By A SHOOT Staff Report

With 2021 about to enter the proverbial rearview mirror, it’s time for reflection on varied fronts, including assessing what work was among the year’s most worthwhile creatively. 

Determining any year’s “best” is a highly subjective proposition so SHOOT staffers looked to at least narrow the field by first culling through out weekly Top Spots as well as our “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery entries throughout 2021. We then added to the field select pieces of work that might have fallen through the cracks and not earned weekly Top spot (perhaps beaten out by another piece in a given week) or “Best Work” distinction yet which we had covered extensively in other stories during the course of the calendar year.

We also reviewed the year’s quarterly Top Ten Tracks and VFX/Animation charts, ultimately choosing a Top Five for the music and visual effects/animation disciplines. 

Here’s a rundown of what rated at the top in 2021, with our #1 entries for Top Spot and The Best Work You May Never See each connecting to what we’ve lost and learned as a result of the COVID pandemic.

Top Spots of the Year
Publicis Groupe-owned Power of One (PG One), Singapore, and director Anand Gandhi of Memesys studios, teamed on a four-minute film for Procter & Gamble’s Vicks that honors the sacrifice and determination of doctors and healthcare workers who’ve been leading the charge against COVID-19. Paying tribute to doctors in India on National Doctors’ Day 2021, the film titled Care Lives tells the real-life extraordinary story of the late Dr Dnyaneshwar Bhosale. The tribute is part of Vicks’ third iteration of the #TouchOfCare campaign.

Heading the Top Spot parade for 2021, this film takes viewers on the inspiring journey of Dr Bhosale’s selfless acts of care, as he left no stone unturned to ensure many less fortunate children received life-saving medical attention during the pandemic. Gone too soon, Dr Bhosale left behind his wife, kids, and his dreams of building his own pediatric hospital. The film is a solemn reminder that like Dr Bhosale, hundreds of doctors lost their lives during the pandemic, leaving their families and dreams behind.

Vicks has also pledged to support Mrs. Bhosale to help build a pediatric hospital in memory of her husband. Committed to making a meaningful difference and step up as a #ForceforGood, Vicks continues to support India’s fight against COVID-19 through P&G India’s Suraksha initiative. Under this initiative, P&G recently contributed towards 1 million vaccination doses for 500,000 citizens in partnership with state governments and local authorities, addressing in their own way what we’ve lost, learned and gained during the pandemic.

Our #2 pick for the year’s best work is a Super Bowl spot from Toyota, “Upstream,” directed by Tarsem via RadicalMedia. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi in partnership with Dentsu, the :60 centers on the journey of paralympian Jessica Long, a Team Toyota athlete. We see Long swimming through milestone scenes over the course of her life, starting with a depiction of the Russian orphanage from which she was adopted. The camera then cuts to her parents (played by actors) receiving the emotional call that they would be adopting a baby girl, but with the news that her legs would need to be amputated due to a rare condition. The scenes following show a young swimmer depicting Jessica, hands on hips ready to compete, knowing she’s different from other children, yet remaining resilient. The spot continues with Jessica competing in her quest to greatness, overcoming all obstacles as she becomes a Paralympic legend. “Upstream” wraps with the supered message and voiceover, “We believe there is hope and strength in all of us.”

Taking third place in our Top Spot countdown is Change The Ref’s “The Lost Class,” a piece which helps us remember that due to gun violence, 3,044 students did not graduate this year. Directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man for Leo Burnett, the film takes us to a graduation ceremony featuring a most unlikely commencement speaker–David Keene, former president and current board member of the NRA. The NRA has used its power and influence to block stronger background checks and common-sense gun reform which could have saved many of these graduates’ lives. 

Keene believed his speech was for the graduation ceremony of a local Las Vegas high school, James Madison Academy. Instead Keene comes out onto the stage to find himself addressing thousands of empty chairs about the bright futures they would never have. Had he conducted a background check on James Madison Academy, Keene would have found out that the school is fake–the creation of Change The Ref, Leo Burnett and director Buckley.

“Graduation day is meant to symbolize potential and achievement. But for this group of students, it’s become a day to wonder what the rest of their lives would have looked like,” said Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was one of the 17 victims in the Parkland massacre. Manuel co-founded Change the Ref with his wife Patricia in Joaquin’s memory. “Let’s not lose another class of students to the gun violence epidemic. Let’s demand that we make graduating America’s children more important than gaining uninhibited access to guns.”

