Which music video won MTV’s first Video of the Year award at the 1984 Video Music Awards?
Answer
You Might Think
The Cars’ “You Might Think” won MTV’s first Video of the Year award at the 1984 Video Music Awards.
The video used playful surreal effects, including shots of singer Ric Ocasek appearing in unexpected places and forms. Its imaginative visual style helped establish the early Video Music Awards as a showcase for ambitious music-video production.
The Cars competed against major videos including Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” “You Might Think” also won the award for Most Experimental Video at that ceremony.
The award is sometimes confused with the first MTV Video Music Award ever presented. The 1984 ceremony included many categories, but Video of the Year was the event’s top general music-video honor. The Cars’ victory made the band’s video the inaugural winner of the category, which later became one of MTV’s best-known annual awards.