Starting in the early 1980s, he began working as both a radio and club DJ in the New Jerseyalternative rock scene, working at WHTG-FM when the station first began broadcasting alternative rock in 1984. He later became music director at the station and won several awards before MTV hired him to host their long-running late-night alternative music show in 1995. Pinfield went on to host a number of other shows on the MTV family of networks, including MTV, MTV2, and VH1. He left MTV in 1999 to host Farmclub.com, a live music show that aired on the USA Network. He served as vice president of A&R and artist development for Columbia Records from 2001 to 2006. He has since worked as a DJ and television host for a number of terrestrial and satellite radio stations and television networks.
During his 10 years at WHTG, Pinfield was the recipient of the Gavin Award (1992 and 1993) for National Commercial Alternative Music Director of the Year.[2]
In 1992, Pinfield appeared in an episode of the first season of MTV's The Real World when he interviewed members of the rock group Reigndance on-air at WHTG. The group's lead singer, Andre, was one of the seven cast members of The Real World.[citation needed]
In 1995, Pinfield began his television career hosting MTV's 120 Minutes. Within a year, he hosted a variety of MTV shows including MattRock, Pinfield Suite, Pinfield Presents, Rocks Off, Say What?, MTV Live, and over 100 MTV specials. His music knowledge was showcased on TRL's Stump Matt. In 1999, Pinfield joined Universal Television to host and co-write a live television show about music, farmclub.com, which aired in 2000 on the USA Network.[3]
In 2001, Pinfield became Vice President of A & R and Artist Development for Columbia Records, signing and overseeing the making of albums by acts including Coheed & Cambria and Crossfade. During the same time, he hosted WXRK's The Buzz and made cameo appearances on several albums, including a secret spoken word track on Limp Bizkit's Significant Other. In 2005, Pinfield was asked by The Rolling Stones to host their international radio interview for Premiere networks. The special featured all four band members together for the first time in an interview setting in over 35 years.[4]
On August 22, 2007, Pinfield hosted Projekt Revolution, a free concert hosted on Myspace.com.[7] Pinfield hosted Sirius Satellite Radio's Matt Pinfield Plays Whatever He Wants and Soundoff with Matt Pinfield. However, as of November 12, 2008, the merger of XM and Sirius had left the future of these shows in doubt. The future of these shows remains in doubt to this day.
Beginning May 28, 2008 Pinfield took over as morning drive DJ on New York radio station WRXP 101.9FM.[8]
In July 2009, Pinfield worked the counter at Jack White's Third Man Records pop-up store, which operated for two days on Chrystie Street in New York City. The store's primary function was to promote two WRXP gigs that White's band, the Dead Weather, was doing at Terminal 5.[citation needed]
Every February, Pinfield spins 80s/90s alternative classics at the now annual Melody Bar Reunion in New Brunswick, New Jersey.[citation needed]
In July 2011, WRXP changed formats and Pinfield left the station to host 120 Minutes, which had been revived by MTV2. He began hosting the revived weekly series on July 31, 2011.[1]
In January, 2012, Pinfield was chosen to host "Flashback", the classic rock weekend show on 219 radio stations owned by Cumulus Media.[9]
Pinfield played himself in an episode of Portlandia on January 4, 2013.[10]
On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, Pinfield took over the morning DJ time-slot at Cumulus Media's San Francisco outpost, KFOG 104.5.[12]
In 2016, Pinfield published a memoir, All These Things That I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life".[13]
In 2018, Pinfield penned the foreword for the book 100 Things Pearl Jam Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, by author Greg Prato.[14]
In September 2019, Pinfield covered the Rock in Rio festival for LiveXLive interviewing artists on the backstage.[15]
In January 2021, Pinfield began hosting "New & Approved," a Sunday evening program featuring new rock music, on 95.5 FM KLOS in Los Angeles. [16][17]
Matt Pinfield was honored at the Global Rock Summit 2022 event with the first International Rock Icon of the Year Award for his contributions to music, radio, and media.[2]
Pinfield was the interviewer for Season 1 of the reality competition show No Cover that aired in April 2022.[18]
On March 28, 2024, Pinfield was introduced on-air as the new afternoon drivetime host for KCSN, a AAA-format public radio station based in Los Angeles.
