A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer
who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music
television channels such as MTV, VH1, MuchMusic and Channel V.The term
"video jockey" comes from the term "disc jockey", "DJ" ("deejay") as
used in radio. Music Television (MTV) popularized the term in the
1980s (see List of MTV VJs). The MTV founders got their idea for their
VJ host personalities from studying Merrill Aldighieri's club.
Aldighieri worked in the New York City nightclub Hurrah, which was the
first to make a video installation as a prominent featured component
of the club's design with multiple monitors hanging over the bar and
dance floor. When Hurrah invited Aldighieri to show her experimental
film, she asked if she could develop a video to complement the DJ
music so that then her film would become part of a club ambiance and
not be seen as a break in the evening. The experiment led to a
full-time job there.Several months later the future MTV founders
patronized the club, interviewed her, and took notes. She told them
she was a VJ, the term she invented with a staff member to put on her
first pay slip. Her video jockey memoirs list the live music she
documented during her VJ breaks. Her method of performing as a VJ
consisted of improvising live clips using a video camera, projected
film loops, and switching between two U-matic video decks. She
solicited the public to collaborate. The club showcased many video
artists, who contributed raw and finished works. Her work also
incorporated stock footage. Aldighieri next worked at Danceteria,
which had a video lounge and dance floor separate levels.Sound &
Vision, however, credits the creation of the VJ to comedian and former
DJ himself Rick Moranis, who would introduce music clips on television
under his Gerry Todd persona on Second City Television. The sketches
ran before MTV debuted in the United States. "There had been no such
thing" up until that point, confirmed Moranis' SCTV castmate Martin
Short, so "the joke was that there would be such a thing."
who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music
television channels such as MTV, VH1, MuchMusic and Channel V.The term
"video jockey" comes from the term "disc jockey", "DJ" ("deejay") as
used in radio. Music Television (MTV) popularized the term in the
1980s (see List of MTV VJs). The MTV founders got their idea for their
VJ host personalities from studying Merrill Aldighieri's club.
Aldighieri worked in the New York City nightclub Hurrah, which was the
first to make a video installation as a prominent featured component
of the club's design with multiple monitors hanging over the bar and
dance floor. When Hurrah invited Aldighieri to show her experimental
film, she asked if she could develop a video to complement the DJ
music so that then her film would become part of a club ambiance and
not be seen as a break in the evening. The experiment led to a
full-time job there.Several months later the future MTV founders
patronized the club, interviewed her, and took notes. She told them
she was a VJ, the term she invented with a staff member to put on her
first pay slip. Her video jockey memoirs list the live music she
documented during her VJ breaks. Her method of performing as a VJ
consisted of improvising live clips using a video camera, projected
film loops, and switching between two U-matic video decks. She
solicited the public to collaborate. The club showcased many video
artists, who contributed raw and finished works. Her work also
incorporated stock footage. Aldighieri next worked at Danceteria,
which had a video lounge and dance floor separate levels.Sound &
Vision, however, credits the creation of the VJ to comedian and former
DJ himself Rick Moranis, who would introduce music clips on television
under his Gerry Todd persona on Second City Television. The sketches
ran before MTV debuted in the United States. "There had been no such
thing" up until that point, confirmed Moranis' SCTV castmate Martin
Short, so "the joke was that there would be such a thing."
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