10 Biggest Rock Songs From Every Year Of The 1980s
4. 1986: Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer
One of the great innovations of the 1980s was the launch of MTV in 1981. Now, people could not only hear their favourite songs, but they could see them too, and the race was on to create the next big thing in the pop video world.
In 1986, English singer Robert Palmer cracked the code with the video for his song Addicted to Love. He performed the song backed by his “band” of beautiful models, all in black, with faces as white as snow, stony-faced as they “played” along with Palmer.
The video helped the song (which is excellent, by the way) make waves in the US. It was number one over there, as well as in Australia, and was top five material in Palmer’s native UK, as well as in South Africa, Ireland, and Canada. It was number 10 in the Billboard end-of-year chart and went gold in both parts of the Special Relationship.
The real legacy of Addicted to Love is that video, which has been emulated and parodied hundreds of times since its debut. When Mr. Blobby pays tribute to your work, that’s when you know you’ve made it.