s look for the “Open Your Heart” music video was inspired by a combination of two actresses: Marlene Dietrich in the movie The Blue Angel, and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.