Gun violence is the leading cause of death among middle and high school students. Despite much of the country being shut down, 2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades, and so far the U.S. was exceeding that pace through the first five months of 2021–right before the June graduation depicted in this film. Using CDC data, the size of The Lost Class was estimated by compiling firearm deaths, by age, since 2003 and matching it to the grade that the Class of 2021 was in at the time.

While gun violence may have stolen their futures, Change the Ref is making sure members of The Lost Class can still make their voices heard by urging the government to require universal background checks on gun sales.

The #4 entry in our countdown is from feature filmmaker Lulu Wang (The Farewell). Wang directed a short film, titled Nian, for Apple which was shot entirely on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. The 11-minute film introduces us to a brave girl who seeks out the feared forest beast Nian. When coming face to face with him, she discovers that he is quite different than she imagined. Her adventure shows us the beauty of facing one’s fears.

Wang related, “As a child, my parents wanted me to go further than they have ever gone. And yet there’s also this fear that I was going into the unknown, and so I wanted to bring that theme into this film.”

Iconoclast was the production house on Nian for TBWA/Media Arts Lab Shanghai.  Wang and her team worked on the film remotely from the U.S. with a mirror crew on the ground in China, owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Nian continues a tradition of Apple Shot on iPhone films marking the Chinese New Year. Prior films include Three Minutes in 2018, The Bucket the next year, and Daughter in 2020.

Wang shared, “I hope when audiences realize that we shot it on iPhones, they will feel empowered. They don’t have to wait for permission to go out and make things.”

And rounding out our Top Spot fab five is Procter & Gamble’s “Widen the Screen,” a film from Grey and WPP’s Cartwright agency, with a call to action to present a more balanced, dynamic and joyful view of Black life beyond common stereotypes. 

The film, created and produced by a team of largely Black creators, ends with the line, “Let’s widen the screen to widen our view.” It challenges the expectations viewers have from the portrayal of Black life often seen on the screen.

Directed by Kevin Wilson, Jr. via production house Chelsea Pictures, the film is part of P&G’s major new initiative to challenge racial bias and racism on the screen. The initiative includes an expanded content creation, talent development and partnership platform to support Black creators across the advertising, film and TV industry. 

“Best Work” gallery
As alluded to earlier, like our #1 Top Spot, the entry marking the best work of our “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery in 2021 had a pandemic theme–but with a Christmas tinge. German discount retailer PENNY’s holiday film centers on a mother’s wish for her son. At first, it seems like the antithesis of what a parent would want. She’d like to see her boy sneaking out at night surreptitiously, neglecting school, celebrating wild house parties and having his heart broken. But when put in the context of a pandemic—during which he couldn’t have those growing pains and growing up experiences–mom’s heartfelt desire for him to catch up on life rings lovingly true.

Titled "The Wish," this spot from agency Serviceplan Campaign in Munich was directed by Marcus Ibanez of Iconoclast. Christoph Everke, creative managing director of Serviceplan Campaign, commented: “During the last two years, much has been said about older people, parents, home office and care, and rightly so–children and young people had no voice. We want to change all that with the mother’s unusual wish, the impressive and sensitive images, the unbelievable acting of the performers and the song which the lead actor sings at the end.”

The #2 slot is filled by Air Canada’s “‘Tis the Season to Believe,” another Xmas 2021 spot that has a pandemic bent as it shares a message of togetherness for the first holiday many Canadians will spend together in two years. Just like so many of us who have been apart, feeling like we have been living in a bubble, the video shares a story of two people who are separated by their glass snow globe. The commercial is a mix of live-action and stop motion animation, a first for Air Canada. The spot was created by FCB Canada in partnership with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, a collective of artists, ideators, animators, and creators, who are best known for their Emmy-winning series, Robot Chicken on Adult Swim, now in its 11th season. 

The story begins with an Air Canada employee (played by a real Air Canada pilot) bringing a snow globe home for her son to add to his collection. Through his imagination, the snow globes come to life, and two strangers from different snow globes meet. We follow along as their affection grows and learn why being together is so special.

