10 Best Hard Rock Music Videos Of The 80s
9. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister (1984)
Michael Jackson and Macaulay Culkin have a lot to answer for after ripping off this particular cheese fest for their Black or White music video. But the narrative for this particular visual experience, does crop up a lot during the '80s and '90s.
It was a trope to preface a video with some poor kid rocking out in their bedroom only for an irate and socially conservative parent to bust in and complain about the trappings of the devil's music. As one can expect, the heroic musicians (in this case Twisted Sister) are presented as the saviour figures, liberating the kids with the power of rock.
The kid in this particular story morphs into Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. Looking like something between a Kiss fan and a killer clown, Snider spends the rest of the video encouraging the other kids to rebel, using rock to beat the living daylights out of the disgruntled father.
Musicians weren't so much concerned with creating artsy videos at this point, it was all about what elicited the biggest response from the youth. During the era of Ronald Reagan, it was all about young folks sticking it to whatever stuffy authority figure was most prominent in their lives.