Alan Caldwell Hunter (born February 14, 1957) is one of the original five video jockeys (VJs) on MTV from 1981 to 1987 (along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, J. J. Jackson and Martha Quinn). He is a host on SiriusXM Radio's The 80s on 8 channel and on the Classic Rewind channel. He co-owns the production company Hunter Films with his brother Hugh. He, Hugh and two other brothers also founded WorkPlay, a multipurpose office, studio and entertainment facility in Birmingham, Alabama. He also hosted the reality show Looking for Stars on the Starz cable television channel as well as the Encore series Big 80s Weekend. Biography Early life and career Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1957, Hunter graduated from Mountain Brook High School in 1975 and earned his BA in psychology in 1979 from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. During his senior year he got his first television acting job in the ABC Movie of the Week Love's Savage Fury, starring Raymond Burr, Jennifer O'Neill and Michael Paré. After a stint as a professional actor at the Birmingham Children's Theatre, he moved to New York City to attend the Circle in the Square drama school. Afterwards, he held a series of "struggling actor" gigs: bartender, waiter, phone answering service attendant and a handful of Off-off-Broadway roles, finally earning a role in the music video for David Bowie's "Fashion" for which he was paid $50 a day and got to meet Bowie. He also had a bit part (on cutting room floor) in the film musical Annie. MTV In the early summer of 1981, he bumped into MTV exec Bob Pittman at a picnic in Central Park. A month later, Hunter was tapped to join the fledgling MTV, only three weeks prior to its debut. MTV went on the air August 1, 1981, at midnight in selected markets across America. Hunter was, by technical snafu, the first VJ to appear on screen, with the words "Hi, I'm Alan Hunter. I'll be with you right after Mark. We'll be covering the latest in music news, coast to coast, here on MTV Music Television." And then the other original VJs – Martha Quinn, J. J. Jackson, Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman – followed. During his first month with MTV, he kept his regular night job tending bar at New York's Magic Pan Restaurant Cabaret. When a customer recognized him, he determined it