Classic Interview: MTV VJ Adam Curry on Madonna, Moscow and His Feud With Richard Marx

When Stuck in the ’80s was just getting started, we somehow convinced Adam Curry to talk to us.

This was our second-ever celebrity interview, and Curry came armed with exactly the kind of stories we hoped an MTV VJ would have.

Madonna. Sebastian Bach. Moscow. Richard Marx.

And that's just for starters.

In this classic Stuck in the ’80s interview, former MTV VJ Adam Curry takes us behind the scenes of Music Television during its glory years and shares some wonderfully strange stories from life at the center of ’80s and early ’90s pop culture.

Adam Curry and the Glory Days of MTV

Curry joined MTV in 1987, arriving when the network was still one of the most powerful forces in music.

For young fans, MTV VJs had one of the greatest jobs imaginable. They introduced videos, interviewed rock stars, traveled the world and seemingly had unlimited access to the artists the rest of us only saw on television.

Curry became one of the network's most recognizable personalities, hosting Headbangers Ball and other MTV programs while interviewing some of the biggest stars in music.

And occasionally things got weird.

Adam Curry, Sebastian Bach and Red Square

One of Curry's more surreal MTV adventures involved traveling to the Soviet Union and visiting Red Square in Moscow with Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach.

Just consider that sentence for a moment.

An MTV VJ and the lead singer of Skid Row wandering around Moscow as the Cold War was winding down.

The ’80s really did produce some strange combinations.

Curry takes us inside that adventure and recalls what it was like experiencing a historic moment while working for a network that had become synonymous with American youth culture.

Appearing With Madonna in Truth or Dare

Curry also found himself in the orbit of Madonna, eventually appearing in her 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare.

Yes, 1991 is technically outside our jurisdiction.

We're allowing it.

The landmark documentary offered an unusually intimate look at Madonna during her Blond Ambition tour, and Curry shares the story of how he ended up making an appearance.

Adam Curry vs. Richard Marx

And then there's Richard Marx.

Curry and Marx had a very public disagreement — the kind of feud that was considerably harder to conduct before social media gave celebrities the ability to argue with each other 24 hours a day.

What started it? How serious did it get? And what happened when the MTV VJ and the “Right Here Waiting” singer found themselves on opposite sides of a very public fight?

Curry tells the story.

From MTV VJ to Podcasting Pioneer

There's another reason this interview holds a special place in Stuck in the ’80s history.

By the time we talked with Curry, he had become one of the key figures in the early development of podcasting.

That made him a particularly appropriate guest for a little podcast that had only recently begun trying to figure out this strange new medium itself.

Nearly two decades later, we're still here.

So is podcasting.

And we're still amazed that for our second celebrity interview, we got an MTV VJ to tell us about hanging out in Red Square with Sebastian Bach.

We probably should have quit while we were ahead.

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Join Us on The ’80s Cruise

Want to spend a week surrounded by ’80s music, stars and fellow fans? Join Stuck in the ’80s aboard The ’80s Cruise for live music, trivia, podcasts and plenty of other decade-inspired fun at sea.

Use promo code STUCK when booking to receive $250 in onboard credit.

No trip to Red Square required.

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