The Art of Animation

When I was young, I listened to the radio... waiting for my favorite song...

Then came a time when we started viewing the songs on TV... 
and now we watch them on all different sizes of screens... including the mobile...

Video Killed The Radio Star... No, we're not having a discussion on the disruption of the traditional media... will save it for another day...

Today, in fact I want to appreciate a technique that has contributed to helping us enjoy our music videos... The same technique that changed cartoon strips in cartoon videos...

ANIMATION

28th October is a day set aside to celebrate the art of animation. We cannot speak of animation without a mention of the man who has played a major role in bringing it to our living rooms - Walt Disney.

To celebrate International Animation Day on this blog, I thought I'd share some of the music videos I've seen with some great animation. 

Money For Nothing - Dire Straits 

Black or White - Michael Jackson

Did you see the animated morphs at the end.

One More Time - Daft Punk

Heartless - Kanye West

Take On Me - A ha

And my favorite ANIMATION VIDEO is

Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel

If you have a favorite video that you've enjoyed the animation for... let me know... 

Leaving you with a couple more quotes to think about.

Sting 65

An all-time favorite dish of mine in a Chinese Restaurant is Chicken65. Order it in a good restaurant and you enjoy the finger-licking goodness or maybe spice. 

One of my favorite singers - and definitely the most versatile one ever - celebrated his 65 yesterday. Since the day was absolutely full of commitments and deadlines, I thought I should just squeeze in a quick wish while it is still October 2nd  in some small part of the world. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STING

Since Sting is possibly one of the most featured artistes on this blog, I thought I could just curate some of my previous posts where he is mentioned.

Gandhi Jayanti and More Birthdays

Sting shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi - a model of non-violence for Indians and others around the world.  Last year, I posted a tribute to the 'Father of the Nation' (India) besides greeting some musicians who shared the birthday including Youssou N'Dour.

Gold and Diamonds - The Highlight of Festivities

Sting's birthday also marked the start of a festive month in India with Navratri having started yesterday... and Diwali at the end of the month. A few days before Diwali, India will celebrate Dhanteras. 

Money For Nothing

Sting has a special association with Mark Knopfler on this song and was mentioned on this blog post celebrating Mark's birthday.

Around The World In 14 Songs

Just last week, we celebrated World Tourism Day... with a special mention and a song for the traveler Sting - The Englishman in New York.

Signing off with an all-time favorite from Sting with The Police - Every Breath You Take.

Money For Nothing

Just wrote a blogpost joining in the celebrations of #InternationalYouthDay today. Also got the reminder on the #MusicalBirthday for today - being among the popular artists whose songs I loved to play during my teens. 

Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler was popular in the late 70s and 80s as the leader of the Dire Straits - the band he co-founded with his brother David Knopfler. Among the top songs that I heard and loved at the time, also were very popular on the request show I handled on radio including:

Money For Nothing

Money For Nothing was the first video to be played on MTV Europe and starts with the line "I Want My MTV" featuring the voice of Sting who is credited as a co-writer. 

Walk Of Life

A standard on the jive list of most Mumbai bands in the 1980s, Walk Of Life was also the first keyboard solo I learnt to play.

Sultans Of Swing

A song for every guitarist, Sultans of Swing has a unique sound quality produced on the Fender Strat. My 13-year old guitarist son is working on this song nowadays.

Romeo and Juliet

A song about romance naming the most famous ever couple-in-love from Shakespearean times.

Cannibals

After disbanding Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler launched solo with Golden Heart. I particularly like this song which has a father-son conversation. 

There'll Be Some Changes Made

Among the many collaborations of Mark Knopfler is a beautiful one in the Country genre with Chet Atkins. I own the CD and cherish it. 

Dire Straits in Mumbai

There is a Dire Straits Tribute show in the Mumbai circuits by One Night Stand - a band comprising a batchmate from Podar College - Sarosh Izedyar - a leading lead guitarist who tours with the likes of Farhan Akhtar and Shaan. They played at the #BlueFrog in July and my sources indicate that they have another performance lined up next month... so stay tuned.