Afro Beat: A look at Africa's music and politics. It's no secret that Rock and Roll is based on African Rythyms. Africa created tempo and 4/4 time, the basis for all our generation's popular dance music. Today, another sound is coming from Africa as the world turns to the political abuses on the continent. African-born musicians are crying out for their civil rights. Featuring preeminent pan-africanist Fela, Senegalese brothers Toure Kunda, Nigerian Juju music leader King Sunny Ade, South African Apartheid activists Juluka (with Johnny Clegg) and much more. This is Night Flight at it’s absolute finest: musical, cultural and historical.

Broadcast in 1991, the same year they broke America with their steamy hit "I Touch Myself," 60 Minutes covers Australian band The Divinyls, from their controversial image to their years on the road.

In "Take Off To Crime," get ready for greed, gunshots and gangsters with David Bowie, Tony Powers, Madhouse and more... Unlock this week's video vault with Toni Basil, Paul Simon and other groundbreaking music video moments from the 80s.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's passing in 2023 has left an enormous void in the world of music, film, and beyond. Here at NF HQ, we were comforted by bittersweet arrival of a tape from the archives that includes Sakamoto's Man Ray inspired video for “Risky,” which features the inimitable croon of Iggy Pop. This "New Sounds" episode also highlights songs from ex-Go-Go's band House of Schock, The Smithereens, Pop Will Eat Itself, and more. Stick around for a New Filmmakers Showcase featuring a musical saga about a small-time hustler called Honky Tonk Bud (Scott Laster, 1986) the urban folk legend.

Tonight we’ve got a comprehensive survey of the music and visuals of Australian band INXS. (“The band from down under who've come out on top!” - Pat Prescott.) In 1983, Farriss brothers and co. came out of Sydney to become part of America’s “Aussie Invasion.” This episode tracks the band’s rise to the top with excellent visuals (like Director Richard Lowenstein's clip above), concert footage and a one-off interview with the the Farriss brothers brainstorming a future music video. Watch with us tonight.

Welcome to part 2 of Visions of Platinum! We look at the top selling artists of today (1985!). You'll see videos from best selling artists Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, ACDC, and Kiss. We also speak to the producers behind some classic records Nile Rodgers producer of David Bowie and Duran Duran, Phil Ramone, the main producer of Billy Joel and Julian Lennon, and Madonna's producer Jellybean Benitez.

Conceived by the creators of the successful USA cable program "NIGHT FLIGHT," this light-hearted, off-the-wall exposé includes the unlikely supporting cast of Queen Elizabeth, Richard Nixon, Colonel Kaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Jayne Mansfield, Margaret Thatcher, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and many more. America's Leading Man, Ronald Reagan, is the subject of this hilarious, tongue-in-cheeck scrapbook on our most colorful president. ROCKIN' RONNIe takes a deliciously irreverent look at the life and times of America's smiling hero — from smooth-talking actor to silver-tongued politician. Watch the screen as we throw darts at Ronald Reagan "the calvaryman," "the slugger," "the fighter pilot," "the priest," "the sailor," "the football player," "the Fighting Marshall," "the detergent salesman," "the gangster," "the ballroom dancer," and "The Mystery Date. With unforgettable on and off-screen bloopers as well as superb animation and puppetry, ROCKIN' RONNIE exposes Ronald Reagan like no program has ever dared. (45-minutes)

A special on legendary rock band Bauhaus, dubbed the "originators of Goth Rock," featuring interviews with members, videos from later spin-off band Love and Rockets, as well as the solo career of frontman Peter Murphy.

“What do you do when a guy puts Mayonnaise on your shoulder?... Do the Watusi!" — Howie Mandel circa 1986.  And so goes 3 minutes of towering cringe (even by '80s standards) in tonight’s "Take Off" episode to Comedy in Music Videos from 1988 that also features the legendary Max Headroom, Father Guido Sarducci, Bette Midler, Will Smith and more!

In this candid 20-minute long interview we’re exclusively sharing with you over on Night Flight Plus, Romero talks about his influences and gives a detailed account of origins of Night of the Living Dead. This segment was created by Stuart Samuels, the original writer of Night Flight, for his excellent film Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream and offers a unique look at his creative process.

“I don't need the Daytime, all I want is Nighttime.” Take off to the creation of Heaven 17’s music video for “Let Me Go” in this Night Flight special that goes on set (a closed-off train station in the middle of the night) and behind the scenes with the band. This early Night Flight Video Profile (1983) shows off an impressive suite of big budget music videos from ex-Human League synth rockers including “Penthouse and Pavement” and the German Expressionism-themed video for “Temptation.”

