Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nina Blackwood. Everybody, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Nina, Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
No, forty four years old is MTV? What do you
make of that? Nina Blackwood?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Oh God, I feel forty four. I don't feel I
don't feel like I am old enough to have been
an adult forty four years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Absolutely, I completely agree. Walk us through. Walk us through,
Nina a little bit on August first, nineteen eighty one, getting,
you know, kicking off MTV. What was that like in
your head? Was it super exciting? Were you nervous?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Scary?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
He was not scary. I can't say it's scary, but
you know, it was incredible. They cable was not in
New York yet, where we were based, so they had
to get buses to take all of us over to
(00:59):
a are in New Jersey to watch the launch. And
it was everybody people that were working on MTV for
months and months and months before this period, behind the scenes, Uh,
the executives, you know, the whole thing, and we're all
in this room waiting for the big watch and that
(01:25):
music they came on, good good. I still if I did,
which I rarely hear it, but all of us I
can safely say, I had like butterflies in our stomach.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
If you could tell you being a part of something big,
what's coming, right, you could feel that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
You really did. I mean there was no guarantee, but
there was something. Uh you know when you look and
you go yeah, yeah, well it's a TV thing, But
it wasn't just the TV thing. You know, we knew
the train had left the station and that we were
breaking new ground.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It's one of the original five MTV VJs. It's seen
a Blackwood. She's made a career. We've heard herund serious
as well. But it's not just forty four years since MTV.
It's been forty years since the string of some of
the biggest concerts.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Ever had some of the best Ma Donna, Prince Prince,
the Prince Tour. Though, listen to this Nata. I'm fourteen,
I live in Minneapolis, right and here comes Purple Rain,
here comes the tour, and here comes me at the St.
Paul Civic Center. Just blew me away and look at
the career after that. Incredible.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
You've had a pretty good run.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Question, But I think for it, I mean in his career, Yeah,
you think MTV for it. It's like, you know, I
mean awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, yeah, but he was. Yes, I mean to a degree,
but that kind of talent would have broke out anyway.
But it was perfect or you know, vice versa. The
video medium was perfect it for him. You know, it's
really shine but uh, you know again, uh, one of
(03:08):
a kind talent, and I think it's not hyperbolic to
call him a genius whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Being a black one. Did you see any of the
Billy Joel documentary? And do you remember how good his
videos were?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh, Billy Joel? No, I have not seen the documentary.
I've seen little bits of it, but not so good.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So good. But yeah, he made he did want to
make videos, but he made some pretty good videos.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Another one. You know what a great singer songwriter. And
I loved him from you know, day one before MTV.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I'm reading, did you know before you got to MTV
you had been I think in Playboy you were a
harp player. What's the deal with being a harp player?
Didn't it seems odd?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Harpist?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Well that I guess that's.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
How did that go over with the.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
What?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
How did that go over with the parents? Playing the harp? Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They were They were totally supportive of that, and I
basically was making uh my living as a harpit like six,
what do you mean?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Come on, well, it's just hard. What you do is
picture you naked at a harp in.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Oh God, have to go into the gutter, don't you.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
That's not the I didn't know that. I didn't know
there was a big market for harpists. I didn't know.
But that's good.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Here's the money making the dough.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Hey, we know you're doing a radio tour in Time
is Type. But in your long radio career and VJ career,
did you ever run into Ozzie?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Oh yes, yes, I just feel for for that family you.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
See the other day.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Oh yeah, and Sharon, I mean, I don't know what
the I mean, her whole life was built around Ozzie.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Hey, you guys, just a little bit of tidbit here.
Kurt Loader is eighty. For the record, Kurt Loader is
eighty and.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
MTV is forty four. Anita Blackwo is the best we
got to run. Nina, Thank you so much, Thank you much.