MTV and Synesthesia?

So, based on the recent Thirtieth Anniversary of the emergence of MTV, I thought I'd blog about this. In my opinion, MTV has become way too trashy for my taste, and I've never really followed the station. However, when it first started in the '80's, (before I was born), it was very innovative and creative. And, for some crazy reason, from about age two to four or so, I was absolutely glued to their music videos. My mom distinctly remembers me singing certain songs, with the lyrics in their entirety, freely on my own after watching them, (one example was Whitney Houston songs...why Whitney Houston?!).  Well, at least I was using my singing voice from a young age! 

Anyway, I've thought more about this, and realized, part of my fascination with these said videos was their cartoon-like and colorful graphics. I've posted a few of my favorite videos that my mom recently  reminded me of. And there is also a part of me that wonders...did this early onset of MTV watching contribute to the development of my synesthesia? Does early stimulation of other senses (colored videos for example with music), affect or contribute to a synesthetic brain? It always makes me wonder.

When watching these on youtube, memories did flood back at specific moments. And one part really hit me. When in the beginning the first video above, the band members have certain parts highlighted in color (their head bands, lit-up guitars with cartoon-like lines drawn over them, the drum sticks, their eyes), and the rest is black and white. And, when the guitarist begins to play (0:40), certain jagged lines appear beside him. Those are the EXACT patterns I always associate whenever listening to an electric guitar in rock music (although the colors vary based on the notes being played). Could be a coincidence, but that just made me ponder if something like this might have had somewhat of an influence on how I (and many others), may have formed my musical sensing when listening to something without any visual aid contributing to it down the line.

Here was another one of my favorites: 

I think Peter Gabriel's videos were so creative and clever. Again, so much color, and frankly, it's just fun to watch, even though I'm not two years old anymore! Again, did all these colors, these cartoons, these emerging clay figures, have an impact on how my synesthetic brain progressed?

Finally, I'll add one last video, even though I have a list of about ten or more that I was obsessed with. This is my mom and I's favorite band of all time, and I absolutely love the following video/song. In one of my past synesthetic entries, (A Synesthete's Synopsis), I mentioned that high notes have a white quality to them (on the organ specifically, any type of flute stop). Well here, in the beginning, (0:10) 'The Edge' (guitarist) starts playing on an F-sharp, and going up from there melodically. As he does this, the video portrays a smokey white color throughout. Did that contribute to my association of white with that sort of timbre? It just makes me wonder. All and all, I remember being fascinated with this video as a kid, and still am.

Maybe the answer is 'no' to all of these suspicions, but all I know is, instead of listening to Bach Cantatas and Mozart Symphonies, I was an MTV fan as a young child, and it was awesome. :)