Alan Hunter ~ The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's 1st VJ & Innovative Entrepreneur

MTV VJ Icon, SiriusXM 80's on 8

I Want My MTV..................

This week I Blast off into a Rock and Roll 1st Wave Flashback with the very 1st VJ to appear on screen @ MTV: Alan Hunter! And you can get a glimpse into the groundbreaking history, original VJ's, music artists, celebrities, location gigs & fun in the new book: “VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave”

Alan Hunter was one of the original five video jockeys (VJ's) on MTV from 1981 to 1987 (along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn, and J. J. Jackson)

During his senior year in college he got his first television acting job in the ABC MOW Love’s Savage Fury, starring Raymond Burr, Jennifer O’Neill and Michael Paré. Afterwards, he held a series of cliché struggling actor gigs: bartender, waiter, phone answering service attendant and a handful of Off Off Broadway roles, He earned a role in the music video for David Bowie's "Fashion" and a role as usher in the film musical Annie, before being tapped to join the fledgling MTV network. August 1, 1981 at midnight in selected markets. Hunter was, by accident, the first VJ to appear on screen, with the words "And I'm Alan Hunter. Let's get to it". During his first month with MTV, he kept his regular job tending bar at New York's Magic Pan. When a customer recognized him, he left bartending and became a full-time VJ, attending concerts and parties until the wee hours and then coming back to the studio at 8:00 AM for a full day of taping interviews, promos and features.

As MTV became the center of the entertainment universe, Hunter’s celebrity interviews included the first MTV interviews with Madonna, Duran Duran and U2, and also included Ozzy Osbourne, Aretha Franklin, Frank and Moon Unit Zappa, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Loverboy, Kasim Sultan, Crosby Stills & Nash, Kevin Bacon, Robin Williams, Dan Aykroyd, Eurythmics, Kenny Loggins, the Psychedelic Furs, Bob & Doug McKenzie, Lou Reed, Joey Ramone, Andy Warhol, the Cars, the GoGos, the Bangles, Colin Hay and Men at Work, Boy George, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, John Mellencamp, Hugh Hefner, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Rod Stewart, Cheap Trick, Billy Idol, Thomas Dolby, Joe Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Crowded House, Michael McDonald, Rick Springfield, Peter Wolf, Toto, Level 42, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Pee-Wee Herman among others.

In his latter MTV years, Hunter became known for his remotes and road trips in such iconic and pioneering MTV programming like “MTV Spring Break”, “MTV’s Amuck in America” and “MTV’s Hedonism Weekend with Bon Jovi in Jamaica”.

Hunter distinguished himself by pushing for more remotes and road trips rather than in-studio interviews. He stayed with the network for seven years before relocating to Los Angeles, where he starred in numerous Fox pilots, precursors of today's reality programming. In the mid-90s, he moved back to his hometown to start a film company with his brother called Hunter Films, and, to create WorkPlay.

You can catch Alan on SiriusXM's 80's on 8!

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