Mark Goodman is a radio DJ, TV personality, and actor. He is best known as one of the original five VJs on MTV, from 1981-1987.
Goodman has been in the music business for 30 years. He started in radio in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at WMMR and in 1978, became the music director of the station. In 1980, he moved to New York City to work at WPLJ, the number one rock station in New York.
In 1981, Goodman left WPLJ to join the as yet unknown music video channel called MTV. As one of the 5 original VJs Goodman interviewed a variety of music and entertainment stars including Paul McCartney, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Brian De Palma, Heart, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madonna, Billy Idol, Patty Smythe, Nick Lowe, Roy Orbison, Carlene Carter, Mark Knopfler, Journey, Scorpions, Pointer Sisters, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Duran Duran, Prince, Pee-Wee Herman, Lea Thompson, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andrew McCarthy, Howie Mandell, Robin Williams, Tracy Ullman, Billy Squire, Asia, Jerry Harrison, Hall and Oates, The Hooters, David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Bono, Bette Midler, Depeche Mode, Night Ranger, Pete Townshend, Dee Snyder, Robert Plant, John Mellencamp, Chrissie Hynde, Brian Wilson, Jack Nicholson, Paul Schaeffer, Phil Collins, Genesis, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, David Bowie, Tom Petty and many others. He also hosted several special shows for the channel including “The Week In Rock”, “120 Minutes” and the first show ever syndicated to broadcast by MTV: “The Top 20 Video Countdown.”
In the late 80s, Goodman began an acting career that saw him working in film and TV. Goodman appeared in several films including “Man Trouble” with Jack Nicholson, “Don’t Be a Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood” with the Wayans brothers and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege. On TV, Goodman could be seen in such shows as “Married With Children”, “The Practice”, “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”, “Vinny And Bobby” and others.
In 1989, Goodman returned to radio in Los Angeles at the legendary but short lived, “The Edge”. Over the next 10 years he worked at stations including KROQ, KMPC-FM (The Edge) and Star 98.7 in Los Angeles as well as Q101 and WLS-FM in Chicago, IL and Mix 96.9 in Phoenix, AZ.
Through the 90s, Goodman hosted several different TV shows and music specials. In particular, “Fit TV” ran on cable for years after the final episodes were shot. Goodman receives no royalties from the show but is pleased he is still helping people learn how to eat right, exercise more and be open to alternative methods of healing and stress reduction. Goodman also hosted the Illinois Lottery game show Illinois Instant Riches and its revamp Illinois’ Luckiest from 1994 to 2001.
In 1999, Goodman became Senior VP of Music Programming for Soundbreak.com, an internet radio station. He developed the format, hired and trained the air staff and developed all the special programming which became available for syndication to other sites including British Telecom Open World, As Seen In (Aaron Spelling’s site) and Newgrounds.
After the dot com crash, Goodman continued his search for the new musical underground. Oddly, it presented itself from outer space in the form of satellite radio. Goodman was offered a position on Sirius Satellite Radio on their Big 80s channel with the other three original MTV VJs still living, Nina Blackwood, Martha Quinn, and Alan Hunter. Since starting there in 2004, Goodman has added shows on Classic Rewind (late 70s through early 90s rock) and The Spectrum (a lively mix of rock, pop and indy for grownups).
Concurrent with his work at SiriusXM, Goodman’s understanding of the power of combining music and visuals made his next step in the music business almost a given: music supervision...putting music in films and TV shows. While he had music supervised several pilots for Fox, it was the Touchstone/ABC TV show “Desperate Housewives” which offered Goodman his greatest challenge. Goodman was tapped as music supervisor to help launch the series.
Developments lately though have allowed Goodman to agree with his old pal Jon Bon Jovi who asks, “Who says you can’t go home?” In the mid 2000s, Goodman did go back home (sort of) on VH-1 and VH-1 Classic doing interviews and hosting special programs while continuing to broadcast 7 days a week on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
NOTE: MARK IS PROMOTING THE RELEASE OF THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL TV SERIES ON DVD. HE IS FEATURED IN ONE OF THE DVD EXTRAS AND SAYS THAT MTV WOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED WITHOUT THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
ABOUT THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S EDITION
Artists Featured include Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Bee Gees, Earth, Wind & Fire, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Gordon Lightfoot, Heart, Helen Reddy, Jim Croce, John Denver, KC and the Sunshine Band, LaBelle, Linda Ronstadt, Marvin Gaye, Captain & Tennille, Peter Frampton, REO Speedwagon, Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Village People and many more
Fairfax, VA—In the period between American Bandstand and MTV, several shows tried to bring rock ‘n’ roll to television. In the wake of Elvis Presley and the Beatles’ debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, ‘60s series like Hullabaloo, Shindig and The Music Scene featured rock and pop performers. But it wasn’t until The Midnight Special premiered on August 19, 1972, that rock ‘n’ roll found its own home on the air.
This September, the TV DVD archivists at StarVista Entertainment/Time Life will bring consumers back to the ‘70s for the seminal, groundbreaking live music TV show on DVD, featuring extensive bonus features! THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S EDITION, available exclusively online at MIDNIGHTSPECIALDVDS.COM beginning August 12, 2014 will be released in a beautifully-packaged 11-disc set, featuring nearly 5 hours of specially-produced bonus features and a 32-page collector’s book. There will also be two retail configurations, available September 9: a 6-disc set and a single DVD.