Postsynchronizing Rock Music and Television

so long for these two cultural streams to converge?’ And when they did, why was the rock video in a video-jockey or VJ hosted format, among all imaginable possibilities, the result? Rock videos are probably the most visually vital genre on television; furthermore, there is consensus in the recording business &dquo;that MTV virtually saved the industry-at least the rock and roll end of it. When MTV got off the ground four years ago, rock album sales were at an all time low&dquo; (Snider, 1984). Rock music was not merely suffering from an economic recessionthere was a feeling that the cultural form itself had lost some of its magic since the aging of the baby boom generation and since the edge had worn off the punk revival. The cycle of co-optation and renewal which kept rock in the hands of youth was over (Grossberg, 1983). Despite its commercial success2, (or because of it?), the critical reception of rock video has been negative3; it is termed &dquo;commercial,&dquo; &dquo;glitzy&dquo; and &dquo;emasculated.&dquo; The basic idea behind these terms is that rock music has become desacralized, no longer able to bond youth culture together in an imaginary unity; the music itself is then no longer in the hands of youth but rather has become an