MTV Killed Cheryl Wheeler
In all of the recent hoopla celebrating 30 Years of MTV, I felt that something key was missing: penance for all of the artists not "photogenic" enough to make the cut. As the song says, "Video killed the radio star", and it is sadly true. Think of the artists you treasured prior to the advent of video, and you'll quickly realize it was because of their voice. They had the stuff, the sheer talent, to communicate via the timbre of their vocals.But once video came into play, the game changed -- forever.Today, Britney Spears, who cannot hit a single note without aid of a computer, is praised because she can dance, and "her" songs are catchy, even if she didn't actually write (or sing) them. We have embraced supermodels over artists, simply because of the visual.Case in point, Cheryl Wheeler.A singer-songwriter in the folk scene, in another era Cheryl would have been right up there with Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris. She's best known for a song she wrote, Aces, which became a hit for Suzy Bogguss, and she has quite a following of dedicated fans, who praise her artistry.Her best songs are incredibly intimate, capturing stolen and cherished moments. The lyrics she writes are sharply observed, and her voice speaks to the listener, as if a close friend.Cheryl is beautiful, both inside and out, and yet by our country's skewed standards, some might think differently.
On her album cover for Circles and Arrows, Cheryl herself made fun of the concept of beauty, noting all of the different ways her image "needed" to be improved upon for mass consumption.My guess is that, given her sense of humor and devoted fan base, Cheryl herself likely doesn't much care that she isn't better known or appreciated. Still, I have to wonder how many other "Cheryl's" are out there -- blessed with talent, but not considered up to snuff in terms of the visual?Who are your forgotten heroes? Who else did MTV leave behind?To me, there is nothing that Cheryl need improve upon. It is up to the rest of us to challenge ourselves and gauge what we treasure and value -- MTV and video be damned.http://youtu.be/YM6uTPPf0Bkhttp://youtu.be/UgMgB2hIky0