Nestling in third place in our Best Work You May Never See rundown is the Danish Ministry of Transportation’s “Helmets Have Always Been A Good Idea” PSA. Ad agency &Co./NoA Denmark and director Tore Frandsen of production house new-land poke gentle fun at those motorcyclists too vain to wear a helmet by recruiting a group that wore theirs with bride, the Vikings. This slice of Viking life in the year 893 features a warrior on horseback who resists wearing a helmet because it makes his scalp itch–not to mention it ruins his braids. But before he goes off to invade England, his family besieges him to play it safe. His wife tells him he can loot and pillage all he wants–as long as he puts on a helmet. He finally relents under pressure from his loved ones and comrades in arms.

Taking the #4 position for the year is Education Above All (EAA)’s “Calling Attendance.”  A global foundation protecting the right of children and youth to quality education, EAA and its agency Across the Pond highlighted in this piece the deliberate attacks on children’s education around the world. The public service film debuted on Sept. 9 to coincide with the UN’s annual International Day to Protect Education from Attack, to draw attention to the plight of more than 75 million three-to-18-year-olds living in 35 crisis-affected countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, the Philippines, Sudan and Ukraine, and their urgent need for educational support. 

“Calling Attendance” shows a school teacher calling out names from the register. As she calls out each name, the children answer “here”–but not from the classroom. Across the Pond also produced the spot, with Nathan Sam Long directing.

And settling into fifth place is a film from agency Happiness Brussels (part of the FCB family) that delves into the “ReStory” project supported by Canon. The initiative is designed to help Belgium recover from the toll taken by the devastating floods that took place in mid-July. Wallonia in Belgium, and more specifically the province of Liège, was among the worst hit. Excessive rains caused the Vesdre, Ourthe and Meuse rivers to no longer be able to contain the huge quantities of water they carried. Literally everything was washed away: 224,000 houses damaged or destroyed, 12,000 cars damaged, and countless pieces of furniture ruined. Unfortunately, many lives were lost as well. Since then and until today, the region is still suffering from this flood trauma.

Also damaged were photographs which carried deep emotional value. The memories linked to these photos are priceless. Thousands of photos were severely damaged by the sudden and rapid flooding. With the backing of Canon, the “ReStory” project aims to restore as many photos as possible–representing a small but valuable contribution to the emotional recovery of the region.

Geoffrey Hantson, chief creative officer of Happiness Brussels, related, “During the huge clean-up, we saw some very emotional interviews on the TV news. Many victims said that the floods wiped out not only whole neighborhoods, but also thousands of memories. Among them: thousands of photos washed away or severely damaged. Of course, the severity is incomparable to the number of lives lost, and incomparable to the financial losses, but the emotional value of these photos is nonetheless very high. And there’s where we could help, together with Canon and other partners, to restore as many of the damaged photographs as possible. To contribute in a small but relevant way to the emotional recovery of the region.”

The restoration of the images is a joint initiative between Canon, the “Object Care” laboratory and numerous volunteer digital retouchers. The photographs are restored to their original state as far as possible, using a drying and smoothing process, followed by manual digital corrections. 

This short film was directed and edited by Simon Schuurman of Happiness.

VFX/Animation
A decade after his double Cannes Grand Prix-winning stop-motion short, “Back to the Start,” changed the global conversation around animal welfare, director Johnny Kelly of Nexus Studios recently returned with a continuation of the farming family epic with the focus this time on human welfare. Teaming up with the ad agency Observatory and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, “A Future Begins” is told through exceptionally crafted stop-motion and set to a stellar soundtrack by Grammy-award winning singer, Kacey Musgraves. The singer reimagined a Coldplay classic 10 years after Willie Nelson’s groundbreaking cover.

Chipotle’s “A Future Begins” tops our 2021 lineup of VFX/Animation Char entries. This love letter to the patchwork quilt of family-run farms that make up Chipotle’s supply chain follows the four-season structure with meticulous craft and storytelling at its center. Viewers follow our now aging Pa from the original film struggling with the farm as his Son studies in the city. The tale of hope concludes with the Son returning to the now “for sale” farm, reviving it with sustainability and technology on his side reaffirming Chipotle Cultivate Foundation’s ongoing pledge to support the next generation of farmers.

