VJ : the unplugged adventures of MTV's first wave

Blackwood, Nina (Added Author). Edwards, Gavin 1968- (Added Author).

Summary: "The original MTV VJs offer a behind-the-scenes oral history of the early years of MTV, circa 1981 to 1985, when it was exploding, reshaping the culture, and forming "the MTV generation."MTV's first VJs (along with the late J.J. Jackson) had front-row seats to a cultural revolution--and the hijinks of rock stars from Adam Ant to Cyndi Lauper. Their worlds collided, of course: John Cougar invited Nina Blackwood to a late night "party" that proved to be a seduction attempt. Mark Goodman partied with David Lee Roth, who offered him cocaine and groupies. Aretha Franklin made chili for Alan Hunter. After Martha Quinn interviewed Bob Dylan, he whisked her off to Ireland in his private jet. While the book has plenty of dish--secret romances, nude photographs, incoherent celebrities--it also tells the story of four VJs growing up alongside MTV's devoted viewers. Using MTV as a focal point, the book tells the story of the 1980s, from the neon-colored drawstring pants to the Reagan administration. Readers don't just get the inside scoop on music stars like Bob Dylan, Madonna, and Duran Duran, but a deeper understanding of how MTV changed our culture. Or as the VJs put it: "We're the reason you have no attention span.""--

Record details

ISBN: 9781451678123
ISBN: 1451678126
Physical Description: print
xiv, 318 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Edition: First Atria Books hardcover edition.
Publisher: New York : Atria Books, 2013.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references.

Formatted Contents Note:

1 Got My Back against the Record Machine / Close Encounters with David Lee Roth 1 -- 2 Changes Come around Real Soon, Make Us: Women and Men / Life before MTV 9 -- 3 Welcome to Your Life / MTV Hires the VJs 30 -- 4 Step Right Up and Don't Be Shy / MTV Blasts Off 39 -- 5 Let's Make Lots of Money / Contracts and Paychecks 45 -- 6 There's Always Something Happening and It's Usually Quite Loud / The First Days of MTV 50 -- 7 Don't Talk to Strangers / The Wages of Semi-Fame 58 -- 8 Sometimes You Tell the Day by the Bottle That You Drink / Life in Hell's Kitchen 66 -- 9 Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride/Early Triumphs and Tribulations 69 -- 10 Here in My Car, I Feel Safest of All / Rental Cars and Limousines 80 -- 11 I Hope That When This Issue's Gone, I'll See You When Your Clothes Are On / Nude Photographs 84 -- 12 I'm a Cool Rocking Daddy in the U.S.A. Now / The Mighty J. J. Jackson 88 -- 13 Hot in the City / New York City Serenade 99 -- 14 Throw Your Arms around the World at Christmastime / Christmas Songs and New Year's Eve Shows 108 -- 15 Take My Tears and That's Not Nearly All / Romance and Its Discontents 115 -- 16 I'll Kick You Out of My Home If You Don't Cut That Hair / Makeup and Hairstyles 119 -- 17 And Now You Find Yourself in '82 / Early MTV Videos-a-Go-Go 125 -- 18 I Know There's Something Going On / Alan and Martha's Dangerous Game 133 -- 19 Things Can Only Get Better / Cable TV's Potholes and Pitfalls 137 -- 20 I Spend My Cash on Looking Flash and Grabbing Your Attention / Fashion in the 1980s 144 -- 21 She's Precocious and She Knows Just What It Takes to Make a Pro Blush / Martha Quinn, America's Sweetheart 150 -- 22 They Told Him Don't You Ever Come 'Round Here / The Irresistible Rise of Michael Jackson 155 -- 23 I Might Like You Better If We Slept Together / Celebrity Flirtations and Liaisons 160 -- 24 You Must Be My Lucky Star / Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone 167 -- 25 Every Time I Think of You, I Always Catch My Breath / Romance and Regret with / John Waite Waite, John 171 -- 26 That's My Soul Up There / MTV Hits the Road 174 -- 27 I've Seen You on the Beach and I've Seen You on TV / The Cultural Impact of MTV 180 -- 28 I Want to Be the One to Walk in the Sun / The Most Unusual Miss Cyndi Lauper 185 -- 29 You Play the Guitar on the MTV / Heavy Metal Thunder 191 -- 30 You May Find Yourself in a Beautiful House with a Beautiful Wife / Mark and Carol 195 -- 31 My Beacon's Been Moved under Moon and Star / MTV Heads Uptown 200 -- 32 Jokerman Dance to the Nightingale Tune / Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan 208 -- 33 Kids in America / MTV Contests Winners and Losers 214 -- 34 I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me / Celebrity and Its Consequences 222 -- 35 What a Pity You Don't Understand / The VJs Versus MTV Management 228 -- 36 I Said to the Man, "Are You Trying to Tempt Me?" / White Lines 232 -- 37 I Was There to Match My Intellect on National TV / The Toughest Interviews 238 -- 38 There Comes a Time When We Heed a Certain Call / "We Ruined Live Aid" 243 -- 39 Love Is a Battlefield / Martha Meets Stiv Bator 252 -- 40 I Guess I Should Have Known by the Way You Parked Your Car Sideways That It Wouldn't Last / The Final Days of Nina and J.J. 256 -- 41 Kid Is Hot Tonight / Alan Hunter Coast to Coast 262 -- 42 I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love Tonight / Martha Finds True Love 273 -- 43 Every Now and Then I Get a Little Bit Nervous That the Best of All the Years Have Gone By / MTV Changes, Not Always for the Better 276 -- 44 Five Years We Have Had Have Been Such Good Times / Martha Leaves MTV 281 -- 45 Party Boys Call the Kremlin /Billy Joel in Russia 284 -- 46 I'm a Man Who Doesn't Know How to Sell a Contradiction / Introducing Kurt Loder 287 -- 47 We'll Be Moving on and Singing That Same Old Song / The Departure of Alan and Mark 291 -- 48 After the Fire, the Fire Still Burns / Life after MTV 296 -- 49 Don't You Forget about Me I RLE, J, J. Jackson 307 -- 50 We Can't Rewind, We've Gone Too Far / Final Thoughts 311.