Lee Ritenour - Is It You

What this video is

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…

Why it matters

This clip is a foundational artifact of the jazz-fusion-to-smooth-jazz commercial transition of the early 1980s. It demonstrates how technically accomplished instrumentalists leveraged AOR pop songwriting to achieve mainstream chart visibility (Billboard Hot 100 #15, Adult Contemporary #15). Its…

The director

Michael Collins is credited as director of Lee Ritenour's 'Is It You' (1981) per the Music Video Wiki (Fandom). No additional verified filmography or biographical record was located in available public sources for a music video director of this name active…