The production consisted of 10 different sets, featuring 82 tiny resin puppets including 12 sheep, 10 cows, 12 pigs, 10 chickens, 12 farm helpers, 10 characters on campus and 16 audience members all captured in one fluid camera move. Director Kelly’s commitment to authenticity ensured only real world farming techniques used by Chipotle suppliers were depicted. These include solar panels to provide shade for animals, plots of land dedicated to rewilding, and polytunnels to cover Chipotle’s traffic light crop of peppers. 

Kelly shared, “It’s a rare opportunity to be handed the keys to a two-minute stop motion epic, so I was delighted to be able to get the band back together for a sequel. I still love the simplicity of ‘Back to the Start’ but 10 years on the world is a more complicated place (to put it mildly) and it would have felt reductive to remake the last film. In order to work in 2021 this needed further complexity and scale. More nuanced performance. More geographic authenticity. And more dog. At their heart however, the two stories complement each other; the last one was about animal welfare and the thrust of this story is human welfare.”

Taking the second VFX/Animation slot is “Time Flies,” a watercolor style animated film that celebrates the work of the U.K.’s largest nature conservation charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Bristol, U.K.-based studio Aardman teamed with agency creative specialists Catsnake on the :60 PSA.

Catsnake’s brand research for the RSPB gleaned that the charity’s target audience has an inherent connection to the nature that surrounds them, and a profound appreciation of this connection’s importance to our collective future. Catsnake developed the “Time Flies” creative to capture this feeling, using the central metaphor of a baby blue tit separated from its parents, before finding its way home–along the way encountering man-made obstacles that have sprung up over the years–to illustrate that although we have become disconnected from the natural world over time, the RSPB is working tirelessly to help us rebuild this vital bond so that one day people and nature can truly thrive together. Catsnake felt the most effective way to capture the beauty and majesty of nature, over hundreds of years, was through the medium of animation and the watercolor design was established to provoke feelings of nostalgia with the viewer–the hand-crafted aesthetic connecting beautifully with the organic nature of the story. Working collaboratively with director Bram Ttwheam and the team of expert artists at Aardman, the stunning film was brought to life.

Earning distinction as the #3 entry is a film featuring Kiyan Prince, a football prodigy who was stabbed and killed at the age of 15 while trying to stop another child from being bullied. Prince was brought back to virtual life this year on the 15th anniversary of his death in a groundbreaking anti-knife crime campaign. In this piece, Prince makes news now when he signs with a football team and given the squad number “30” to reflect the age he would be today. He is also introduced as a playable character in the major video game, EA Sports’ FIFA 21. In addition, Match Attax has issued a Prince playing card and brands, including adidas, are sponsoring him.

The campaign, called “Long Live the Prince,” is created by ENGINE Creative on an entirely pro-bono basis.  All proceeds raised go directly to Kiyan Prince Foundation, the charity run by Kiyan’s father, Dr Mark Prince OBE.

To create a virtual likeness of Kiyan as the 30-year-old he would be today, ENGINE Creative partnered with Framestore, the Academy award-winning creative studio behind Avengers: End Game and Bladerunner 2049. With input from the Prince family and help from Professor Hassan Ugail at the University of Bradford, cutting edge aging-projection software was used to create a scientifically accurate image of how Kiyan would look today. This image was then developed by Framestore and renowned photoreal artist Chris Scalf to create the likenesses of the Kiyan seen in the campaign. Framestore brought the likeness to life in film through AI technology, partnering with ELC.

“We’ve created many humans, digi doubles and superheroes in the past, but Kiyan was on a different level. Creating Kiyan as the 30-year-old man he would have been today, was a sensitive and delicate process and we took our responsibility seriously,” said Karl Woolley, project lead for Framestore. “Making sure we did Kiyan and his family justice by realizing him as he would have been today, was the biggest challenge of this project and quite possibly, of all my projects to date.”

Finishing fourth in our year’s rundown is Smart Energy Great Britain’s commercial titled “Einstein’s Bath” for agency AMV BBDO, London. The Mill in London was tasked with re-creating a digital version of Albert Einstein using performance capture and CGI. A team of VFX artists developed bespoke software and creative pipelines to ensure the photo-real digital avatar of Einstein was as high fidelity and realistic as possible. Using cutting edge 4D volumetric capture technology to record the performance of an actor, subtle facial performances and intricate details were then recreated in CGI, before the team meticulously groomed each hair, wrinkle and eye detail on the CGI model.