In this 2016 feature, 60 Minutes Australia covers the career of the singular Cyndi Lauper, from her 80s pop stardom to her career revival on Broadway. Featuring an interview with Lauper herself.

Kicking off with 1984’s “Ooh Ooh” song, Night Flight takes you on a complete tour of the artist’s numerous smash hits. Ten years before this episode aired, Benatar was “working as a bank teller and supplementing her income while singing in motel lounges,” host Pat Prescott tells us.

TV 2000 is Night Flight's spin on the top ten countdown format from 1985, hosted by comedian John Kassir & Joie Gallo. In Episode 2 of TV 2000, Bryan Adams takes us to heaven, the Eurythmics ask: "Would I lie to you?" and Lisa Robinson goes on location with Boy George and Marilyn at the "hottest new club in New York," Palladium! Commercials are included.

Episode 276. An episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring The Icicle Works, Bonnie Tyler and an interview with Brian Setzer.

This almost 2 hour special episode of Night Flight includes a documentary on filming Pink Floyd's The Wall, "They went to the stars" an excursion through 1950s space adventures ("They Went to the Stars"), videos from The Residents, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Bob Marley and so so much more...

This Night Flight original episode is part 2 of the 1983 New Year's Special. Featuring Music Videos, Video Profiles, and more. Night Flight rings in the New Year in style!

In Take Off To Self Destruction (1986), Night Flight focuses on some of the darker elements that defined the 1980s, looking at music that dealt with topics like drug abuse and crime. Featured songs like “Stop The Madness” and “Just Say No” convey a conflicted range of emotion when watched today. The videos are definitely humorous in their categorically ‘80s presentation but they also require a somber reflection of the ineffective and corrosive drug policies promoted by the Reagans. Along with artist interviews and PSA style interstitials (including a brilliant one from Frank Zappa), this episode features videos from Armband, Jazzy Jeff, Fine Young Cannibals and more. A closing video of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” for this segment proves that Night Flight was willing to take on uncomfortable topics like drug abuse and suicide with an elegance you couldn’t find anywhere else on TV at the time. That’s a fact.

Directed by Peter Litvin. Discover Hollywood's dark side.

“In 1985,” Visions host Al Bandiero says, “British rockers have held the #1 slot on the American charts for more than 8 months." With a mix of music videos, interview, and artist bios, this episode of Visions features 80s British musicians like Annie Lennox, Sade, New Order, and The Cure.

This 1988 episode of Night Flight's 'Video Flash Tracks' features looks at Australian political rockers Midnight Oil, sensual techno-pop pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Western New York's 10,000 Maniacs, "a small town band with a densley populated name," Pat Prescott says, before featuring a lost interview with Natalie Merchant. The episode's Side B is a classic Night Flight Video Vault featuring Devo, Grace Jones, and The Talking Heads.

Night Flight Plus and Mute present a special Night Flight Video Profile dedicated to the "revered countercultural musician" (The Guardian) and enduringly influential artist, Mark Stewart. Across an illustrious career that began with post-punk icons The Pop Group and evolved into a prolific solo output, Stewart produced a seminal body of work that frequently stood at the bleeding edge of genre innovation and social upheaval, while inspiring the likes of Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, and more. Stewart's ninth solo album, The Fateful Symmetry, was released by Mute in July 2025. Completed shortly before his passing in 2023, the record captures "the fearless creative energy that defined his entire career," the label says. For this special episode, the Night Flight team worked closely with Mute to highlight a collection of crucial materials from Stewart's nearly five-decade career, including a never-before-seen live performance from Mark in 2022.

“They’re the flashiest bands in Rock ’n’ Roll” Pat Prescott says at the start of tonight’s new ‘Take Off’ arrival from the archives, “Musicians who express themselves as much through packaging as playing.” What follows is a high chroma, technicolor video mix featuring Fishbone’s “Modern Industry,” We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It!, Kid Creole and The Coconuta, and more.

Side A: Welcome to New Sounds highlighting the burgeoning acts and micro-genres of the late 80s with Belgian synth act Front 242 (with a video from iconic photographer Anton Corbijn), Australian punk act Lime Spiders, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians massive hit “What I Am,” and some fantastic Joy Division inspired coldwave from Siglo XX. Side B: Time for some rapid fire Flash Tracks featuring the masters of party anarchy: Fishbone, the brilliant vocal contortionist Bobby McFerrin, and finally the big sounds from Scotland’s Big Country.

