Music videos are a staple in popular music, mixing mediums in order to expand audience and airplay.  According to the Internet Accuracy Project, disc jockey-singer J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson first coined the term “music video” in 1959, and in the past half-decade they have become synonymous with Top 40 hits.  Unfortunately, most music videos lack imagination and consist of the artist singing/rapping in a generic party setting.  But when done right, a music video adds to the music like a dry merlot compliments a juicy New York strip.  Here are 5 music videos that I have found incredibly interesting and entertaining.  Note that this list is by no means objective; they are simply the videos I find work best with the songs they represent, and display a severe degree of creativity.

5. OK Go, “Here It Goes Again”

OK Go was a surprise hit in the mid-2000’s, with a homemade choreographed dance to “A Million Ways” going viral in 2005.  The follow up single “Here It Goes Again” followed the same pattern with a single take video of the band dancing on treadmills, and was produced by Swede Tore Johansson.  Playing off the band’s funky image, the music video for “Here It Goes Again” was a huge hit and eventually won the Grammy in 2007 for Best Short Form Music Video, as well as Most Creative Video at the 2006 Youtube Awards.  If you enjoy OK Go’s visual work, check out “A Million Ways” or “This Too Shall Pass.”

4. A-Ha, “Take On Me”

Oh how I hate this song.  The whiny 1980’s vocals, steady drums and poppy, electric keyboard embody everything I hate about that decade of music.  But damn if this isn’t a good video.  Director Steve Barron employed a technique called rotoscoping, in which live-action footage is traced over frame by frame to the drawn characters realistic motions.  The pencil sketch animation is added to nicely by the subtle shading shifts of each frame, of which there were about 3,000.  The project took 16 weeks to complete and won 6 MTV awards in 1986.  Apparently the last scene of the video is based on the film Altered States – who knew?

3. Weezer, “Buddy Holly”

Weezer found mainstream success throughout the last 20 years with smart lyrics and songs people could relate to, whether it be the getaway anthem “Island In the Sun” or the hope of a lavish lifestyle in “Beverly Hills.”  But perhaps the group’s most interesting accomplishment was the video to “Buddy Holly” in 1994.  With Spike Jonze directing, Rivers Cuomo and friends are inserted into a scene from the popular 70’s sitcom Happy Days as they put on a show at Arnold’s Drive-In for Richie, Fonzie, and the rest of the gang.  Jonze does an amazing job of working Weezer into the show, with a “To Be Continued” break halfway through the video and the band conversing with Al after their performance.  It feels like they genuinely belong in the show playing this song.

2. Michael Jackson, “Thriller”

This one’s completely expected by any self-respecting music fan.  I’m not overly fond of Michael Jackson, but not many musicians found the level of success that he did in his career, not only with his music but with their accompanying videos.  This 14-minute pop-culture classic tells the story of a young Michael Jackson who takes his date to a scary movie.  She gets scared and leaves, so Michael leaves as well and they start walking home.  As he begins to sing to her, a group of zombies surround them, resulting in Michael becoming a ghoul himself.  He and a pack of backup dancing baddies chase her to an abandoned house where they corner her.  Just as Michael grabs his date, she opens her eyes to find it was all just a nightmarish ordeal.   The end shows Michael offer to take his date home, but not before he glances back at the camera with the glowing eyes of the were-cat creature from the movie that started the music video.  It won the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video in 1985, and won a slew of MTV awards.  Also notable was the choice of John Landis (Animal House, An American Werewolf In London) to direct, as it was a rare thing for feature-film directors to foray into music videos at this time.  In 2009, “Thriller” was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, with the Registry calling it “the most famous music video of all time.”

1. Miles Fisher, “This Must Be The Place”

Twenty-eight year old Miles Fisher, a Harvard grad, is a relative unknown to mainstream audiences of film and TV.  But chances are you’ve seen him in more than one show.  Fisher has guest starred in Mad Men, Psych, and Gossip Girl.  He has also appeared in movies such as J. Edgar, Final Destination 5, and Superhero Movie (he’s in a quick segment as Tom Cruise; check it out below, it’s gold).

But what most people don’t know is that Miles Fisher is also a talented musician.  His four song, self-titled EP was released in 2009 containing three original pieces as well as a cover of the Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place.”  Three of the four songs have been made into excellent music videos, including “Don’t Let Go” with Phoebe Tonkin, but “This Must Be The Place” is far and away the best.  Dave Green directs this four-minute and thirty-eight second homage to American Psycho, with Miles Fisher portraying Patrick Bateman in an eerily similar manner to Christian Bale.  Almost every shot is a recreation of a scene from the movie, including his morning workout, the business card debate, the murder of Paul Allen, and the threesome with the prostitutes (I realize this might sound strange out of context, so if you haven’t seen American Psycho you should get on that).  But the best part of the video is when the music quiets and Fisher asks the prostitutes if they like Miles Fisher, a direct borrow from the scene in the film when Bale asks if they like Phil Collins.  As a film fan, one has to appreciate the effort Fisher puts into paying respect to one of the better psychological thrillers in recent memory

I’m sure there’s many other examples of creativity out there that I missed, so feel free to comment with the videos you think are the most innovative.