Steve Perry - Oh Sherrie

What this video is

Released in spring 1984, 'Oh Sherrie' arrived at the apex of MTV's transformation of the American music industry. The video's self-referential, meta-narrative structure — depicting Perry refusing a bombastic director's vision in favor of a sincere personal serenade — was itself a commentary on the escalating absurdity of the early-MTV video format. Produced by CBS/PMI and shot at a Los Angeles architectural…

Why it matters

A landmark of MTV-era arena rock promotion, 'Oh Sherrie' is among the earliest and most influential examples of the meta-narrative music video — a format that would proliferate through the late 1980s. Its story-within-a-story architecture, long-form runtime, and cinematic production values…

The director

Jack Cole was a music video director active in the early-to-mid 1980s, credited as the director of Steve Perry's 'Oh Sherrie' (1984) across IMDb, IMVDb, and FilmAffinity. He worked with producer Paul Flattery and was known, per Flattery, for his philosophy…