This collection rounds up almost every music video for a number one hit by a Kiwi artist; everything from ballads to hip hop to glam rock. Press on the images below to find the hits for each decade  — plus try this backgrounder by Michael Higgins, whose high speed history of local hits touches on the sometimes questionable ways past charts were created.  

In 1865, Wellington became the Kiwi capital. In the more than 150 years since, cameras have caught the rise and fall of storms, buildings, and MPs, and Courtenay Place has played host to vampires and pool-playing priests. Wind through our Wellington Collection to catch the action, and check out backgrounders by musician Samuel Scott and broadcaster Roger Gascoigne. 

Record label Flying Nun is synonymous with Kiwi indie music, and with autonomous DIY, bottom-of-the-world creativity. This collection celebrates the label's ethos as manifested in the music videos. Selected by label founder Roger Shepherd: "A general style may have loosely evolved ... but it was simply due to limited budgets and correspondingly unlimited imaginations."

This collection is a celebration of the eccentric, exuberant career of NZ screen industry frontrunner Tony Williams. As well as being at the helm of many iconic ads (Crunchie, Bugger, Spot, Dear John) Williams made inventive, award-winning indie TV documentaries, and shot or directed pioneering feature films, including Solo and cult horror Next of Kin.

Launched on 5 April 1976, Winners & Losers heralded a new age in Kiwi screen drama. Indie talents Roger Donaldson and Ian Mune based their tales of success and failure on New Zealand short stories, after managing to negotiate funding from various government sources. Then the pair took the series to Europe, proving there was strong overseas demand for Kiwi stories. In the backgrounders, Mune recalls the show's origins. There are also pieces on its place in local screen history, and its 2018 restoration. Plus watch two video interviews on the series.

Filmed at 2008 music jamboree Camp A Low Hum, this music video features various camp attendees dancing and singing while listening to the song on headphones. It's an infectious clip for an exuberant track, capturing the BYO DIY vibe that made the indie festival's name. 'This House Can Fit Us All' was taken from Little Pictures' only album, Owl + Owl (2008). Indie blog Bigstereo called it “perfect DIY pop, all the tracks are real gems”, while another, Panda Toes, described it as “the cutest, most fun-loving music of 2008”. The Little Pictures duo broke up the following year.

A grainy low-fi look belies the intricacies of this music video by Christchurch indie pop rockers Tiger Tones. The look of super-8 film and the bulk of the video being shot out the window of a moving car almost convince that it’s a simply recut homevideo. The subtly CG titles, slo-mo close ups of the band and lightning cuts matching the rapidly shrieking guitar suggest however, that something a bit more clever is at play. At the time of the song’s release Tiger Tunes had won Best Breakthrough Act at the 2007 bNet Awards, and were in the process of releasing their debut album.

After releasing a couple of cassettes and EPs, Hallelujah Picassos unveiled their debut album Hateman in Love in 1992, which included this single. Their genre-bending sound, incorporating elements of ska, hip-hop, punk, and indie rock made them a staple of the Auckland live scene. Frontman Roland Rorschach takes centre stage in the Bruce Sheridan directed video, performing over images of the band playing while being observed by men in white protective suits. Also featured are the talents of Greg Johnson on trumpet, and Alice Latham on saxophone.   

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.