Removing live shows from the shortlist (because a crowd of screaming fans looks the same in Anchorage as it does in Adelaide, right?), we’ve put together 10 classic videos you might have forgotten were filmed Down Under.

Phil Collins  - Take Me Home (1985) 

In between “Take Me Home” sequences of Phil in front of Buckingham Palace, the Eiffel Tower and the Hollywood sign, you’ll also see shots from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens. With an exotic list of destinations also including Stockholm, San Francisco and Bremen, it was filmed on location during Phil’s massive No Jacket Required Tour of 1985. It was nominated for an MTV Award in 1986 for Best Male Video, but lost out to Robert Palmer and his foxy “Addicted To Love” minxes.

Blur – MOR (1997)

Filmed in Sydney, the video for Blur’s third single lifted from their self-titled album didn’t actually feature the UK band, but did include a brief appearance by actor Noah Taylor, who went on to appear in far bigger budgeted productions including Game Of Thrones, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and Vanilla Sky.

Supergrass – Sun Hits The Sky (1997)

The video accompanying the third single from the Oxford act’s second album In It For The Money was filmed during a break in their 1997 Big Day Out schedule. The outback scenes of “Sun Hits The Sky” were directed by award-winning UK duo Dom & Nic, whose brother Danny Goffey was the drummer in the group.

Coldplay – A Sky Full Of Stars (2014)

Unhappy with the first attempt at a video for their Ghost Stories single, the UK band took matters into their own hands while on a tour stop in Sydney. Filmed guerrilla-style in Newtown, the band put the call out on social media 12 hours ahead of filming for extras to join them in the video. Around 250 fans gathered around the band for the final scene at the I Have A Dream mural on King Street.

Elvis Costello – I Wanna Be Loved (1984)

Described in his autobiography Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink as “one of the few such short films I actually like”, “I Wanna Be Loved” was filmed by Evan English in a photo booth in Flinders Street Station, Melbourne.

The Darkness – Love Is Only A Feeling (2004)

Another video shot during a break in Big Day Out shows, UK glam revivalists The Darkness managed to get some sightseeing into their Australian tour schedule in 2004. Filmed at Blue Mountains locations including the Jenolan Caves, Wentworth Falls and Walls Lookout, it’s a great looking video which the NSW Tourism Commission would surely have loved. 

Foo Fighters – Big Me (1996)

Setting a standard for witty and clever music videos, Dave Grohl’s fledgling Foo Fighters filmed their Mentos parodying “Big Me” clip in Sydney. Lifted from the band’s self-titled debut album, the resulting video was a popular addition to MTV and won Best Group Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

Duran Duran – Union Of The Snake (1983)

Conceived by Highlander director Russell Mulcahy, who had also shot Duran Duran’s quintessential 80s yuppie video “Rio”, “Union Of The Snake” was shot in sand dunes near Cronulla. While the song was based around one of the UK act’s less memorable choruses, they spared no expense on “Union Of The Snake”’s post-apocalyptic Mad Max-esque world. 

David Bowie – China Girl (1983)

While “Let’s Dance” has long been recognised as a classic Australian-shot video, David Bowie’s “China Girl” was also shot by “Let’s Dance”’s director David Mallet around the same time. Featuring the Chinatown area of Sydney’s Dixon Street and harbour scenes (including Bowie ‘playing’ double bass on the Man O’War Steps adjacent to the Opera House), the Iggy Pop cover also includes a regrettable scene of Bowie laughing while pulling ‘Chinese/Japanese’ faces. Bonus fact: Bowie and the featured model Geeling Ng had a brief relationship following the filming of the 1983 video.

2 Unlimited – The Magic Friend (1992)

How? Why? This lamentable pop act from the early 90s might be long forgotten, but this video’s backdrops, the impressive geological locations of Western Australia’s Wave Rock and the Pinnacles, still stand strong. UK director David Betteridge was obviously going for scenes that looked like an outer space location – it’s a pity the budget didn’t extend to shooting the German duo into orbit instead…