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

WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...

, New York. The sixty-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

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

's Friday Night Videos

Friday Night Videos

Friday Night Videos is an American music video show broadcast on the NBC television network from July 29, 1983 to December 30, 2000, and was the network's attempt to capitalize on the emerging popularity of music videos as seen on MTV...

. The original host was WKTU

WKTU

WKTU is a radio station based in New York City that plays an upbeat, gold-based CHR format. The station's broadcast transmitter is located on the top of the Empire State Building and its city of license is Lake Success, New York, with offices formerly in the "Newport" section of Jersey City, New...

 disc jockey Carlos DeJesus who would introduce 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

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

, Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

, Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....

, Run-DMC, Anita Baker

Anita Baker

Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....

, David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, and many more. This attracted 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, and was deftly Line Produced weekly by David Novarro and Vincent Rubino.

From 1986 to 1989, Hot Tracks was hosted by Debbi Morgan

Debbi Morgan

Deborah "Debbi" Morgan is an American film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dr. Angie Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children, and for her role as The Seer in the fourth and fifth seasons of Charmed.Morgan joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as...

 and Darnell Williams

Darnell Williams

Darnell Williams is a British-born soap opera actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jesse Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children, a role which has earned him two Daytime Emmy Awards.-Biography:...

, who concurrently portrayed Angie and Jesse Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children

All My Children

All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...

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

Gene Anthony Ray

Gene Anthony Ray was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He was best known for his portrayal of dancer Leroy Johnson in both the 1980 film Fame and the 1982–1987 Fame television series based upon the film.-Early life and career:Born in Harlem, New York, Ray grew up in the...

, from the motion picture Fame and the television series

Fame (1982 TV series)

Fame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show was based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. Using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although...

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.