Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 10/03/2006

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25451 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-21
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, Compilation, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 58 minutes

Amazon.com
The 1980s may be remembered for a lot of things--Reagan, Tiananmen Square, the genius of Miami Vice--but music probably won't be foremost among them. Still, the decade did have its guilty pleasures, some of which can be found right here on this 14-song, 58-minute DVD. ABC ("The Look of Love"), Asia ("Heat of the Moment"), Swing Out Sister ("Breakout"), Night Ranger ("Sister Christian"), Berlin ("No More Words"): let's face it, no hall of fame will be shining up a plaque for them (or anyone else featured here, except perhaps Squeeze, whose soulful "Tempted" stands out amid all the fluffy synth-pop) anytime soon. So the songs are generally about as memorable as your last potato chip, and the videos are pretty lame by the technical standards of the 21st century. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy Tears for Fears to your heart's delight--just keep it to yourself. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

I Want My MTV!
If MTV was smart, and they used to be, along with funny, relevant, and entertaining (they even played music videos all the time!) It was on all day in my house, and you could always count on the VJs passing along some wacky facts, or artists dropping by who could actually speak coherently. Anyway, MTV could make their massive video catalog available to the public. You could browse online and choose the videos you wanted, pay $2-$3 each and MTV would either create a custom DVD for you and send it out, or you could download them and make your own DVDs. I would gladly pay to have several DVDs that contained only the videos I wanted. And there are about 100 I want, just off the top of my head.

As it is, I am happy to watch my old and fading copies made back then and occasionally catch an old great on VH1 Classic, rather than have someone else pick out 10 videos, 4 of which I may want, the rest I don't. This one did nothing for me. Luckily it was a gift. I never would've bought it for myself.

I'm begging!
I rate this 2 stars because it is just not enough to make me happy, I want more!
Why is it so hard to find classic 80's mucic videos on DVD? The few collections that are out there are not enough. I'm begging you MTV, please release some really nice definitive collections that include the great songs that were always on when you were the greatest channel on TV. My memories of the 80's almost always include the time I spent watching MTV all hours of the day and night. I remember waiting and waiting for my favorites to come on. Eurythmics, Adam Ant, Men at Work, Thomas Dolby, Flock of Seagulls and Duran Duran. MTV introduced me to New Wave and made me crave it and now they keep it from me. I know that the cost of paying royalties probably has something to do with the lack of product out there. There must be someway of creating these collections.
I have an idea about a format that I would like to see. How about making a documentary about each year and talking about the trends and the music that MTV helped to establish and have the full unedited version of the top 15 or 20 videos from that year. You have already done something like that on VH1 with the "I Love the 80's" series. You could just concentrate on the music more and leave out the movies and historical events. You could interview the original VJ's and even bands themselves. VH1 has done a show where they try to reunite bands, this only makes me want to see the original videos even more. The demand is there MTV, when will you supply? Ok, if you won't do the documentary thing, just release the videos in seperate volumes for each year.
It just seems unfair that I can own every episode of my favorite TV shows from the past but I can't watch or own the music videos that were so much a part of my life. I WANT MY MTV!!!!(the way it used to be)
So there it is, I'm hoping that some big shot from MTV will see this and start working on putting the history of the first Music television channel on DVD so that the people who witnessed their birth can relive those times again by watching the videos that made MTV what it is today.

It's hard to go back
I had been away from home and had no access to a television from 1979-1981. When I came home, my parents had cable, and I discovered MTV.

This was before Michael Jackson electrified the nation. The VJs played a lot of Madness and clips from Elephant Parts. My first favorite video was the Little River Band's The Night Owls, but I digress.

Perhaps Pure 80s should be called "Mid 80s New Age." Most of the videos in this collection of the post Madness/Pre George Michael variety.

As fairly early attempts at a new medium, the videos in Pure 80s are flawed. The music and production values in the two Tears for Fears selections are great, but videos are dull. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is a great song, but watching the guys sing and drive cars...

There are no breakthrough videos in this collection, no Billy Jean, no Jenny I've Got Your Numbers, no Jesse's Girl--all videos that helped shape the art form. (I claim not expertise--just deep nostalgia.)

Many of the songs in this collection bring back good memories, however, so it is hard to complain.

If you want a random sampling of good songs, this is the perfect collection. If you want something more, keep waiting. MTV has to release a "Year's Best" collection some time... I hope.