VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave
MTV, the American cable-television music channel, started in New York in August 1981. Among the original VJs, or video jockeys, as they were called, were Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn. In this oral history, these first-wave VJs, celebrities in their own right at the time, tell their personal stories and describe the early days of the channel, including numerous on-air highlights, such as, most famously, Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean video, prior to which MTV played the videos of very few black artists unless, like Joan Armatrading or Garland Jeffreys, they sang in the rock genre. They also discuss the cultural impact of MTV and the broadcasting of live concerts such as Live Aid. Behind-the-scenes stories are here, too, such as the time that Bob Dylan invited Quinn to accompany him to Ireland on his private jet and tales about Madonna, John Mellencamp (or John Cougar as he was then known), Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, and many others. Fun and gossipy. --June Sawyers