Excellent post; it brought up a lot of memories.

I had a different experience of the '80s and '90s. I grew up homeschooled, in a house without TV. Even though I was 14 in 1990, I didn't see MTV or a music video until probably '92. Even then it was a rare occurrence, only when I visited a friend's house.

So, I held onto music as something "private, portable, imagined". I listened to the song of my generation (our generation, I guess), Smells Like Teen Spirit, on my walkman over the radio and, somehow, didn't see the video until lately, within the past five years or so. Crazy, but true.

I did have the experience of other songs that I had imagined being changed by the video. There was a sense of loss to that. I still don't like to watch videos too much; I prefer to listen and fix the song in my head through the sound and lyrics first, then maybe watch the video later.

You're right that video changed music though: often contemporary music simply does not make sense, or doesn't feel complete, without the the video. For me, that's a mark against the song. I don't see it as legitimate or up-to-par unless it can stand alone.