On December3, 2018, Pinfield nearly died while crossing the street near his Hollywood home. He was struck by a car that was going 40 miles per hour (64km/h); Pinfield broke his leg in two places and split his head open all the way to the skull after hitting the windshield headfirst and striking his head a second time on the pavement.[21]
MTV2 is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
John J. "J. J." Jackson Jr. was an American radio and television personality. He was one of MTV's five original VJs. In his appearances on MTV, Jackson often went by and introduced himself as "Triple J."
Leslie Fram is an American media executive. A former radio programmer and dj, she is the senior vice president of music strategy for Country Music Television.
James William Ladd was an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer. He was one of the last notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio.
KLOS is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Media. KLOS airs a mainstream rock radio format and has broadcast rock music in some form since 1969. The studios are on West Olive Avenue in Burbank.
120 Minutes is a television program in the United States dedicated to the alternative music genre, that originally aired on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then aired on MTV's associate channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003.
WFAN-FM, is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station simulcasts a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM", or "The FAN", along with co-owned WFAN. Its studios are in the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.
KNBR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Owned by Cumulus Media, KNBR-FM features a sports radio format in a simulcast with co-owned KNBR. Both stations are the San Francisco affiliates for Infinity Sports Network, the flagship stations for the San Francisco Giants Radio Network and co-flagship stations for the San Francisco 49ers Radio Network. KNBR-AM-FM are the radio home of Greg Papa and Tom Tolbert.
Kurt Loder is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on several films and television series. He is best known for his role at MTV News since the 1980s and for appearing in other MTV-related television specials. He has hosted the SiriusXM radio show True Stories since 2016.
Richard Blade is a British-American Los Angeles–based radio, television, and film personality from Torquay, England. He is best known for his radio programs that feature new wave and popular music from the 1980s. He was a disc jockey at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles from 1982 to 2000 and has been a host for Sirius XM's 1st Wave classic alternative station since 2005.
Headbangers Ball is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obscure artists. The show offered a stark contrast to Top 40 music videos shown during the day.
MTV Rocks was a British pay television music channel that was operated by ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia. Its programming consisted of 24-hour non-stop rock/alternative music.
Chris Booker is an American radio and TV personality.
James Bernard Florentine is an American comedian, actor, author, and television personality. He is best known for co-hosting That Metal Show on VH1 Classic and voicing several characters on Crank Yankers, including Special Ed and Bobby Fletcher. He hosts The Jim Florentine Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio and a podcast called Everybody Is Awful . He has released six albums of stand-up comedy, two comedy specials, seven installments in the Terrorizing Telemarketers prank call compilation, and three installments of the Meet the Creeps hidden camera show. His 2018 book Everybody is Awful reached No. 1 on the Book Soup nonfiction chart.
Chris Paul Carter is an American disc jockey and music/film producer based in Los Angeles.
WKMK and WTHJ are two radio stations simulcasting a country music format. The stations are licensed to Eatontown and Bass River Township, New Jersey, respectively. The station is owned by Press Communications. WKMK's transmitter is located at exit 105 of the Garden State Parkway in Tinton Falls. WTHJ's transmitter is located on the tower of Philadelphia television station WWSI/62 located in Tuckerton in extreme southern Ocean County. The studios are located in Neptune, New Jersey.
Mark Goodman is an American radio host, TV personality and actor. He is best known as one of the original five video jockeys (VJs), along with Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter, J. J. Jackson and Martha Quinn, on the music network MTV, from 1981 to 1987.
Farmclub.com is an American television show that aired on USA Network. It was broadcast from January 31, 2000, to June 15, 2001. The show's content featured "it" musical artists of the moment and promoted unsigned bands through national exposure and website interaction, with such featured moments as the return of N.W.A., in which Snoop Dogg substituted for the late Eazy-E.
Lenard Larry McKelvey, known professionally as Charlamagne tha God or simply Charlamagne, is an American radio host, television personality and comedian. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club along with DJ Envy, with whom he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2020 for their work on the show. He also hosts the late-night talk show Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God on Comedy Central.
Rise Up New York! was a virtual hour-long telethon organized by the Robin Hood Foundation and iHeartMedia on May 11, 2020, aimed to support the residents of New York who had been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Hosted by actress Tina Fey, the event was broadcast across numerous New York–based television and radio stations and featured appearances from many prominent celebrities residing in the state.
↑ Cotter, Kelly Jane. "PLAYING HIS PICKS", Asbury Park Press, August 10, 2008. Accessed February 13, 2011. "On weekdays Pinfield gets up at the unrockin hour of 4 a.m. at his home in Harrison and is in the RXP studio by 520 a.m."
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
