The 20 cheesiest music videos of all time

Let's preface the beginning of this list by stating that there are plenty of videos here that were released in the 1980s, back when there we no limits to the cheesiness and schlock that was on display via MTV or anywhere else videos were shown. "The Warrior" is considered Scandal's most prominent song, and the video showcased singer Patty Smyth made up to look like some sort of futuristic heroine from a soundstage world that's a cross between Mad Max and a version of Cats on steroids.

Even great, epic videos can boast a relatively high cheese factor. However, in the case of 1991's epic "November Rain," the video is more over-the-top than anything else. The popular music video was even more dramatic (remember the guy diving into the wedding cake?) than the nearly 9-minute song. It featured Rose's girlfriend at the time, model Stephanie Seymour, in one of the strangest funeral scenes of all time, Slash playing guitar outside a tiny church in the middle of nowhere and a cameo by MTV personality Riki Rachtman.

By the Go-Go's third studio album, Talk Show (1984), the band was amid dysfunction and seemed to mail this one in. "Head Over Heels" is the most notable track from the record, and filled with typical '80s Go-Go's pop rock. The group also seemed to put little effort into the music video, which is basically quick cuts of them dancing around with instruments on a soundstage. With the exception of that one scene where bassist Kathy Valentine and drummer Gina Schock are playing, presumably on a runway, with an airplane taxiing in the background. 

From 1983's Shout at the Devil LP, "Too Young to Fall in Love" is one of the more underrated tunes in the Mötley Crüe catalogue. And, for no apparent reason, the song's video really had nothing to do with the song, as the four band members found themselves trying to rescue a young girl from a gangster. It even included a fight scene where the band saves the day.  

The video for this 1980 Judas Priest classic is so campy that it's also quite excellent. The band, led by iconic frontman Rob Halford, commit a robbery, using their instruments for weapons. How ridiculously entertaining is that? From a musical standpoint, "Breaking the Law" is among the best songs from the British Wave of Heavy Metal era, and the video certainly only adds to the legendary status of the song — cheesy or not.

When it comes to true no-holds-barred, over-the-top bombast for mainstream rock, this 1993 hit (No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100) from his Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell album reigns supreme. The album version clocks at 12 minutes, 1 seconds, but the journey is so worth the time. However, the edited dramatic, Beauty and the Beast-meets-Phantom of the Opera video is more overblown than the actual song, which features a roller coaster of musical emotion and cheesy lyrics that re-introduced Meat Loaf to the masses and another generation of rock fans.

"Estranged" has a runtime of 9 minutes, 23 seconds and is part of a song/music video "trilogy" with "Don't Cry" and the aforementioned "November Rain," inspired by the short story "Without You" by writer/musician Del James. It's one of the band's most emotional songs and somewhat pretentious, especially considering Axl Rose's penchant for drawing attention to himself. Like in the ridiculous video, where a flannel-clad, hi-top-wearing Rose is swimming with dolphins and Slash rises from the ocean to complete a guitar solo.

A Rush song that hardcore fans of the group can't stand. From the Hold Your Fire record of the late 1980s, "Time Stand Still" features 'Til Tuesday's Aimee Mann on backing vocals, and also in the video, where she seems to double as a cameraperson while the band performs. Presumably in front of a chroma key setting that has the three members floating around with their instruments. Sadly, this insufferable video takes away from what's actually a poignantly powerful power pop-rock tune. 

A popular hair metal staple from the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Taking that argument further, "Heaven" might be the quintessential power ballad of that particular genre of rock. From the band's smash debut Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich (1989), the sappy power track went all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and featured a video where the band wore matching white jackets and pants (almost like a uniform) and synchronized their stage moves, which were carried over from the band's "Down Boys" video.

More 1980s hair rock, the title cut from Dokken's 1981 studio debut. The budget on this video must have been pretty slim. The band plays while walking down a hallway, and we wonder how injury was avoided when guitarist George Lynch and bassist Jeff Pilson did their synchronized jump off that two-foot high drum riser. Lynch literally breaking off chains to complete his guitar solo was also a nice touch. 

