The original host was WKTU disc jockey Carlos DeJesus, who introduced the videos from various locations in and around New York City, usually dance nightclubs.
The list included Tina Turner, Madonna, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Anita Baker, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, and Janet Jackson.
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.
The third and final host of Hot Tracks was Gene Anthony Ray, from the motion picture Fame and the television series 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.