''New York Hot Tracks'' is a syndicated music television series which aired from 1983 to 1989 and achieved the number one music variety show spot in the United States. ''Hot Tracks'' was executive produced and syndicated by M.K. Thomas & Company of Chicago in association with

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...

, New York. The 44-minute weekly series was distributed to more than 110 markets across the country. The show debuted on July 22, 1983, a full week before

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Friday Night Videos ''Friday Night Videos'' (later becoming ''Friday Night'' and then ''Late Friday'') is an American music video show that was broadcast on NBC from July 29, 1983 to May 24, 2002. It was the network's attempt to capitalize on the emerging popularit ...

''. The original host was

WKTU WKTU (103.5 FM) is a rhythmic adult contemporary formatted radio station city of license, licensed to Lake Success, New York, a suburb of New York City. WKTU is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former 32 Avenue of the Ame ...

disc jockey Carlos DeJesus, who introduced the videos from various locations in and around New York City, usually dance nightclubs. Everybody who was anybody in the music world would venture to New York and, when they did, ''Hot Tracks'' was on their "A" list of places to visit. Many music stars actually co-hosted the show when they were in New York. The list included

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

, and

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

. This attracted the attention of many national sponsors who loyally supported the show. Executive producers were Michelle K. Thomas, CEO of M. K. Thomas & Company, along with Brooke Johnson, V.P. Programming at WABC-TV. The show was line produced weekly by David Novarro and Vincent Rubino. From 1986 to 1989, ''Hot Tracks'' was hosted by Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams, who concurrently portrayed Angie and Jesse Hubbard on the ABC soap opera ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

''. During this period the show led as number one in all significant ratings categories according to the A.C. Nielsen Company, November, 1987. The third and final host of ''Hot Tracks'' was

Gene Anthony Ray Gene Anthony Ray (May 24, 1962 – November 14, 2003) was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He was known for his portrayal of dancer Leroy Johnson in both the 1980 film '' Fame'' and the 1982–1987 ''Fame'' television series ...

, from the motion picture '' Fame'' and the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

it spawned. Ultimately, the program was canceled late in 1989 by its syndicator, M. K. Thomas & Company of Chicago, after having grown from airing in New York only to more than 110 television stations around the United States and off-shore. Program masters are current property of KHEMETCOM Entertainment & Omnimercial Media, which purchased assets of M.K. Thomas & Company in 1997.

External links

Yahoo! TV listing
Dance television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States 1983 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American music television series Film distributors of the United States