Martha Quinn

In her two-hour interview, Martha Quinn talks about her early years, and music she saw on television while growing up, on shows like The Midnight Special, Soul Train, and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. She recounts being hired by Robert W. Pittman to be one of MTV’s first VJs, along with Nina Blackwood, J.J. Jackson, Alan Hunter, and Mark Goodman. She speaks of the early years of MTV, the visual style of the channel, and the kinds of videos MTV ran at its launch. Quinn details several artists and their landmark videos including Madonna’s “Material Girl,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” and Michael Jackson’s videos for “Billie Jean” and “Thriller,” which revolutionized music videos in the 1980s. She recalls interviews with several music legends, including Bob Dylan, Bono, David Lee Roth, and Paul McCartney, as well as recalling the impactful “I Want My MTV” ad campaign. She speaks of leaving MTV at the dawn of the 1990s, and appearing on shows like The Bradys and Star Search, and her more then-recent career on Sirius/XM and I Heart Radio. Karen Herman conducted the interview in a joint venture with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on February 9, 2018 in Malibu, CA.