Smart Energy GB enlisted Einstein’s support in this spot for its “Join the Energy Revolution” campaign out of AMV BBDO London. Einstein is transported from the 1950s to the present day for the campaign. He is amazed by some of the innovations that have happened since his lifetime but cannot understand why Britain has not sufficiently advanced its energy system.  In this integrated campaign, a series of ads across TV, YouTube, social, radio and print, Einstein explains smart meters’ personal and environmental benefits in his own charming way. With live-action directed by Rocky Morton of MJZ, this launch spot titled “Einstein’s Bath” is designed to introduce Einstein to the audience, connect him memorably to smart meters, and land the core messaging about upgrading critical infrastructure. 

Alex Hammond, head of 3D at The Mill in London, commented, “Tasked with the exciting but hugely ambitious ask of re-creating a digital version of Einstein, we had to create a unique and groundbreaking visual effects pipeline in order to create an avatar that was truly convincing. Our visual effects team, including facial shape experts, spent months researching and developing a robust toolset so we could convincingly portray the nuances of Einstein’s personality. We used cutting edge 4D volumetric capture technology to capture the performance of an actor. This was then used to re-create subtle facial performances and intricate details in CGI. We developed a bespoke system at The Mill to process and export facial data, before our team meticulously groomed each hair, wrinkle and eye detail on the CGI model.”

And rounding out our VFX/Animation Top Five is a spot depicting how smart a smart printer from HP+ can be. Directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures with a52 serving as visual effects house, this commercial from Goodby Silverstein & Partners takes place in a magical world where smart devices come to life when humans are asleep. These devices come complete with personalities and quirks. Though some of these home devices are skeptical of a newcomer, the HP+ Smart Printer, it quickly earns their trust after a heroic showdown–using its genius to protect a cute little vacuum from the terrorizing house cat.

“We had originally called the idea ‘The Symphony of Smart’ after noticing the secret language that exists between smart objects already in our home. They can talk, respond, have expression. We wanted HP to bring to life a new part of the story we hadn’t yet seen between the objects we live with every day with our printer as the brand new smart kid on the block,” said Laura Petruccelli, executive creative director, Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

Director/DP Acord shared, “We all had so much fun on this project. For me the idea really clicked once we were able to clearly define the personality of each device.  From the overly enthusiastic high energy vacuum, to the bug eyed paranoid home security camera, to the sarcastic hard to impress home-assistant,  each device had a unique character within the story.”

Click here to see the Top Five VFX/Animation Chart for 2021.

Music/Sound
“Being well is a journey,” a two-minute film for lululemon activewear–directed by Daniel Wolfe via production house Love Song for Droga5 New York–is the #1 entry for our year-end Top Tracks Music Chart. 

Set to excerpts from Oscar Wilde’s short story “The Selfish Giant,” the anthem follows one person’s journey through a cycle of punishing, unsustainable and closed-off behaviors, before opening up, emotionally and physically, to a new world of sustainable practice, community, and joy. The giant in the story builds a wall around his garden, closing off his world from others–and thus even fails to feel the change of seasons. A tale of isolation and its consequences carries an extra measure of relevance given the COVID pandemic and the craving for connection that so many of us have felt as a result. Simply, in order to feel well, you have to feel, necessitating that we reach out to others and allow others to reach out to us.

Barking Owl creative director Kelly Bayett shared that doing justice to Wilde’s story musically and in terms of sound design was a high priority. “Oscar Wilde’s ‘Selfish Giant’ is an absolutely stunning piece of work,” she said. “When you hear that over the visuals, it tells such a clear story and so many people can see themselves in the narrative and our hero. We couldn’t do anything with the music or sound design that would overshadow the narration. That is the key here, and even the mix was a very delicate balance of what brought depth and weight and what became overpowering.”

Bayett observed that the biggest challenge the lululemon film posed to the Barking Owl team involved getting the desired feel and inspiration just right. “From an audio standpoint, we wanted to really highlight the repetitiveness in our hero’s daily life.  But his repetitive behavior wasn’t just the same thing every day, but this idea that you push yourself to the limit everyday, and you become numb.  We wanted to make sure that, as the viewer, you felt the intensity and also the relief once he is finally quiet and allowed to just FEEL.  We push ourselves so hard to feel anything, taking pills, working all night, working out with high intensity.  But from a sonic standpoint, we had to make sure you felt the difference between the intensity in the beginning, as well as the relief when you realize you don’t have to push so hard.  You can just be present, and you will feel so much.”

