The American music scene in the mid to late 1980s was dominated by LA rock.
Hairspray, leather and guys who wore more make-up than their legions of screaming groupies were the biggest thing in music since Led Zeppelin stormed US stages in the rather more bearded 1970s.
Before the sleaze and danger of Guns N´ Roses made some of these bands seem lightweight and Nirvana´s success killed off the entire genre as a commercial entity, big hair made even bigger bucks.
Get ready to party like it´s 1986 as MusicRadar salutes the ten best hair metal videos...
Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls
If you haven´t read The Dirt (opens in new tab), then you should have
Winger - Seventeen
Surely these lyrics are illegal in some American states?
Bullet Boys - Smooth Up In Ya
Yes, that really is the song title
White Lion - Wait
Lighters aloft for the intro…
Slaughter - Up All Night
A Sunset Strip mantra
Nitro - Freight Train
Winning the award for biggest hair and silliest guitar
Stryper - Soldiers Under Command
We can only imagine that the Christian rockers´ tourbus was cleaner than the Crüe´s
Ratt - Round And Round
Possibly not the best choice of dinner guests
Poison - Talk Dirty To Me
“Hit it CC!”
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Scarily, this came out as late as 1990
Have we missed any gems? Let us know…
By Chris Vinnicombe
