Three MTV Girls... let Loose In New York City

Three MTV Girls... let Loose In New York City

Anne Leighton

Sometimes it's funny watching television with its adventures about the lives of young single girls in the big city. The Patty Duke Show, in the 1960s, was about identical cousins in Queens, New York. In the 1970s we had Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper looking for boyfriends while tackling creative careers, and in the 1980s, Pam Dawber is a California photographer with a young sister in My Sister Sam.

Everybody knows that sit-coms are not about real people, but you should know that cable television has real people who are living a sit-com life in New York City, U.S.A. In fact, the three girl stars of MTV are from San Francisco, London, and Aspen, Colorado. Each are adapting to life in the big city in their own unique way.

Carolyne Heldman is a natural for rock and roll television work. The MTV camera loves to study her face with close-ups— her deep blue eyes and smooth voice whisper to you like she’s about to reveal the most intimate secret about Sting’s personal life. Her life at MTV came into being through luck and pluck.

She was a disc jockey in Aspen, playing records by Peter Gabriel, Graham Nash and the like when she heard that MTV was looking for a new video jock, or VJ. She mailed a tape. The channel called back and said, “We might want you.” All of a sudden, Carolyne became very anxious about the job. She decided it was time to move to New York and did so with enough money to dwindle away for two weeks without a job.

Arriving in the airport, Carolyne’s final plan was to get a job at a record company while she waited for MTV to talk to her. Even before she claimed her luggage, she called MTV and said, “I’m here. When can I see you?” The reply was shocking: “It’s funny you called Carolyne, we were going to call you this week.” For two weeks she auditioned on MTV. Finally they said, “We’ll pay you,” and offered her a contract.

Carolyne counts her blessings about her challenging MTV job. However, she’s not fond of New York City living. Like her all-American girl-next-door image on television, Carolyne is a slow-paced, laidback country girl at heart, who likes to see trees, streams and wildlife outside her window. “I’d like to get a dog,” she says. “I want a big dog, not one of those lap dogs. I grew up with dogs and cats, but it seems wrong to have a dog in the city.”

Maybe if MTV moves to Colorado, life would be a spiritualistic, Rocky Mountain high for Carolyne. But till then, “fellow” VJ Julie Brown is having the time of her life relishing her high profile position as an MTV VJ amongst Manhattan’s swinging rock ’n’ roll night life and always being able to find a rock star or music club within a three block radius. And she loves being in a metropolitan city that has the latest and the oldest of fashions.

Originally a disco dance champion and an entertainment news reporter on jolly ol’ England’s telly, Miss Brown only had to master the pronunciation of Massachusetts and the art of eating pizza—a most abundant food in the city of New York. “Eating pizza was hard—pizza for breakfast, pizza for lunch, pizza for dinner. I saw pizza everywhere.”

Because of her music news experience, Julie finds her job exciting when she gets involved with up-and-coming bands. Her favorites are Jon Butcher Axis and Curiosity Killed The Cat. “Since I’ve been at MTV, I get to feel for the bands because I’m in contact with them. So I’m getting involved in fighting to get people recognized for their talent!”

The spunk of MTV’s third female talent, China Kantner, is so strong that she goes the direct route in getting her faves recognized. She often announces her love for John Taylor and Peter Gabriel on the television and laughs. She also exclaims with tons of pride after a Starship video, “Did you see my mother in it? That’s Grace Slick and she’s my mom,” or after a KBC video, “My dad’s in this one. His name is Paul Kantner!”

Yes, China is a famous kid because she had famous parents and probably got a shot at MTV because of her connections. The first summer she was on was very difficult; “just a rehearsal,” says China. She’s impressed with herself because of her vast improvement over the two years she’s worked at MTV. “I was horrible the first year. I hold the record for the most retakes of any guest VJ,” China states simply.

Still, the channel believed in her and asked her back because China has a good personality, a great sense of humor, a lot of spunk and is very honest about herself. She is also very conscious about herself and if something is wrong she corrects the problem.

Over the years China has learned how to live and work in the entertainment center of New York City. “Here you’ve gotta stay on top of things,” she states. “I make a daily schedule that I follow not because I have to, but because I want to do it. My call time is 11:00, but I arrive at eight so I can be organized. I don’t like to rush. Being rushed in New York doesn’t help at all.”

Well, now that you’ve just met the characters for a new sit-com, I have come to the conclusion that these three ladies— one great outdoorswoman who wishes New York City was more like Aspen, one high-energy pizzazzer who loves living in rock ’n’ roll and one 16-year-old who is growing up in front of your eyes—are living a real life sit-com. It’s one well worth tuning in.