Securing the #2 slot in our Top Tracks rundown if Jif peanut butter’s “The Return,” a spot directed by Dave Meyers of production house RadicalMedia for Publicis Groupe agency PSOne, New York. The commercial tells the story of how Ludacris changed his legendary sound–thanks to a mouthful of Jif peanut butter, along with a little help from Atlanta’s new school hip hop artist, Gunna. The new vibe/flow to the hip hop rendition from Ludacris is a crowd pleaser, translating into a monster hit. The Ludacris tune is “Butter.ATL” with Super Exploder serving as audio record, sound design and mix company. Jody Nazzaro of Super Exploder was sound designer/mixer.

Garnering third place is Gillette’s Venus campaign to throw out the outdated, censored, and sometimes downright silly terms for “bikini” or “down there” and encouraging women to #SayPubic with the launch of the Venus for Pubic Hair & Skin Collection. Why #SayPubic? survey findings from the brand find that almost half of U.S. women agree it feels more accurate to use anatomical terms, like pubic, but only 18% of US women are actually using them. Women want to reclaim the narrative around the language and description of their bodies. While 54% of US women agree that society has defined what is visually appealing when it comes to women’s pubic grooming, 56% wish there were more accurate descriptions and imagery in society of women grooming this area of their bodies.

To continue the conversation, Gillette launched this animation video–directed by Sara Beeley of London studio Strange Beast for Grey New York–on Instagram that chronicles a day in the life of an undesirable pubic hair, just hoping to be recognized and treated like every other hair on your body, with care and confidence. With “The Pube Song”–from Bang Music + Audio Post (Timo Elliston, composer) and new product launch (Venus razor, exfoliant, shave gel on serum) on TheVenusPubeSong.com, Venus was hoping to start a dialogue around normalizing correct anatomical language, like pubic, in an effort to destigmatize female pubic grooming.

Fourth in our tracks countdown is Claritin’s animated music video for its The Outsideologist Project, an online program designed to get kids to spend one more hour per week outside. Produced by ATKPLN in Dallas for Energy BBDO, Chicago, the video sprung from an original composition, “Unboring Starts with U,” written and performed by Mophonics composer and creative director Casey Gibson. The tune teaches kids weird facts about neighborhood creatures, fun ideas for outdoor activities, and how “unboring” kids’ own backyards or local parks can be.

The music video takes the form of a 2-D animation/miniatures live-action mash-up created by ATKPLN. Daniel DelPurgatorio served as director/executive creative director for ATKPLN, with Sofie Edvardsson as animation director and Jakob Nystrom as animation supervisor. Among the “unboring” aspects of the two-minute music video are a tree and flowers that sing, promoting the fun of the great outdoors ranging from looking at clouds, jumping in puddles, watching nature, flora, fauna and insects, just getting out and playing sports, games or whatever. A tree imparts via lyrics several odd “unboring” facts like a bee has five eyes, butterflies taste with their feet, and rabbits eat their own poop. There are lessons to be learned and oddities to look out for if you’re a nature lover.

And rounding out our Top Five Tracks Chart for 2021 is Cheetos’ Super Bowl spot “It Wasn’t Me” starring Ashton Kutcher and Mia Kunis who help remix Grammy Award-winning artist Shaggy’s iconic song with a mischievous twist, offering a tip on what to do when caught sneaking Cheetos from your loved one’s stash.

Kutcher catches Kunis repeatedly “orange-handed” in this commercial. She clearly has dipped into his stash of Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix. But every time he questions her, Kunis has the perfect response: “It Wasn’t Me,” thanks to Shaggy. The release of the commercial for Super Bowl LV also marks the 20th anniversary of the retail release of the reggae artist’s timeless hit “It Wasn’t Me.”  Music house was Beacon Street Studios with its Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau serving as arrangers.

Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man directed “It Wasn’t Me,” adding to his career body of Super Bowl ad work.

Click here to see the Top Five Music Tracks Chart for 2021.

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