I Was a Teenage Media Whore

So when did The Mighty Quinn Media Machine really first begin?

Yesterday, its genesis came back to my attention, via the wonders of YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgsqEpd0vQU

My buddy Alex sent me an email yesterday that positively blew my mind. He was web surfing on YouTube and found an old Howard Stern clip from 1985. It was a "Special Report" on Howard when he was at WNBC radio from Channel 9 News here in New York.

It was about the Stern gang when they held a mock "vigil" for Bernhard Goetz, the subway vigilante who shot four teenagers who were about to rob him on a subway train in December 1984. Channel 9 went into Tower Records in the Village to interview people on what they thought of Howard Stern and his antics, and yes, loyal readers, guess who was the first person they interviewed? Yes, me.

Simply unbelievable. I totally forgot about this to be honest. I have a distant memory of a friend telling me he saw me on the news back then, but I honestly don't remember the interview at all.

(Actually I wasn't a teenager, as the title implies. I was 23 at the time, so it was close enough.)

The above link will take you to the YouTube clip, which is about 3 1/2 minutes long. (Unfortunately, I could not put the clip directly on to my blog for some reason.) I appear about eight seconds into the clip (and note the big tinted glasses I'm wearing), and I also pop up at the very end, shortly after the 3 minute mark.

The report was done by a weatherman/reporter from the station named Lloyd Lindsay Young. He was a cult favorite in New York back then. And in the middle of his report, Howard's archenemy Don Imus walks in. It's a fascinating clip to watch.

I haven't been able to determine when exactly it occurred. The Goetz incident happened in late 1984, and Stern was fired by WNBC in September 1985. People are shown wearing heavy coats, so I'd guess it was filmed in the winter of 1985.

Amazing. A clip I'd long forgotten about comes back to the light of day, courtesy of YouTube.

The beginning of a long media career had just gotten under way.