'Saturday Night' is a glorious anthem from these Auckland punk pioneers, and a classic piece of NZ rock’n’roll. An improbable ode to the joys of having “one free night a week”, it was penned by Buster Stiggs and produced by ex-Split Enzer Phil Judd (on guitar). The video, made by TVNZ, was remarkably sympathetic and, apart from lurid lighting, avoided cheap effects in favour of capturing the band’s essence. Judd and Stiggs later formed The Swingers, while this performance won singer Zero a role in the Gary Glitter stage production of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Director Chris Graham planned an ambitious video for this song, but budget and scheduling got in the way. When Graham heard TrinityRoots were disbanding, he pitched the idea of a live video at their farewell concert in the Wellington Town Hall. Mixing in footage of land and sea, the result honours one of their anthems and captures a glimpse of the original line-up in their soulful, impassioned element. TrinityRoots regrouped in 2010, but this video preserves the final moments of their first incarnation; when their one waka was turning into three.

A heartwarming tribute to the spirit of togetherness, this clip by Tim Groenendaal is a celebration of Aotearoa's many colours. Fork lift drivers, bank tellers, dairy owners and Ahmed Zaoui lend weight to the central theme: "We come from everywhere. Speak Peace and Welcome Home. Dave." Taken from 2005 album Available Light, Dave Dobbyn's paean to home has become the unofficial anthem of wistful expat Kiwis everywhere.

This Shihad classic has a classic video to match. With primary colours accentuated and the energy levels of Shihad turned up to match, the band members perform and bustle about in a film studio in one extended shot, without any edits. The time and motion tomfoolery is surely handled; someone has had the bright idea of putting developing Polaroid photos at the bottom of the frame, in order to show that the whole video is unravelling in one continuous scene. Directed by Mark Hartley, Home Again was judged Best Video at the 1998 New Zealand Music Awards.

Mixing nostalgic home movie style footage with images of Age Pryor looking slightly melancholic, this video dates from the singer's second solo release, City Chorus, released in 2003. Pryor went on to co-found the Wellington International Ukelele Orchestra, and contribute songs and vocals to ensemble album The Woolshed Sessions. 

Made by off-duty Lord of the Rings crew and directed by James Barr, this video won The Knack Award at the 2001 Flying Fish Music Awards, and was a Handle the Jandal award-winner the same year. Shot in black and white, the clip is visually strong, but contains lots of shots of the band falling from buildings, so don’t watch it if you suffer from vertigo. And please don’t try this at home! Onetime band member Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) turns up in the final stages, with an emergency bucket.

The 1986 adaptation of Murray Ball's beloved Footrot Flats comic strip was a huge hit in Aotearoa and Australia. Born from a John Barnett idea, the movie’s trailer doubled as a promo for the Dave Dobbyn-Herbs theme song: one leveraged the other. Directed by cinematographer John Toon (Rain) while the song was being recorded at Wellington's Marmalade Studios, this screened before Crocodile Dundee in Australian cinemas. The single spent four weeks atop the Aussie charts. Back home ‘Slice of Heaven’ was 1986 Song of the Year, and reached unofficial National Anthem status.

Platetechtonics continues a collaboration between Salmonella Dub and director Steve Scott. The everyman from Salmonella Dub video Problems features, in this case in a more cartoon-like form. But the cheery aesthetic belies a cautionary tale of genetic modification, mutations and monsters. A hooky brass section functions as a warning alarm for our hallucinating protagonist, shortly before monsters of his own creation overrun his Eden-like home planet. Micro and macro cross section views highlight the consequences of our scientist's wayward experiment. 

After making music overseas as part of theatre troupe Red Mole, Jan Preston and Neil Hannan headed home and founded the band that would be known as Coup D'Etat. Preston took lead vocals on this, their debut single. The video — by cinematographer Leon Narbey — sees her performing in a little red dress, while ex Hello Sailor guitarist Harry Lyon continues the colour theme. Then they head out on the highway. 'No Music on My Radio' proved a sadly apt title: local radio showed little interest. The band soon hit the airwaves (and the top 10), with 'Doctor I Like Your Medicine'. 

Dave Gibson (ex-Elemeno P) formed this indie-folk family act with his brother and wife. Now based in New York, they share centre stage with their new home in this hyperactive video for their debut single. As daily life in the Big Apple rushes past them, they busk the city’s streets and landmarks apparently unmoved by the commotion (but twitching slightly). There are unscripted cameos from a scene-hogging Batman and a courier van that gets a little too close, but the award for best supporting actor goes to a seemingly endless bottle of orange soda pop.