00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those evergreen videos
00:07that outshine their songs.
00:17Number 10.
00:18Wrecking Ball – Miley Cyrus It was the controversial Terry Richardson
00:27who was behind the director's chair for Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.
00:31The visual aesthetic is a striking homage to Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares
00:36to You alongside equally memorable sequences featuring Cyrus with a sledgehammer and yes,
00:42a wrecking ball.
00:51The song itself is great, but the lighting and framing of Wrecking Ball created a number
00:55of images that went on to become indelibly linked with Cyrus' early success as an artist.
01:02And Miley's fans probably never forgot the first or hundredth time they watched this
01:08video.
01:14Number 9.
01:15Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz The very fact that Gorillaz is a virtual animated
01:27band probably destined their music videos to become equally imaginative and strange.
01:33The clips for both Stylo and their breakthrough hit Clint Eastwood represent the creativity
01:37of Gorillaz in a huge way.
01:42There's a lot of clever references to classic horror cinema from Dead Alive and Resident
01:50Evil to George A. Romero's original Dawn of the Dead.
01:53There's a seemingly endless amount of ideas Gorillaz have employed over the course of
01:58their over 15 year career.
02:01Clint Eastwood was, for many, their first taste of this weird and wild world.
02:13Number 8.
02:14Virtual Insanity – Jamiroquai The music video medium is designed to capture
02:18our attentions and imaginations while also selling us on the music at hand.
02:29Jamiroquai are still going, but many fans of a certain age will always associate this
02:34British group with their groundbreaking video for Virtual Insanity.
02:43The kinetic energy of the clip is captured by singer JK's endless motion on a series
02:48of travelators.
02:49His running, walking, and dancing are front and center and impossible to ignore.
02:56It's the sort of music video that instantly makes its mark, as if it knew it was destined
03:05to break the mold.
03:13Number 7.
03:14Telephone – Lady Gaga Featuring Beyoncé The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the rise
03:20of Gaga and the return of the music video as high concept art.
03:32Videos for both Bad Romance and Telephone were mini-movies during an era where the continued
03:37relevance of the music video was being called into question.
03:45Director Jonas Ackerlund was no stranger to this medium either, having helmed music videos
03:50for artists as varied as Madonna and Robbie Williams to Metallica and Satiricon.
03:55Telephone as a result is psychedelic and technicolored camp at its finest.
03:59Homages to the women in prison exploitation film genre are juxtaposed against Gaga and
04:05Beyoncé's rockstar swagger.
04:11Honestly we challenge just about anyone to separate the Telephone music video from the
04:16song.
04:21Number 6.
04:22All The Small Things – Blink-182 The boy band era was at its apex around the
04:28time pop-punk stars Blink-182 released their music video for All The Small Things.
04:40The group's videos have always been known for their irreverent nature and this one is
04:45no exception.
04:52All The Small Things delights in parodying all the pop star cliches and stereotypes of
04:57the day, although the video stops just shy of feeling malicious or mean-spirited.
05:09It all feels like harmless fun at the end of the day, although All The Small Things
05:13is almost too funny.
05:15The video was so popular that it overshadowed the memorable hooks and cheeky lyrics in the
05:20tune.
05:26Number 5.
05:27Gangnam Style – Psy The K-pop subculture is obviously big business
05:32these days, but it was also a cult sensation when Psy hit it big with Gangnam Style back
05:37in 2012.
05:46There was a sort of curiosity attached to the video, which went viral and exposed itself
05:51– pun intended – to a lot of people who lived outside of K-pop's immediate sphere
05:55of influence.
06:04Psy was destined to be a one-hit wonder in areas like North America, but what a hit Gangnam
06:09Style was, right?
06:16Die-hard and casual pop fans alike couldn't escape this video.
06:20They liked it, shared it, and talked about it – due at least, in part, to the accompanying
06:25dance craze.
06:29Number 4.
06:31Single Ladies – Put A Ring On It – Beyonce Do we blame the Single Ladies hand dance for
06:45overshadowing any other physical gesture associated with this Beyonce song?
06:50Maybe.
06:51And the tune immediately does stand on its own alongside the singer's numerous other
06:55hits.
07:01That said, the internet was much more obsessed with a video of Single Ladies – Put A Ring
07:06On It – rather than the song's melodies or hooks.
07:12Heck, former first lady Michelle Obama even famously did the Single Ladies dance alongside
07:17James Corden during an episode of his Carpool Karaoke series.
07:21It's easy, fun, and nobody ever has to worry about the audience not understanding the reference.
07:31Number 3.
07:32Here It Goes Again – OK Go The prevalence of people dancing on the internet
07:37is inescapable these days.
07:45From impressively choreographed line dances to cringeworthy TikTok nonsense, social media
07:51is chocked full of dancing fools.
07:59OK Go were sort of ahead of the curve in this regard, specifically with their music videos
08:04for songs like Upside Down and Inside Out, and especially Here It Goes Again.
08:15The latter in particular was designed to be shared online, since the treadmill dance routine
08:20just has to be seen to be believed.
08:23The single-shot, one-take clip took OK Go 17 tries to get right, but the end result
08:28went on, for better or worse, to define their career as a pop act.
08:39Number 2.
08:40Take On Me – Aha It can be tough living ahead of your time.
08:45Norway's Aha earned international acclaim with the then-revolutionary rotoscoping effects
08:50featured in their second video for Take On Me.
09:01This extremely popular video made the rounds on MTV and was Aha's break in America.
09:06The narrative here is simple, yet effective, and captures the song's kinetic energy.
09:16Take On Me actually featured an earlier, more direct band performance video, but it
09:21was this second one that would forever symbolize Aha's international success.
09:32The group would continue to earn acclaim abroad, but North American fans will probably never
09:37be able to separate Take On Me from this iconic video.
09:52Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:57The Rain, Supa Dupa Fly, Missy Misdemeanor Elliott, Hype Williams' visuals, and that
10:02blow-up suit.
10:11Hurt – Johnny Cash A beautifully melancholic video makes us
10:15forget about Nine Inch Nails.
10:22Always – Bon Jovi This band was always cinematic, but always
10:27goes for broke.
10:35Hotline Bling – Drake Memed to death.
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11:03Weapon Of Choice – Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, has
11:09nothing to prove with regards to his cult music taste.
11:12His knowledge of groovy music influenced hits like Weapon Of Choice.
11:18However, the average MTV viewer back in 2001 probably didn't have a clue about Fatboy
11:26Slim's career or pedigree.
11:28All we knew was that Weapon Of Choice was the music video that featured Christopher
11:32Walken dancing.
11:42The video was yet another example of Spike Jonze's brilliance, as he guides a lighter-than-air
11:47Walken around a hotel lobby.
11:56Weapon Of Choice was certainly strange, but it helped earn Fatboy Slim another hit.
12:06How important are music videos in the modern day?
12:10Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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