Lee Ritenour — Is It You

JUL 01 1981 · 12:00

Lee Ritenour — Is It You (1981) Director: Michael Collins Era: MTV Launch Era (1981) - Pre-MTV-industry clip produced for Elektra Records; aired on MTV's inaugural broadcast day, August 1, 1981, representing the nascent music video economy where labels supplied clips free of charge to the new cable channel. Exceptionally high for cultural preservation purposes. This video occupies a unique position as both an MTV Day 1 artifact and a documentation of the jazz-fusion crossover moment. Its unedited single-take format provides a rare, unmediated performance record of Lee Ritenour and Eric Tagg in the precise aesthetic register of 1981 West Coast pop-jazz. The quantitative data (1 scene change, 221.56s shot length, motion score 4.90) confirms near-pristine archival integrity of the original broadcast master. Tier 1 preservation priority. Context: Released in 1981, 'Is It You' represents a pivotal cultural inflection point: Lee Ritenour, a celebrated West Coast jazz-fusion session guitarist, pivoted to pop accessibility on the album Rit, enlisting vocalist Eric Tagg and co-writer Bill Champlin (also behind George Benson's 'Turn Your Love Around') to craft an Adult Contemporary crossover single. The music video's inclusion on MTV's very first broadcast day (August 1, 1981) situates it at the exact origin moment of the music video industrial complex. At that time, record labels supplied clips free of charge to the fledgling cable channel, meaning this video was produced primarily as a promotional tool rather than a standalone artistic statement. The warm-toned, low-motion, single-take format reflects pre-MTV visual conventions derived from promotional film clips and television performance broadcasts. Director notes: The video is categorized as a Performance Video on the Music Video Wiki with no theme or concept specified. It was released on Elektra Records in 1981 and featured on MTV's inaugural broadcast day (August 1, 1981), making it one of 116 unique videos played in the channel's first 24 hours. The extremely low motion score (4.90), single scene change, and 221.56-second average shot length confirm a continuous, single-take performance format with no editing cuts — standard for early label-funded clips produced before MTV's commissioning budgets incentivized more elaborate production. Stars are Lee Ritenour (guitar) and Eric Tagg (lead vocals).