Did you know that Eddie Van Halen plays the epic guitar solo on the Michael Jackson hit Beat it?  That one is quite legendary, but there are a lot of songs of the 80's that feature guest appearances by famous artists that you may not know about.  What are some?

If you are going to post videos, please limit to 1-2 per post.

Here is one that i never really knew about until just recently, and i grew up with this song

Ian Anderson, frontman for the legendary group Jethro Tull, plays the flute solos on the 1986 Honeymoon Suite song All along you knew.  This song was not a hit outside of Canada sadly, but it's definitely worth a listen for anyone who likes a good rock song!

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One example that readily comes to mind... on Eddie Money's 1986 hit "Take Me Home Tonight", Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes sings "Be my little baby" (from her band's 1963 hit "Be My Baby").

Sting in Dire Straights' Money For Nothing
Michael & Jermaine Jackson in Rockwell's I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me


Cat

Sting in Dire Straights' Money For Nothing



This one I always find interesting.  The "I want my MTV" lyric that Sting sings was a re-write of the chorus from the 1980 Police song Don't stand so close to me, so as a result, Sting got half the royalties of that song.  He could probably retire just from the money he made off that song lol

John Oates co-wrote and sings backup on the 1987 song Electric Blue by Icehouse.  The song became a Top 10 hit in the US and Canada in 1988. 

In 1986, Oates co-wrote, produced and sang duet vocals on a song called Love is fire by The Parachute Club.  He is not credited as vocalist on the cover of the 45 (or when the song shows up on compilation albums), but he's listed in the liner notes and appears in the video.  This one did not chart outside of Canada, but it should have.  Oates is a very good singer, and since he seldom helms lead vocals on H&O songs, it's rarely seen

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Vincent Price's talky bit on "Thriller".

Vincent Price's talky bit on "Thriller".


Earlier, Vincent Price did a similar stint on Alice Cooper's Black Widow from the Welcome to my Nightmare album.


Cat

Would you count Chevy Chase in the music video "You Can Call Me Al" with Paul Simon?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-gYOrU8bA

Would you count Chevy Chase in the music video "You Can Call Me Al" with Paul Simon?


No, because he doesn't appear on the actual song

My favorite is Aerosmith on Run-DMC's "Walk This Way" because at the time I didn't know who Aerosmith was, and I thought they were just some generic hard rock band they got for the song and video. Later I learned that Run-DMC was actually covering an Aerosmith song and that they looked so generic because so many other hard rock bands at the time had been influenced by Aerosmith.

Penn and Teller appeared in Run-DMC's It's Tricky


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Sting in Dire Straights' Money For Nothing

This one I always find interesting.  The "I want my MTV" lyric that Sting sings was a re-write of the chorus from the 1980 Police song Don't stand so close to me, so as a result, Sting got half the royalties of that song.  He could probably retire just from the money he made off that song lol


I notice that too. The "I want my (x3) MTV" even has pretty the same melody as each line of the verses from "Don't Stand So Close To Me". Of course, since Sting wrote that one, it's no surprise that he sang "new lyrics" for a different song.

Penn and Teller appeared in Run-DMC's It's Tricky
Speaking of Run DMC, they re-recorded Aerosmith's 1976 hit "Walk This Way" a decade later; their recording even featured two members of Aerosmith (Steven Tyler on guest vocals, particularly in the chorus lines; and Joe Perry on guitar); for that reason, it's considered more of a revival than a cover.

Dancing In The Dark shows Courteney Cox in the front row at a Bruce Springsteen concert.

In terms of just on the video as oppose to actually playing on the song, there is Rodney Dangerfield on Lionel Richie's Dancing on the Ceiling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovo6zwv6DX4


Cat

Dancing In The Dark shows Courteney Cox in the front row at a Bruce Springsteen concert.


But at the time was she that well known for it to count as a guest appearance?

But at the time was she that well known for it to count as a guest appearance?


This was 10 years before Friends debuted.

But at the time was she that well known for it to count as a guest appearance?

This was 10 years before Friends debuted.

According to Wiki, that was her first public appearance. That same year, she also appeared on an episode of the soap opera As The World Turns.

Actually...her appearance on As The World Turns was her TV debut; not sure if "Dancing In The Dark" was before or after then.

According to Wiki, that was her first public appearance. That same year, she also appeared on an episode of the soap opera As The World Turns.

Actually...her appearance on As The World Turns was her TV debut; not sure if "Dancing In The Dark" was before or after then.


Dancing In The Dark was in 1984.

Dancing In The Dark was in 1984.

Yes, I know that. It was also during that year when Courteney Cox made her debut on television... in the soap opera "As The World Turns", as mentioned in my previous post.