Via Amazon
Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, Martha Quinn, and J. J. Jackson.
If you watched MTV in the early years following its launch on August 1, 1981, you know those names better than half of the bands whose videos made up the playlist. Goodman, Hunter, Blackwood, Quinn, and Jackson were the first five VJs (video jockeys, a twist on radio’s disc jockey DJs). These were the faces that brought you your favorite music videos, 24 hours a day. On cable. In stereo.
And a few thousand fans are making the argument that the original five VJs deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. User Matt Guido started the petition at change.org, stating:
Both Alan Freed, and Dick Clark have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as non-performers. No one can dispute their impact on the Rock & Roll landscape. But just as Alan Freed changed the music industry in the 1950s and Dick Clark in the 1960s and 1970s, so too did the original 5 VJs on MTV in the 1980s. They created the soundtrack to a generation of music fans and have been cultural icons for nearly 40 years.
To date, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is yet to acknowledge the impact of these 5 extraordinary individuals.
It is time the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame right this injustice and acknowledge MTV’s impact on Rock & Roll.
I am calling for Mark, Alan, Nina, Martha and J. J. to be inducted into the Rock Hall. Their time has come.
You can check out and sign the petition here.
You can also check out the book VJ, written by the original VJs themselves, which was released last year.
[change.org][Amazon][YouTube]
