Customer Reviews

Pure 80's: The DVD

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 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.

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.

Typical video collections use masters from dubious sources. Not here! I've never seen or heard these classic videos so clearly. Hats off to Universal for giving these gems the quality treatment they deserve. I hope they publish more volumes.

I love the 80's, have a huge collection, used to host a 80's music radio show, and have a fairly large video collection. This DVD stinks. First its one of those funny discs that wont play in every player. Second, titles, if I pay this much for music videos I want them clean. And third the quality is poor. I have most of these songs elsewhere and the quality there is much better. I know that video quality in the 80's wasn't always the best, this DVD is worse than the originals. Its a nice collection, but save the cash and buy it on VHS instead.

This compilation of music videos seems like a tease, because it is just a small portion of the fun that the 80's music scene produced. Some may say these are "stylish in excess" but compared to today's music videos where the artist's social status means everything and the music takes a back seat to the visuals, I'd rather go back to the 80's and enjoy the simpler joys those videos offered.

What makes this compilation nice is that you see the video images are mostly incidental to the music and vocals, not the other way around like today. Whether serious or silly, they are uplifting and creative without going overboard. No million dollar digital effects, no constant takes on the Janet Jackson line dancing with the lead vocalist's face up in the camera, and no songs where the "singers" are just screaming at the top of their lungs. There's a nice new wave feel throughout, only disrupted by the basic rock of Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" (musically this video could have been put on a different compilation more representative of the harder rock/pop of the 80s instead of this DVD, Night Ranger just seemed a tad out of place in this collection's more "alternative" theme).

The videos' images are sharp and rich in colors, the sound is big and clear, and it's fun to find connections between some of the groups and videos: Trevor Horn of The Buggles can be spotted in ABC's video as well, and Geoff Downes of The Buggles is a part of Asia.....and TWO Tears For Fears videos, what a treat! There's a good reason why songs from Big Country, Level 42, Squeeze, and Dexy's Midnight Runners are long lasting, they are just one of a kind, and their originality made them impossible to forget.

For me this is a nice collection because when I was living in St. Louis back in the 80's, these songs weren't being played on the top 40 stations there but instead were being exposed to people in the clubs. So I don't see these as just "hit" videos since I had discovered many of them during my own search for different music. They look and sound just as fresh as the day they were first shown and heard, and I just wish there were more than just a mere 14 videos -- come on, Universal, this is DVD we're talking about, you can fit more than that on a disc!

Pure 80's will have you singing along and leave you smiling. It may be a more commerical-friendly representation of some of the 80's in some aspects, but it's worth the viewing pleasure. Let's see more volumes in the future please!

It was pretty good. I would like to see more of these since VH1 and MTV have started programming nothing but crappy videos in the morning for a short time and really crappy reality TV all day long.

Growing up in the 80's, I didn't realize how ludicrous and low-budgeted some of the music videos were until I watched this DVD. Regardless, I enjoyed every minute of it. The sound was crisp and clear and the picture quality was good although it varied depending on each video (some videos were grainy or soft). The menus are easy to navigate, with options to play the entire DVD, individual songs, or continuous play. On a couple of songs (Shout-Tears for Fears & No More Words-Berlin) the video wasn't in sync with the audio which was annoying at times. The choice of music videos could have been better considering everything that's out there, but if you're into collecting 80's music videos or want to watch something fun & simple this DVD is a must. Hopefully there will be additional volumes released in the near future.

The picture quality is not very good. It's like watching the videos on an old VHS tape taped off of television. I've never seen a DVD in my DVD player look so not digital. The selection is okay, the DVD opens playing a small clip of the Tears for Fears song "Head Over Heels" even though that video isn't on the set--but fear not, two Tears for Fears videos are here. I bought this because I love the Level 42 video for "Something About You," and I figured this was my one shot to get it on DVD. Buy this if you just must have it, the price is a bit much for such a short little collection, this should really be in the $12.99 or less range.

Capsule reviewer Sam Graham (above) is one king-sized jerk! Tears For Fears and Swing Out Sister are two of the best acts that came out of the '80s and they are still going strong today! The videos on this collection are some of the most obvious, but enjoyable nevertheless. It would be nice if Amazon would hire somebody to write for them who at least had a little common sense when it comes to music, instead of some supposedly "hip" idiot.