Have you ever heard of the band OK Go? More importantly, have you ever watched an OK Go music video? If you have, chances are you’ve seen the band’s “treadmill video.” In this now world-famous video, the four band members do an incredible choreographed dance on eight treadmills – and they record it all in one take! It’s wild!
The band has since become even more famous for their highly creative one-shot music videos that delight, awe, and inspire millions of people all over the world.
Below are the song names for some of OK Go’s best music videos. Check them out online to see why the band has become a worldwide sensation through their videos alone. There is no doubt that your spirits will be lifted after seeing the simplicity, originality, and off-the-charts creativity of OK Go.
Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself:
2006: A Million Ways
• Dance choreographed by the lead singer’s sister and performed in a backyard in one take
• Became the most downloaded music video in history with 9 million downloads in 2006
2006: Here it Goes Again
• Dance choreographed by the lead singer’s sister and performed in a spare room in her house on eight treadmills in one take
• 2007 Grammy Award for “Best Music Video”
• 2011 Time Magazine named it one of “The 30 All-Time Best Music Videos”
2010: This Too Shall Pass (Marching Band version)
• Performed with the University of Notre Dame Marching Band in one take
2010: This Too Shall Pass (Rube Goldberg Machine version)
• Half-mile-long Rube Goldberg machine engineered to operate with the song in one take
• 2010 UK Music Video Awards for “Video of the Year" and "Best Rock Video"
• 2010 LA Film Fest's Audience Award for “Best Music Video”
2014: I Won't Let You Down
• Motorized unicycles and 2,300 volunteer dancers with umbrellas are filmed in Japan using a drone in one take
From the amateur backyard dance, to the innovative treadmill routine, to an aerial shot of 1,500 colorful umbrellas…over 200 million people have viewed OK Go’s unique music videos. Because they have so many followers anxiously awaiting each video release, the band’s videos go viral within a matter of hours after release. Each video is extremely different from the last, and surprises viewers with each debut.
The band does not have the budget to produce monumental music videos like Michael Jackson’s Thriller or Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, but OK Go can still create videos that appeal to humans all over the world. They don’t need flashy cars and fancy animation but instead, they win their fans over by amusing them through simplistic elements like: color, marching bands, dominoes, dogs, etc. OK Go has been able to connect with viewers through these lower-budget videos at a more human level than many of the big pop stars of the world.
When CNN asked why their music videos have been so successful, OK Go’s lead singer, Damian Kulash, said, “Content succeeds online, because it brings people joy, it makes them smile -- it's interesting enough to be passed along to friends and family members. That's no stunt -- it's just a matter of making something that's genuine and interesting…What do you wanna pass to your best friend or your mother or your co-worker? It's joy or wonder or excitement or something that will actually make their day better.”
If you look up “Internet phenomena” on Wikipedia, OK Go videos are listed along with “Gangnam Style” and “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” The band filmed an awkward dance routine in a backyard in 2005, uploaded the video on the internet, and watched their first breakthrough song “A Million Ways” explode, all thanks to the pure and simple joy the video brought to millions.
So, why all this talk about a band and their music videos? Where’s the connection?
Like OK Go in a backyard, start-ups and small businesses have the opportunity to create world-famous products and services without big budgets, expensive websites, and flashy marketing materials. People often let fear override their ambitions and dreams. For every one fantastic product or service out there, there’s likely 10 that never see the light of day because they’re broken down in people’s minds out of fear of failure.
But, the catch is OK Go didn’t give in and fail because they didn’t let barriers of success get in the way. There is quite a parallel with Franklin Roosevelt’s famous quote, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”
Challenge yourself to create. Remove fear and just innovate. Do you think people like Jobs, Gates, or Page let the established status quo win? Absolutely not.
So ask yourself, what can you create in your backyard that will make someone smile or make someone’s day a little better…and perhaps grow a business empire at the same time?
