VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave - Hardcover

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Nina Blackwood was one of the first MTV VJs and is a radio host on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s Big 80s channel and host of two radio shows nationally syndicated by the United Stations Radio Networks, “Absolutely80s” and “New Wave Nation.”

Mark Goodman was one of the first MTV VJs and is a radio host on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s Big 80s channel.

Alan Hunter was one of the first MTV VJs and is a radio host on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s Big 80s channel.

Martha Quinn was one of the first MTV VJs and is a radio host on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s Big 80s channel.

Gavin Edwards is the author of five books on music. A contributing editor at Rolling Stone, he has written for The New York Times Magazine, Details, and Wired.

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VJ

3

Welcome to Your Life

MTV Hires the VJs

Nina:

I read an article in Billboard saying that there was a new twenty-four-hour music channel, owned by Warner AmEx Satellite Communications, that was looking for hosts and hostesses who knew about music. I sent them my résumé and an eight-by-ten picture. I wanted it to look punk, so I started coloring the picture with crayons. Danny came by and said, “What are you doing?” I told him and he said, “Nina, there are such things as color Xeroxes.”

They came out to L.A. and held auditions. I went down in my little MG, dressed all in black. I was dying in the heat, but I had to look cool. A few weeks later, they came out again. This time they wanted me to interview a “celebrity.” It was Robert Morton, who went on to be Morty, the producer of David Letterman’s show—he was pretending to be a smart-alecky Billy Joel. It went well, but I didn’t hear from them for a while, and I thought that was weird. I’m not the cockiest person in the world, but I kept thinking, “If they don’t hire me, who are they looking for? In the whole United States, how many people are working on this sort of thing already?” And I had rock ’n’ roll in my heart.

So I called them up, and the phone number went to a hotel, I think the New York Sheraton. I hung up and told Danny, “Oh my God, they’re a fly-by-night organization using Warner’s name. How are they getting away with it?”

He said, “You should call back.”

It turned out they were the real thing—they were working out of a hotel room—and they wanted me to come to New York for the final verdict. I went out, and they said, “We want you, but you have to move to New York.” Because the company’s name included “satellite communications,” I had assumed the job was going to be in L.A.

I couldn’t decide, so executive producers Sue Steinberg and Robert Morton said they would show me the highlights of New York, hoping I would want to move and take the job. They took me to the public library—hey, I like books. And we went to lunch at the Tavern on the Green. I was nervous, and when they brought out the crusty rolls, I inhaled one. It lodged in my throat—I was choking to death. Luckily, Morty knew the Heimlich maneuver. He jumped up and saved my life. After everybody calmed down, he said, “You owe me.”

I said, “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll take the job.”

Mark:

I got a call from a friend of mine in Philadelphia. We both knew a guy named Richard Bencivengo, and he said, “I heard that Bencivengo’s working on some sort of music video channel.” I was unhappy at WPLJ, so I called them up. It turned out they were seeing everybody in the world. A bunch of people from PLJ went in—I saw them at the auditions. The first audition was in a forty-eight-degree studio. It was pitch-black, with a stool and a spotlight. Freezing cold, with a spotlight in the face, the vibe was interrogation: Answer our questions or we’re going to pluck out your eyeballs. I talked into the camera about Eric Clapton going on tour. There was a one-way window in the studio; it felt like a sci-fi movie where they do an experiment and the alien overlords watch through the window, waiting to see if your head explodes.

It was a few weeks before I heard anything—I guess they were scouting for talent in other cities. I had a second audition, at a different, warmer studio. They had two areas set up. One had a big white card with pictures of the Eagles taped on it, perched on an easel. They wanted me to back-announce an Eagles video, and then walk from the board to this other area, which had a ratty couch and a chair, sit down there, and throw to the next video. They were literally seeing if I could walk and talk at the same time.

There were a couple of camera guys, and a bunch of producers, and cue cards. I had never worked with cue cards before, but I knew what I was supposed to be saying. At one point, I was so far off the cards, the producer had no idea what to hold up next. I just said, “Next card, please.” I found out later that went a long way toward getting me the job—when I needed some information, I didn’t stumble through it like a standard TV host. I spoke to the people off-camera and asked for it.

The next section was interviewing “Billy Joel,” as played by Robert Morton. Billy Joel is the nicest guy ever, but Robert was being cantankerous, giving yes and no answers to questions. At the end, I talked to Sue Steinberg. I’m six foot one, and Sue is approximately four foot nine. She looked up at me and said, “I think you’ll be hearing from us.” There was something in her face that said, “I can’t tell you this, but you so have this job.”

Nina was the first one they hired, and then maybe a day later, J. J. I got the call very soon after that. I had a three-year contract with ABC, which owned WPLJ, but I really wanted to do MTV. I booked a vacation, went away for ten days, and let my lawyers hash it out.

Nina:

They wanted me right away—this was the middle of June. I asked if I could stay in L.A. for the Fourth of July. At the time, there were wonderful fireworks up and down the coast, and I really wanted to see them. I watched them from my favorite spot, Topanga Beach, and left for New York City on July 5.

MTV was a gamble. Vicki Light, who was my agent, and Danny, who was my manager, figured it was some little cable show, and if I didn’t like it, I could come back in three months. We weren’t even sure it’d still be on the air six months later.

MTV put me up in a beautiful hotel, the Berkshire. After the incident at the Tavern on the Green, I was really scared about choking when I was by myself. For about two months, I would order room service and eat right next to the phone so I could call the front desk in case anything happened.

The first weekend I lived in New York, I had maybe one friend outside of the people at MTV—and I didn’t really know them either. Mark kindly said, “You want to go to Central Park?” I got into a cab to meet him and immediately got into a car accident. Not a big one, but there was lots of screaming and yelling. After I finally made it to Central Park, Mark and I were walking around when a bush came alive.

Mark:

There was some commotion in the bush, and I said, “Oh, that’s probably rats fighting. No big deal. There must be some garbage there.” Nina completely freaked out. She was so not a New York person. I thought Nina was really hot, and I was definitely attracted to her, but I was in love with Carol, so I didn’t try to instigate anything between us—and today, we’re like brother and sister.

After a format change at KWST—it went from classic rock to top 40—J. J. was without a job. At his MTV audition, he also interviewed “Billy Joel”—and did well, despite not caring for the actual Billy Joel. When the producers told him that the job meant moving to New York City, he said, “You see that beautiful black Jensen Interceptor sitting out there? You see those mountains, that blue sky, those big, puffy clouds? All that goes away if I go to Manhattan. But I’ll go, ’cause I need the gig.”

Nina:

I met J. J. in the lobby of the Berkshire, where MTV had put us...