Watch the director discuss "tired" comparisons to Hitchcock, the importance of beauty in horror, and the potential pitfalls of directing music videos all while seeing pivotal scenes from Carrie, Phantom Of The Paradise, Body Double and more...

This Night Flight original episode is part 4 of the 1983 New Year's Special. Featuring Music Videos, Video Profiles, and more. Night Flight rings in the New Year in style!

Welcome back to Night Flight, in 1977 four London based musicians scraped together $180 to make a demo tape of their songs which prompted a friend to call their band "Dire Straits." Ten years later, with more than ten million albums sold Dire Straits stood at the forefront of the mid-80s music scene. Here's Night Flight's Video Profile.

Episode 286. An episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring Wang Chung, The Alan Parsons Project, and a summer movie preview.

Kicking off with a clip from the U.S. Senate's 1985 "Porn Rock" hearings, Night Flight Takes Off to Right-Wing Rock in this classic episode. "Parents hate it and politicians ban it, but ironically today's Rock is not the subversive cry of revolutionaries it once was..." Pat Prescott laments, while pointing to the right-wing co-option of rock in the '80s. The episode weaves a unique tongue and cheek video playlist featuring Van Halen/Blue Angels, the "Top Gun" Anthem, Christian Rockers Stryper and unabashed capitalist image makers Sigue Sigue Sputnik's homage to the Military Industrial Complex "Love Missile F1-11."

“Rock ’n’ Roll has always had a strong political perspective,” says Night Flight host Pat Prescott introducing a politically-charged "Take Off" episode from 1985. The quintessentially '80s video mix starts with a puppet caricature of Reagan from the British TV series "Spitting Image," leading into a compilation of music videos (with some definitely carrying a stronger political resonance than others.) Featuring Culture Club's "The War Song," Eurythmics' "Sex Crime" theme from the film 1984, the socially conscious montage of Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had A Rocket Launcher," and The Specials' (then known as Special AKA) anti-apartheid anthem "Free Nelson Mandela." Concluding the episode is a brief cooking segment featuring our beloved (and oft-mortally wounded) friend, Mr. Bill!

A politically charged mini-ep of Night Flight, featuring polemics from artists such as Billy Bragg and X as well as spoken word from William S. Burroughs.

Episode 278. An episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring George Clinton, Tony Carey, Tracey Ullman, and more.

This first part of this classic Night Flight broadcast from 5/6/88 features music videos from legendary British goth rockers Bauhaus and their spin-off group Love and Rockets along with dark entries from singer-gone-solo Peter Murphy. Videos from the Attic revives several classics from Blancmange, Eurythmics, Billy Idol, Fine Young Cannibals, Peter Gabriel, and More.

Visions was an original series of 'Yesterday and Today' type music video features covering Sting, Beach Boys, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and David Bowie/Mick Jagger. Hidden David Lynch interview inside as well!

Hosted by Judy Tenuta, Night Flight's 6th Anniversary special from 1987 relives some of the best segments from Night Flight's history including moments from Mr. Bill, J-Men, Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, Tunnel Vision, and more. Make sure to stick around for a classic Tenuta accordion set to close out the evening!

This sexy Short Cut compiles music videos and interviews featuring the most transgressive figures in the business, including Prince, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Queen.

Geneva Jacuzzi is well known for her uncompromisingly obtuse synth-driven pop and one-of-a-kind performance art that is comprised of one time only spectacles and installations. Her works have been presented in famous art institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA, The Broad Museum, Vooruit, Kampnagel, and numerous other venues across the globe. Her videos and live performances depict the shattering of self into a variety of personas, all played by Jacuzzi. Introducing Geneva Jacuzzi's Lamaze Video Special. From Geneva Jacuzzi herself: "Ever see a video materialize into human flesh? Its not a pretty picture. It takes time and money and 12 epic music music videos simultaneously broadcasting life into the first non-dimensional humanoid born in "video-vitro" Set in a Bozzio Bizaro Video Laboratory, Geneva Jacuzzi (a chronic procrastinator/still in video form) was late to the flesh party. Trapped inside a TV screen, she does her best to host the video special while her newly materialized body struggles to come to life. Watch the drama unfold around 12 surreal and colorful music videos from the album "Lamaze"." It's Frankenstien meets Cronenberg meets MTV in the Future Past. And the music is really cool too. Enjoy.