Turn Down the Music and Read: VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave

My Backstage Concert Riders Midlife Mixtape Concert Review: San F...

Turn Down the Music and Read: VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave

With the speed at which I inhaled VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave (Atria, 2013) it is official: there is no detail about the early days of MTV too picayune to interest me. All five VJs shared one dressing room at first? Fascinating. Nina Blackwood was a professional harpist? Who knew? Alan Hunter blew his first wardrobe budget on an array of neon pants and sweaters that looked like a box of crayons had melted on them? Actually, I could have guessed that.

This book fills in the very few blanks left by the mammoth I Want My MTV (Dutton, 2011,) the “uncensored story of the music video revolution” that omitted nearly all first-person details from the Fab Five First VJs: Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter. Jackson passed away in 2004, but the rest of the team was obviously holding out to tell their side of the tale. Where I Want My MTV mixed a bird’s eye view of the changing music industry with lots of salacious details about how videos were made, VJ, written with Rolling Stone contributing editor Gavin Edwards, lets us see the whole journey through the eyes of the quintet that lifted their furled umbrellas and guided us through it.

Look: I was fifteen when the channel debuted, sixteen by the time it got to my cable broadcast market. Having a one-sided conversation with these guys was a major component of my teen years, so reading about what happened on the other side of the television screen feels a bit like reminiscing with a long-lost high school friend whose memories are just different enough to keep it interesting. I didn’t realize John Cougar Mellencamp put the moves on Nina! Or that David Bowie reamed out Mark Goodman on camera about the lack of black artists being played. Martha went to her initial audition wearing a “Country Music Is In My Blood” tshirt? OMG, let’s get some Tab and Doritos and talk about this all afternoon!

While the anecdotes are undeniably interesting, VJ is marked by moments of genuine heart and emotion. The way the surviving VJs talk about Jackson – the VJ emeritus with the deepest music resume and the coolest rocker friends – is profoundly touching, and it’s clear that the conflicts and clashes that are inevitable between any co-workers have faded away with time, leaving only the bonds of real affection between the original VJ class. If you’re already disgusted with the reality programming to which MTV turned at the end of the original VJ era, then the graceless way that all five were shown the exit isn’t going to do much to improve your opinion of the channel.

Structurally, it’s the perfect summer read, with short chapters comprising even shorter recollections on topics like “I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me: Celebrity and Its Consequences” and “I’ve Seen You on the Beach and I’ve Seen You on TV: The Cultural Impact of MTV.” Twice, I sat down on the couch planning to read three chapters only. Instead, I sat still and finished the book in two sittings. It’s the Sea Salt Potato Chips of books.

Want to spend some time with the original VJ book yourself? Gavin Edwards has kindly arranged for a copy to be shipped to a lucky Midlife Mixtape reader. (You should check out Edwards’ previous book of musical Mondegreens, ‘Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy,” It’s for anyone who thinks the line in Baba O’Riley is “Out here in the field, alfalfa our meals…”) Leave me a comment, below, on who your favorite VJ was and why. I’ll pick a winner at random on Friday, June 7 at 5 pm PST and ship you a copy.

Until then, here’s the dearest little clip: The first two minutes of MTV. Ever.