VJ ─ The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave

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.”