'80s Rock Hits That Took Over Thanks To The Power Of MTV

Before MTV got into the reality TV business and lost its original music-as-video vibe, it was a launching pad for acts, reaching an audience that wasn't as readily available in the pre-cable days. Having a video introduced as a world premiere and finding its way into heavy rotation could make or break a single, and turn an unknown — or merely well-known — act into a global sensation. Because of this, the list of hit rock songs that received a major boost from MTV reads like a songbook of some of the best-known works from iconic rockers, many of whom owe much of their success to the channel's promotional power.

If you weren't glued to your set during the video era, you may not realize how much impact MTV had on some of the biggest hits of the '80s. But now-standard tunes like "White Wedding" by snarling, spike-headed Billy Idol and "Love is a Battlefield" by rock diva Pat Benatar became red-hot thanks in great part to the love showered over their video clips by MTV's rock-friendly format. Let's click rewind on the ol' musical time machine and revisit a 10-pack of classic rock scorchers that owe their generational prestige to the music video hub, as crucial to a band's success in the '80s as radio airplay and record sales.

Ex-Generation X frontman Billy Idol was launching a post-punk solo career when MTV stirred up the airwaves. As the channel became a hot commodity, so did "White Wedding," Idol's goth-rock love song that came with a horror movie wedding video that was shocking for its time. The edgy visuals became utterly inescapable and gave Idol the introduction he needed to break into the Top 40 stateside in July 1983. He became a video-age success story and built a career that carries on well into the 21st century.

Bon Jovi is one of those rock bands that MTV helped turn into a phenomenon, due in large part to the channel's support of "You Give Love a Bad Name." A breakthrough single that took the band to No. 1 for the first time in November 1986, the video gave hair bands a more substantial standing in the rock world, proving that pretty boys with loud guitars didn't have to be overly gimmicky to be successful.

Whitesnake created an adolescent's hard-rock dreamscape in their video for "Here I Go Again," and model Tawny Kitaen made an indelible impression when she writhed on that pair of Jaguars (the car, not the cat). The power ballad from their touch-and-go self-titled album was spun gold for the eyes and ears, and the exposure helped give the band their one and only No. 1 single in October 1987. Kitaen and her boyfriend, Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale, became a lion-maned video power couple and MTV's unofficial sex symbols.

No one could have predicted that these Southern rockers would strike like lightning with their zany MTV-ready videos. Once "Legs" lit up screens, the Texas trio became the bearded darlings of the channel, adopting visual humor to punch up their sassy tunes. With cars that shone, guitars that spun, and models who captured the leggy style of the '80s, the clip got enough attention to become a No. 8 sensation in July 1984 and contributed greatly to the band's biggest year ever.

Seventies rockers Aerosmith jolted the world in the late-'80s with "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," a spirited single that added a double dose of funk to the band's former formula. Thanks to a wacky clip that doesn't hold up so well nearly four decades later, the band mounted a comeback for the books — and the song turned into a Top 20 sing-along standard in December 1987. The lyrics may have aged badly, but the song was a standout on radio as well as video television back in the day.

Pat Benatar had been an MTV favorite from the jump; her "You Better Run" clip was the second video the station ever broadcast. But she really captivated audiences with her 1983 mini-movie for "Love is a Battlefield." The single was a bonus track from her "Live from Earth" album, and the video gave the tune enough momentum to become a smash. It shimmied up the charts to No. 5 in December 1983 and let the operatically trained Benatar show off her dance moves in an iconic video that camped out on MTV's heavy rotation list.

Axl Rose and Slash showed a more melodic side of their searing hard rock spirits with "Sweet Child O' Mine," a late-'80s entry that reinvigorated rock music while tapping into vintage '70s rock for inspiration. The video was an MTV favorite, helping lead the band all the way to the No. 1 spot in September 1988. Thirty-four years later, it soared back to No. 1, this time on the Hard Rock charts and with help from a needle drop in the trailer for Marvel's "Thor: Love and Thunder."

After disbanding the Runaways in 1979, Joan Jett dropped a cover of the Arrows' song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and gave MTV a generational anthem with a video that helped the station demonstrate its potential. Jett had a screen-ready presence, and the song was a power-chord killer; it may have still been early days for the cable video station, but the assist got Jett to the No. 1 spot in March 1982 and gave her a life-altering hit single, as well as a platform for launching future hits.

Dee Snyder and his cohorts in Twisted Sister knew the value of camp in hard rock. Rather than following the basic hair band blueprint, the band leaned into silly visuals in their videos, a savvy move that turned "We're Not Gonna Take It" into an MTV smash. Snyder's arch performance and theatrical image could have reduced the song to a novelty. Instead, it cranked it up to No. 21 in September 1984 and gave music videos a snarky mode that spoke to the youngsters tuning in.

The Boss himself has never had a No. 1 song, but plugging into the power of MTV and tightening up his image for a buzzy "live" video supercharged his 1984 power single, "Dancing in the Dark." The clip revealed a video-friendly version of the E Street Band leader and his charmingly offbeat dance moves; he even pulled a pre-"Friends" Courtney Cox up on stage to share the awkwardness. The single shuffled to No. 2 in June 1984, and the visuals became an emblematic piece of the video channel's history.