The MTV founders got their idea for their VJ host personalities from studying Merrill Aldighieri's club.
[1] Aldighieri worked in the New York City nightclub Hurrah, which was the first to make a video installation as a prominent featured component of the club's design with multiple monitors hanging over the bar and dance floor.
She told them she was a VJ, the term she invented with a staff member to put on her first pay slip.
[citation needed] Her video jockey memoirs list the live music she documented during her VJ breaks.
Aldighieri next worked at Danceteria, which had a video lounge and dance floor separate levels.