1988 MTV Video Music Awards

The 1988 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 7, 1988, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1987, to April 1, 1988. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. [1]

Australian group INXS was the night's biggest winner and nominee, taking home five awards out of nine nominations. The group's awards included Video of the Year and Viewer's Choice, making this the very first of few times in which the same artist and video took home these two awards in the one night. INXS's nominations, meanwhile, totaled up to nine: eight for "Need You Tonight/Mediate" (making it the year's most nominated video) and one for "Devil Inside."

In the meantime, George Harrison and U2 were tied in for second place in terms of nominations, as each picked up eight nominations that year. Furthermore, both artists split their nominations between two different videos in 1988, and at least once both of their videos competed against one another in the same category (and so did INXS's videos).

Finally, this year's show saw the elimination of another category, as the award for Best Overall Performance in a Video was not handed out this year or ever again. At the same time, the category of Most Experimental Video was renamed "Breakthrough Video," a name that it still keeps (as of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards).

Nominations

Winners are in bold text.

Video of the Year

• George Harrison — "When We Was Fab"
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate"
• Bruce Springsteen — "Tunnel of Love"
• U2 — "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• U2 — "Where the Streets Have No Name"

Best Male Video

• Terence Trent D'Arby — "Wishing Well"
• George Harrison — "Got My Mind Set on You"
• Prince (featuring Sheena Easton) — "U Got the Look"
• Bruce Springsteen — "Tunnel of Love"
• Steve Winwood — "Back in the High Life Again"

Best Female Video

• Cher — "I Found Someone"
• Lita Ford — "Kiss Me Deadly"
• Janet Jackson — "The Pleasure Principle"
• Suzanne Vega — "Luka"
• Jody Watley — "Some Kind of Lover"

Best Group Video

• Aerosmith — "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"
• Eurythmics — "I Need a Man"
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate"
• U2 — "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• U2 — "Where the Streets Have No Name"

Best New Artist in a Video

• The Godfathers — "Birth, School, Work, Death"
• Guns N' Roses — "Welcome to the Jungle"
• Buster Poindexter — "Hot, Hot, Hot"
• Swing Out Sister — "Breakout"
• Jody Watley — "Some Kind of Lover"

Best Concept Video

• George Harrison — "When We Was Fab"
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate"
• Pink Floyd — "Learning to Fly"
• U2 — "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• XTC — "Dear God"

Best Video from a Film

• The Bangles — "Hazy Shade of Winter" (from Less Than Zero)
• Bryan Ferry — "Kiss and Tell" (from Bright Lights, Big City)
• Peter Gabriel — "Biko" (from Cry Freedom)
• Los Lobos — "La Bamba" (from La Bamba)
• Bob Seger — "Shakedown" (from Beverly Hills Cop II)

Breakthrough Video

• George Harrison — "When We Was Fab"
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate"
• Squeeze — "Hourglass"
• Suzanne Vega — "Luka"
• XTC — "Dear God"

Best Stage Performance in a Video

• Aerosmith — "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"
• Grateful Dead — "Touch of Grey"
• Elton John — "Candle in the Wind (live)"
• Roy Orbison — "Oh, Pretty Woman (live)"
• Prince (featuring Sheena Easton) — "U Got the Look"
• U2 — "Where the Streets Have No Name"

Best Direction in a Video

• Eurythmics — "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart" (Director: Sophie Muller)
• George Michael — "Father Figure" (Directors: Andy Morahan and George Michael)
• Pink Floyd — "Learning to Fly" (Director: Storm Thorgerson)
• R.E.M. — "The One I Love" (Director: Robert Longo)
• XTC — "Dear God" (Director: Nicholas Brandt)

Best Choreography in a Video

• Janet Jackson — "The Pleasure Principle" (Choreographer: Barry Lather)
• Michael Jackson — "Bad" (Choreographers: Michael Jackson, Gregg Burge and Jeffrey Daniel)
• Michael Jackson — "The Way You Make Me Feel" (Choreographers: Michael Jackson and Vincent Paterson)
• Prince (featuring Sheena Easton) — "U Got the Look" (Choreographer: Cat Glover)
• Sting — "We'll Be Together" (Choreographer: Barry Lather)

Best Special Effects in a Video

• Grateful Dead — "Touch of Grey" (Special Effects: Gary Gutierrez)
• George Harrison — "Got My Mind Set on You" (Special Effects: John McCallum)
• George Harrison — "When We Was Fab" (Special Effects: Chris Lyons)
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate" (Special Effects: Lynn Maree Milburn)
• Squeeze — "Hourglass" (Special Effects: Jim Francis and Dave Barton)

Best Art Direction in a Video

• George Harrison — "When We Was Fab" (Art Director: Sid Bartholomew)
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate" (Art Director: Lynn Maree Milburn)
• George Michael — "Faith" (Art Director: Bryan Jones)
• Bruce Springsteen — "Tunnel of Love" (Art Directors: Howard Cummings and Beth Rubino)
• Squeeze — "Hourglass" (Art Directors: Clive Crotty and Mick Edwards)

Best Editing in a Video

• INXS — "Devil Inside" (Editor: Steve Purcell)
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate" (Editor: Richard Lowenstein)
• Loverboy — "Notorious" (Editor: Jim Haygood)
• Prince (featuring Sheena Easton) — "U Got the Look" (Editor: Charley Randazzo and Steve Purcell)
• Bruce Springsteen — "Tunnel of Love" (Editor: Greg Dougherty)

Best Cinematography in a Video

• George Michael — "Father Figure" (Director of Photography: Peter Mackay)
• Pink Floyd — "Learning to Fly" (Director of Photography: Gordon Minard)
• Robert Plant — "Heaven Knows" (Director of Photography: Steve Tickner)
• Sting — "We'll Be Together" (Director of Photography: Bill Pope)
• Suzanne Vega — "Luka" (Director of Photography: Derek Wolski)

Viewer's Choice

• George Harrison — "When We Was Fab"
• INXS — "Need You Tonight/Mediate"
• Bruce Springsteen — "Tunnel of Love"
• U2 — "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• U2 — "Where the Streets Have No Name"

Video Vanguard Award

• Michael Jackson

Performances

• Rod Stewart — "Forever Young"
• Jody Watley — "Some Kind of Lover"
• Aerosmith — "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"
• Elton John — "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That"
• Depeche Mode — "Strangelove"
• Crowded House — "Better Be Home Soon"
• Cher — "Main Man"
• The Fat Boys (featuring Chubby Checker) — "Louie Louie"/"The Twist"
• Guns N' Roses — "Welcome to the Jungle"
• INXS — "New Sensation"

External links

• Official MTV site