Original VJ admonishes Gaga
The original MTV VJ, Nina Blackwood, clearly remembers what Madonna looked and sounded like in the 1980s — and she’s fairly upset with Lady Gaga for copying her.
“It really is blatant,” Blackwood says.
At first, Blackwood just thought Gaga was smart and artistic.
“But then the ‘Born This Way’ video came on. There is no way that’s not Madonna. Even her hair, with the ponytail, is like, ‘Wow,’ ” she says. “This is such a cop.
“Gaga is an artist in her own right. She doesn’t have to do that.”
Blackwood has the music chops to render a Gaga judgment. She was a classically trained harpist with a music career when MTV hired her.
On Saturday, Blackwood begins hosting a series of free concerts on Fremont Street. Saturday’s show is Terri Nunn & Berlin (9 p.m.). Upcoming: Missing Persons (June 4); ABC (June 18); Colin Hay of Men at Work (July 2); Wang Chung with Naked Eyes (June 23); Loverboy (Aug. 6); Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet (Aug. 20); and Howard Jones (Sept. 3).
Blackwood shares a few odd stories from her days at MTV, VH1, “Entertainment Tonight,” “Solid Gold,” “A Current Affair” and “Access Hollywood.”
There was Danny Elfman in his Oingo Boingo days.
“He bit me on the neck! He didn’t draw blood,” she says with a laugh (she liked it). “We’re standing there getting ready to get our pictures taken, and he just reaches over and goes, ‘Raawar!’
“The first time I did an interview with John Mellencamp,” she says, “he just picked me off the ground! Like you do with a bride. It was like, ‘Whoa!’ ”
Once at Caesars Palace, Stevie Wonder kept her waiting 10 hours for their scheduled interview: “He’s on Stevie time.”
But only one star was ever “dreadful” and “condescending” to her: Frank Zappa.
“It was my first live broadcast for MTV. It was like when a bully beat up a girl for his own pleasure.”
She didn’t date the stars she covered, says Blackwood, who now DJs ’80s music on SiriusXM satellite radio.
“I know that sounds ridiculous. There are some people that I look back and go, ‘That was really dumb. Why didn’t I go on a tour with Paul Young when he asked me to in London?’ ”
THE CRAZY CLUB WEEKEND
It’s an unbelievably packed weekend at clubs and pools, from Fatboy Slim to Deadmau5, Kaskade and the Love Festival (read my Paul Oakenfold interview in Neon). For a full list, check out my blog at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
Doug Elfman’s column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Contact him at delfman@reviewjournal.com.