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The Official VJ 1980s Lyrics Quiz

Today is August 1st, which means that it’s 38 years since MTV went on the air, playing music videos 24/7, interspersed with visits with the original five VJs: Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson, and Martha Quinn. Celebrate! Since today is the MTVaversary, and the book I wrote with the aforementioned VJs—VJ: The […]

posted 1 August 2019 in Buy My Stuff, Excerpts. 1 comment

I Want My Music Video

Sometimes the pleasure of journalism is that you learn everything you can about a topic and then share that information with the world. A few weeks ago, I knew a lot about the music-video business in the 1980s–that’s what happens when you cowrite a book with the original MTV VJs–but I wasn’t too savvy about […]

posted 15 August 2018 in Articles. no comments yet

VJ Sale!

No, you can’t actually purchase Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, or Martha Quinn. But you can buy the New York Times bestselling book we wrote together, VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave, described by Rolling Stone as “a highly entertaining snapshot of a wild-frontier moment in pop culture.” In celebration of the […]

posted 3 August 2015 in Buy My Stuff. no comments yet

Year-End Roundup Mania!

It’s the time of year when some people celebrate the holidays with loved ones, some contemplate their plans for the year to come, and some compile top-ten lists. I’m pleased to see that VJ has made a couple of year-end lists of people’s favorite music books in 2013. (There aren’t exactly ten on either list–they […]

posted 9 December 2013 in Buy My Stuff. no comments yet

Happy Birthday, MTV!

32 years ago today, everyone who worked at MTV got into a yellow school bus and went across the river to New Jersey to watch the launch of a new 24-hour music channel. Why New Jersey? The network wasn’t on Manhattan cable yet. If you want to read more about the launch, the earliest videos, […]

posted 1 August 2013 in Buy My Stuff, Tasty Bits. no comments yet

July 13, 1985

As part of my research for VJ, I rewatched Live Aid (or more precisely, the DVD box of it). A few aspects of the show that seemed notable twenty-eight years down the road: 1. The wittiest song selection of the day was Elvis Costello with his cover of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” […]

posted 13 July 2013 in Tasty Bits. 5 comments

Live! One Night Only!

Hey, Los Angelenos! I will be appearing at the Pop-Hop Bookshop tonight! It is in Highland Park, and it is filled with goodness (and books)! I will be talking with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong–she’ll be reading from Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, while I’ll do an  excerpt from VJ. There will be conversation about […]

posted 11 July 2013 in Buy My Stuff, News. no comments yet

Father’s Day Reminder

This Sunday is Father’s Day–and if you haven’t gotten your dad something yet, might I suggest that he would thoroughly enjoy a copy of VJ, the New York Times bestselling memoir of the early days of MTV I wrote with original VJs Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn? Even the right-wing website […]

posted 14 June 2013 in Buy My Stuff, Links. no comments yet

VJ Giveaway

Nancy Davis Kho, the woman behind the excellent blog Midlife Mixtape, wrote a very cool review of VJ: 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 […]

posted 5 June 2013 in Links. no comments yet

VJ Roundup II

No, not information on the whereabouts of Adam Curry, Kevin Seal, and Downtown Julie Brown–that would be VJ II Roundup. This is a collection of some more press coverage of the New York Times bestseller VJ and my fabulous coauthors Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn. (You can check out the previous […]

posted 3 June 2013 in Buy My Stuff, Links. no comments yet