Phil Sansom, one half of the directing duo Diamond Dogs (with Olly Williams) behind excellent videos for The Hoosiers, Sonny J, The Cribs, Maximo Park and many more - and demon drummer in Eighties tribute band Philthy Collins (with Olly again, and Dougal Wilson) - now presents the videos that have inspired him. It's a veritable treasure-trove of all-time greats.

Incidentally, Phil and Olly have been away from videos for a while while they work on a follow-up to their hugely successful first short film The Black Hole, which won the Virgin Media Short Film grand prize last year, and has notched an incredible four million views on YouTube in just three months. Here are a few videos that have stuck in my mind for one reason or another over the years - hope you enjoy:

A-Ha - Take On Me (Steve Barron) This is one of the first videos I can remember watching on Top Of The Pops and thinking how clever it was. Apparently they had three months to do the animation - if only things were like that today!

[googlevideo width="400" height="326"]http://video.google.com/videoplaydocid=379399441132904905[/googlevideo]

Devo - Whip It Genius. Great hats, crazy outfits and amazing whip skills too.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Xbt30UnzRWw[/youtube]

Kraftwerk - The Robots Man as Machine, they made some pretty creepy images. It definitely looked unique the first time I saw it, they also invented the drum machine and thats a great achievement in any case.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=VXa9tXcMhXQ[/youtube]

Bjork - All Is Full Of Love (Chris Cunningham) A stunning piece of design, art direction and direction. This video pioneered a combination of music and art in a way which has rarely been matched since. Watching this fuelled a passion for music video as an art form and got me asking the question - how the hell did they do that Amazing effects work!

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=EjAoBKagWQA[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=VfAuFAgHpzc[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=mIYFT2mPT7E[/youtube]

Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar (Michel Gondry) The synergy of image and music is a wonderful thing, in my opinion never better executed than here.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=CBgf2ZxIDZk[/youtube]

Radiohead - No Surprises (Grant Gee) Thom Yorke's intensity and the confines of the image make this truly captivating. Minimal perfection.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=qqsyXdj_p_I[/youtube]

Bjork - Its Oh So Quiet (Spike Jonze) This is simply a lot of fun to watch. The extraordinary in the everyday, brilliantly choreographed in a carnival for the camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=mGmQXX4gSXI[/youtube]

Guns & Roses - November Rain (Andy Morahan) When you grow up watching massive rock bands playing huge concerts, spending a fortune and getting messed up - naturally thats want you want to do too. This video was ridiculous when it came out and has lost none of its overblown audacity with time.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=siBoLc9vxac[/youtube]

Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be (Michel Gondry) This is in my opinion probably the greatest music video of all time and speaks for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Hmpxsk3dHaA[/youtube]

And finally: three of the best...

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Ln6b_nBM-V8&eurl[/youtube]