Let it be known that even the members of Duran Duran disliked the music video for one of their most underrated hits off 1983's massively successful Seven and the Ragged Tiger. In the video, the band members are part of a resistance outfit amid a sort of modern-day French revolution. The project was actually filmed as a mini-movie, clocking in at nearly 20 minutes. The video, obviously, was not that long, but just seemed like it to Simon, Nick, John, Roger and Andy.

The year was 1984, and Jon Bon Jovi finally released an album. The catalyst behind the project was "Runaway," a raw, almost new-wave glam rocker. Though the song opened the door for Jon Bon Jovi to begin down the road of international rock stardom, it's easy to forget the goofiness of the music video. It featured forgotten '80s actress Jennifer Gatti as a supposed runaway in some sort of post-apocalyptic world, dressed like one of Pat Benatar's posse.

Sure, the cheese factor to this iconic Wham! hit is off the charts — the "Choose Life" t-shirts, George Michael's undeniably '80s dancing, fingerless yellow gloves and plenty of neon. However, everybody on the set and performing in that video probably had a good time. That's what the 1980s pop music scene was mostly about: a non-stop party that everyone longed for an invitation to.

Imagine being a hardcore Kiss fan and excited to see them take off the makeup. Then comes the "Lick It Up" video, an historic moment for the band. It was not only its first on Mercury Records but the first without the band's trademark makeup (revealed on MTV before the album of the same name's release in September 1983). However, the band members looked like they hung out with the early '80s new wave crowd in Hollywood. We still can't get over those leopard-print boots on Paul Stanley. 

Jefferson Starship, and Jefferson Airplane before it, delivered some of most memorable — if not legendary — rock numbers. Then came the mid-1980s, and Grace Slick teased her hair, lauded guitarist Craig Chaquico got drowned out by synthesizers, and Mickey Thomas looked like he was stuck in a Dr. Pepper commercial as the band dropped 'Jefferson' from the name, entering the Starship era. The song was vomit-inducing to begin with, and the video's effect on our urge to purge was worse than an all-night drinking binge. Co-written by Elton John's buddy Bernie Taupin, "We Built This City," nonetheless, was a No. 1 hit.

Great rock song, hilariously cheesy music video. The opening number from 1981's Point of Entry, "Heading Out to the Highway" was the first Priest song to crack Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart in the United States (peaking at No. 10). Sadly, the video should be forgotten. It shows the band delivering a fake performance amid a set that's straight out of a small-town high school somewhere in the Midwest. Even the drag race scene is a little hokey. 

Strange might be the best way to describe the video for this Lionel Richie hit from 1983. The legendary artist stars as a theater teacher who seems to fall for a blind female student. Creepy, perhaps. But things get even weirder when the student sculpts a clay likeness of Richie's head entirely by touch. And it comes out perfect. Once again, it was the '80s, and there were no rules when it came to cheesiness. 

When it comes to that wall-of-sound vibe and over-the-top schlock (complete with one of the most gratuitously '80s music videos ever), "Total Eclipse of the Heart" made Australia's Tyler a household pop rock name and earned her a Grammy Award nomination. This No. 1 hit remains one of the signature songs of early '80s mainstream music, an all-time great power ballad, and a piece of pop culture iconography. Thanks, in part, to that outlandishly spooky video in which the collective eyes of a youth choir are lit up and people fly around in some strange boarding school fantasy.

Of the countless versions of the classic Motown favorite, the most terribly unforgettable is that done by two of the biggest rock stars in the world. Sure, Mick and Bowie seemed like they were having fun starring in this popular 1985 duet, but their dance moves and antics were comical. It's as if they were given free rein to move however they wanted, no matter how hard viewers were, and still are, going to laugh. Of course, it was a top-10 hit in the United States.

First off, "Separate Ways" is a solid a pop-rock song (it reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100), and the easily mockable music video seemed to encapsulate 1980s mainstream rock. And rightfully so, as "Separate Ways" gets ripped for the band playing its air instruments in the famed video that probably scared the workers at the dock where it was filmed. The '80s were about overindulgence, and Journey did its part with this schlocky corporate-rock performance.