IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS ‘REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL PART 3’
Official animated lyrics video for “Reasons To be Cheerful, Pt. 3” by Ian Dury & The Blockheads Originally released as a single in July 1979 following the release of Ian Dury & The Blockheads first album Do It Yourself. The track reached number 3 in the UK chart and would go on to become one of Ian Dury & The Blockheads best known and loved recordings. We created and directed the video in collaboration with the Ian Dury Estate, as a celebration of the hit song and in the spirit of the lyrics – an anthemic ode to joy! The characters, shapes, textures and patterns you see in this video are all sourced from original drawings, illustrations and paintings, created by Ian between 1963 and 1970 during and after his time at the Royal College of Art and before he formed his first band, Kilburn and the High Roads in 1971. The typeface used in the video to illustrate the words of the lyric was created by us by reworking lettering from one of Ian’s coloured pencil drawings. Other lettering is sourced from the Letraset sheets and stencil sets that Ian used in his illustrations. The portrait photos of Ian were taken by Ian’s friend and rock photographer, Chris Gabrin who photographed Ian and his son Baxter for the iconic front cover of New Boots and Panties!! in 1977.