In order, in the digital era:
Gangnam Style
Party in the USA
Payphone
I Knew You Were Trouble
Fergalicious
Apologize
Bad Romance
Crazy
Pon de Replay
We Can't Stop
Bad romance is the epitome of this thread. The video was everywhere, radios were playing it, people were buying it. The only problem was these forces didn't coalesce
Paparazzi, Fergalicious, Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Get The Party Started, and The Sweet Escape's chart peaks all shocked me when I found out none went to number 1.