Music Video Directors/Iconic Music Videos

Jonas Ákerlund -
James Bond Theme - Moby
Smack My Bitch Up - The Prodigy
Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica
Beautiful Day - U2
Jump - Madonna
Telephone - Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
I Miss You - Blink-182
Me Julie - Ali G and Shaggy


Åkerlund was the drummer of the Swedish Viking/Black Metal band 'Bathory' from 1983-4. He first found fame as a music video director for Swedish pop act 'Roxette'. He became a 'mainstream' music video director when his video for The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up' sparked controversy for its depiction of drug use, nudity and violence, and has since worked with the likes of Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Blink-182, Metallica and various others.

Michael Gondry -
Hardest Button To Button - White Stripes
Mad World - Gary Jules
Fell In Love With A Girl - White Stripes
"Too Many Dicks On The Dancefloor" & "Carol Brown" - Flight of the Conchords
Human Behaviour - Bjórk
Star Guitar - Chemical Brothers
Around The World - Daft Punk
Everlong - Foo Fighters


His career as a drummer in the French rock band 'Oui Oui', for whom he also made the music videos for. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of Björk, who sought him out and asked him to direct  "Human Behaviour". He's also well known for directing films including 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' which received critical acclaim and for directing a Levi's 501 Jeans advert which, despite earning a record for the most awards won by a TV commercial, was never permitted on air due to 'suggestive content'.

Spike Jonze -
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
Oh So Quiet - Bjórk
Praise You - Fatboy Slim
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
Wonderboy - Tenacious D
Buddy Holly - Weezer


Spike Jonze has various alter egos - his birth name is Adam Spiegel and he performed in the original video for 'Praise You' under the name of Richard Koufey, before showing it to Fatboy Slim who approved of a full version. The video received awards for Best Direction, Breakthrough, and Best Choreography, at that years MTV Awards which Jonze accepted, still in character.

Weird Al Yankovic -
Does his own music videos, often directly parodies the music videos of the songs he's altered -
Fat (Bad - Michael Jackson)
Smells Like Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana)
White and Nerdy (Ridin' - Chamillionaire)


While Yankovic's parodies generally don't include references to the original songs or artists, Yankovic's music videos have a tendency to parody the original song's music video in whole or in part. Most notably, the video for "Smells Like Nirvana" uses an extremely similar set (and some of the same actors to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The two videos actually went head to head at the MTV Music Video Awards for Best Male Video!

See also - OK Go

OK Go has earned considerable fame for their creative but often low-budget music videos, most of which have been promoted through Internet video sharing sites like YouTube. Many of these have become viral videos; the 2006 video for "Here It Goes Again", in which the band performed a complex routine with the aid of motorized treadmills, has received over 50 million views four years later.
-Best Short Form Music Video (2007) for "Here It Goes Again"
-Most Creative Video (2006) for "Here It Goes Again"
-MTV Europe Music Awards:
Nominated: Best Video (2006) for "A Million Ways"
-Grammy Awards of 2012

Nominated: Best Short Form Music Video for "All Is Not Lost"

Thriller (John Landis)
 
For the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, this video won three out of six of its nominations. "Thriller" won Viewers Choice, Best Overall Performance and Best Choreography.
The music video was listed as the "Greatest Video" on VH1's "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" in 2001. MTV listed the music video as being the "Greatest Music Video Ever Made" on their list, "MTV: 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made" in 1999. In July 2011, the music video was named one of "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos" by TIME magazine.