New Videos from Suzi Shelton & Tim Kubart and The Oot n' Oots

I was part of the inaugural "MTV Generation," where suddenly every song became more important and exciting if there was an amazing video that accompanied it. Bands like Duran Duran are remembered by people "my age" as much for the music as the iconic imagery for "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf."

Smash-cut to 30 years later and kids are more sophisticated at a younger age. The kids from my generation now have their own kids. And the musicians are coming up with more strategies to energize their videos.

Suzi Shelton and Tim Kubart have chosen the "live plus animation" route for the video of their song, "The Grass Is Always Greener," from Suzi's most recent CD, HAND IN HAND.  Ostensibly a "green screen video," it features Tim and Suzi with her bandmates/producers Greg Mayo and Dan Weiner. The artwork was created by her husband Dave Mitri, who originally drew the backgrounds as part of an upcoming coloring book. Anyway here it is, for your enjoyment:

Canada's The Oot n' Oots are a wacky pack of brothers. If you missed their CD, ELECTRIC JELLYFISH BOOGALOO, then you just weren't paying attention to children's music this year.

The band has crafted a kitchen-set video for their song, "I Like It Saucy," featuring Ezra Cipes, his 11-year-old daughter Ruth, and his three brothers Cipes brothers and an extremely odd chef (Dean Bareham, artistic director of Calgary's Green Fools Theater). Be prepared; the recipes are not for the faint of heart: