Talking Heads 'Cities'

I was blown away by the terrific new video for Talking Heads' Psycho Killer. That made me think about the handful of music videos I've made. It can be a creative medium.

Some of my favorites have included Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer and Digging in the Dirt, which still feel boundless in their imagination. Tim Pope's videos for The Cure are wonderfully inventive, especially Closer and Love Cats. Michael Jackson's Thriller was a big influence. David Fincher also rewrote the book in classic videos for Aerosmith, Madonna, and George Michael. And Chris Cunningham blew the doors off with Aphex Twin and Bjork.

Talking Heads had some brilliant videos, especially Once in A Lifetime and Burning Down the House, and they were a favorite band in my youth. A few years ago, I was walking my dog, listening to their 1979 album Fear of Music, when inspiration struck. I rushed home and started downloading images. By the end of the day, this was the result.

Cities had always haunted me, and something about it hit a nerve. I grabbed 240 photos of 23 metropolises – in alphabetical order: Angkor Wat, Athens, Bam, Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Dubai, Kabul, London, Machu Picchu, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, New York City, Oyotunji, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, São Paulo, Shanghai, Tapagó, Tokyo, Warsaw – and threw them together with the music. Decided to brush that off today.

(click above to play)