1986 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1986 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 5, 1986, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1985, to May 1, 1986. The show was hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, and Dweezil Zappa, and it emanated primarily from both The Palladium in New York City and the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Other parts of the show, however, took place in various locations such as London, Miami, and New Haven, Connecticut.
| 1986 MTV Video Music Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | Friday, September 5, 1986 |
| Location | Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles |
| Country | United States |
| Hosted by | Downtown Julie Brown Mark Goodman Alan Hunter Martha Quinn and Dweezil Zappa |
| Most awards | A-ha (8) |
| Most nominations | A-ha and Dire Straits (11 each) |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | MTV |
The night's biggest winner and one of the year's two most nominated artists was Norwegian group a-ha, which won eight out of eleven awards it was in contention for. Their video for "Take On Me" earned six awards out of eight nominations, including Viewer's Choice, while "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." won two awards out of three nominations.
The other most nominated artist was rock group Dire Straits, whose video for "Money for Nothing" also earned eleven nominations and won two awards, including Video of the Year. Thus, "Money for Nothing" was also the most nominated video at the 1986 VMAs.
Nominations
Video of the Year
Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing"
- a-ha – "Take On Me"
- Godley & Creme – "Cry"
- Robert Palmer – "Addicted to Love"
- Talking Heads – "Road to Nowhere"
Best Male Video
Best Female Video
Whitney Houston – "How Will I Know"
- Kate Bush – "Running Up That Hill"
- Aretha Franklin – "Freeway of Love"
- Grace Jones – "Slave to the Rhythm"
- Tina Turner – "We Don't Need Another Hero"
Best Group Video
Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing"
- a-ha – "Take On Me"
- INXS – "What You Need"
- The Rolling Stones – "Harlem Shuffle"
- Talking Heads – "And She Was"
Best New Artist in a Video
a-ha – "Take On Me"
Best Concept Video
a-ha – "Take On Me"
Most Experimental Video
a-ha – "Take On Me"
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon"
- Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing"
- X – "Burning House of Love"
- ZZ Top – "Rough Boy"
Best Stage Performance in a Video
Bryan Adams and Tina Turner – "It's Only Love"
Best Overall Performance in a Video
Best Direction in a Video
a-ha – "Take On Me" (Director: Steven Barron)
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon" (Director: Daniel Kleinman)
- Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing" (Director: Steven Barron)
- X – "Burning House of Love" (Director: Daniel Kleinman)
- ZZ Top – "Rough Boy" (Director: Steven Barron)
Best Choreography in a Video
Prince and The Revolution – "Raspberry Beret" (Choreographer: Prince)
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon" (Choreographer: Russell Clark)
- Morris Day – "The Oak Tree" (Choreographers: Russell Clark and Morris Day)
- Madonna – "Dress You Up" (Choreographer: Brad Jeffries)
- Madonna – "Like a Virgin (live)" (Choreographer: Brad Jeffries)
Best Special Effects in a Video
a-ha – "Take On Me" (Special Effects: Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger)
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon" (Special Effects: Daniel Kleinman and Richard Uber)
- Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing" (Special Effects: Ian Pearson)
- X – "Burning House of Love" (Special Effects: Daniel Kleinman)
- ZZ Top – "Rough Boy" (Special Effects: Max Anderson and Chris Nibley)
Best Art Direction in a Video
ZZ Top – "Rough Boy" (Art Director: Ron Cobb)
- a-ha – "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." (Art Director: Stefan Roman)
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon" (Art Director: Daniel Kleinman)
- Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing" (Art Director: Steven Barron)
- Honeymoon Suite – "Feel It Again" (Art Director: David Brockhurst)
Best Editing in a Video
a-ha – "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." (Editor: David Yardley)
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon" (Editor: Richard Uber)
- Dire Straits – "Money for Nothing" (Editor: David Yardley)
- X – "Burning House of Love" (Editor: Dan Blevins)
- ZZ Top – "Rough Boy" (Editor: Richard Uber)
Best Cinematography in a Video
a-ha – "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." (Director of Photography: Oliver Stapleton)
- Pat Benatar – "Sex as a Weapon" (Director of Photography: Peter Mackay)
- Joe Walsh – "The Confessor" (Director of Photography: Jan Kiesser and Ken Barrows)
- X – "Burning House of Love" (Director of Photography: Ken Barrows)
- ZZ Top – "Rough Boy" (Director of Photography: Chris Nibley)
Viewer's Choice
a-ha – "Take On Me"
Video Vanguard Award
Madonna
Zbigniew Rybczyński
Special Recognition Award
Bill Graham
Jack Healey (Executive Director, Amnesty International)
Performances
- Robert Palmer – "Addicted to Love"
- The Hooters – "And We Danced"/"Nervous Night"
- The Monkees – "I'm a Believer"/"Daydream Believer"
- 'Til Tuesday – "What About Love"
- INXS – "What You Need"
- Van Halen – "Best of Both Worlds"/"Love Walks In"
- Mr. Mister – "Kyrie"/"Broken Wings"
- Simply Red – "Holding Back the Years"/"Money's Too Tight (To Mention)"
- Whitney Houston – "How Will I Know"/"Greatest Love of All"
- Pet Shop Boys – "Love Comes Quickly"/"West End Girls"
- Tina Turner – "Typical Male"
- Genesis – "Throwing It All Away"
Appearances
- Jay Leno – presented Best Stage Performance in a Video
- Joe Davola and Alan Hunter – talked about the Viewer's Choice award and introduced the nominees
- Janet Jackson – presented Best Choreography in a Video
- Bobcat Goldthwait – presented Best Concept Video
- Steven Wright – introduced the winners of Best Editing in a Video and Best Cinematography in a Video
- Adam Whittaker – accepted the Best Editing and Best Cinematography awards on behalf of David Yardley and Oliver Stapleton
- Don Johnson – presented Best Female Video
- The Bangles – presented Best Overall Performance in a Video
- Grace Jones – accepted the Best Overall Performance award on behalf of David Bowie and Mick Jagger
- Robert Palmer – presented the Video Vanguard Award to Madonna
- Pet Shop Boys – presented the Video Vanguard Award to Zbigniew Rybczyński
- Bananarama – introduced the winner of Best Art Direction in a Video
- Martha Quinn – presented the Special Recognition Award to Jack Healey
- Whitney Houston – presented Best Male Video
- Steve Winwood – presented Best Direction in a Video
- Simon Fields – accepted the Best Direction award on behalf of Steve Barron
- Gilbert Gottfried – introduced the winner of Best Special Effects in a Video
- David Lee Roth – presented Best Group Video
- Elvira, Mistress of the Dark – introduced the world premiere of Don Johnson's video for "Heartbeat"
- Bob Costas – introduced a segment on the ties between sports and music called "Rock 'n Roll Sports"
- Belinda Carlisle – presented Best New Artist in a Video
- Robin Williams – presented the Special Recognition Award to Bill Graham
- Paul McCartney – introduced Tina Turner
- Mötley Crüe (Vince Neil and Tommy Lee) – presented Most Experimental Video
- Rod Stewart – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette via satellite
- Van Halen – presented Viewer's Choice
- Don Henley – presented Video of the Year