Once upon a time not so long ago in my childhood days (sounds like a fairy tale beginning, isn't it?), I had chanced upon a classic anti-smoking ad on the quintessential Doordarshan which left an indelible impression on the auditory portion of my mind.
The ad captured a young college goer getting seduced by the glamor of smoking, only to pay a heavy price at the end. While the visuals fly past the eye, what captivates the memory is the matured heavy voice of the crooner - " With a cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man!"
Years later,a year back, after frantic searches on the net was I able to come across the singer - Gary Lawyer, who perhaps unknown to himself remains that voice behind a cult ad only to be compared with such in the same genre as Liril or Old Spice. Perhaps, my "choice" of not taking up smoking may have been largely influenced by this ad and this man's voice! Thanks Gary for making me sing unobtrusively - "With a cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man; And without a cigarette in my hand I feel like a Superman"
Anyway, I leave all you frantic fans like me with the cult video:
[Courtesy: gauravpals (Youtube) ]
To all those left unsatisfied, here's the link for the full song. (Guys please leave a small "thank you" post to Gary on his site!)
http://www.garylawyermusic.com/music/music/cigarette%20in%20my%20hand.mp3
The ad captured a young college goer getting seduced by the glamor of smoking, only to pay a heavy price at the end. While the visuals fly past the eye, what captivates the memory is the matured heavy voice of the crooner - " With a cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man!"
Years later,a year back, after frantic searches on the net was I able to come across the singer - Gary Lawyer, who perhaps unknown to himself remains that voice behind a cult ad only to be compared with such in the same genre as Liril or Old Spice. Perhaps, my "choice" of not taking up smoking may have been largely influenced by this ad and this man's voice! Thanks Gary for making me sing unobtrusively - "With a cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man; And without a cigarette in my hand I feel like a Superman"
Anyway, I leave all you frantic fans like me with the cult video:
[Courtesy: gauravpals (Youtube) ]
To all those left unsatisfied, here's the link for the full song. (Guys please leave a small "thank you" post to Gary on his site!)
http://www.garylawyermusic.com/music/music/cigarette%20in%20my%20hand.mp3
Hey Rajat, you should have just asked me instead of frantically searching on YouTube :P, I knew the song was sung by Gary Lawyer aeons ago. Anyway, you are right, among the many anti-drug, anti-smoking ads in the 80s, I think this one remains in our memories. I also remember one where a man is walking into a disco, apparently high on drugs, one can only see his back. And suddenly he turns, his face a skull!
ReplyDeletehey bro thanks. doordarshan remains embedded in our collective memory.
ReplyDeletedo you recall another one on national unity - a principal walking determinedly towards a classroom where the children have created a ruckus. the video is in the form of a montage of static pictures showing children from various parts of the country sharing their lunch boxes with one particular student who has forgotten his 'tiffin'. as the principal nears the class he forgoes his earlier resolution of punishing the class, seeing the brotherhood in this class. in the background the song 'mera saya' plays on as the vid fades away!
am desperately looking for this vid.. help me out