Edward Morris Complete Guide to Country Music Videos
My how we’ve grown!
When Country Music Television made its debut on March 5, 1983, it had a mere 100 country video clips in its library. For the past several years, the major labels alone turn out more than that every six months.
Videos have had a revolutionary impact on all popular music, but particularly so on country. It is doubtful that the business would have become anywhere nearly as large and influential as it is today if record labels had continued to depend solely on radio for promotion. Not only did videos create excitement as a new and distinct art form, they also allowed performers to convey their personalities in ways radio never could. Best of all, they gave country music a medium by which it could rid itself of all the demeaning and destructive stereotypes--many of them self-nourished--that had grown up around it.
Videos helped illustrate the fact that country music had plenty to say to young people--and that it was wide open to their artistic participation. Further, videos revealed that there was great variety in the music--that it was not attached exclusively to farm and factory in its images, themes and outlook. The down-side to the rise of country videos, of course, is that they eventually marginalized excellent singers who simply did not look natural and attractive in front of the camera.
