Hit List (TV series)


The Hit List was a music video television program that aired on YTV, a Canadian specialty television network aimed at children. The series first started in 1991, hosted by Tarzan Dan and had 14 seasons in all. The first 6 seasons of The Hit List were hosted by "Tarzan" Dan Freeman, while there were numerous hosts to follow from Aashna, Leslie and Exan to Rob and Danielle. As of fall 2005, The Hit List went on an indefinite hiatus, and was later cancelled.
Tarzan Dan worked on the radio in Toronto and was nominated for Canadian Radio Announcer of the Year 5 times, winning 4 times. He was also nominated for a Gemini Award for his YTV work and Best TV Host of a Music Based Show at the Canadian Music Industry Awards. He has most recently been seen as a radio personality with CFGQ-FM in Calgary. Danielle McGimsie and Rob Fournier were the last people to host the Hit List. Danielle is now an entertainment reporter for etalk on the Canadian CTV Network, and was the host of HypaSpace on the SPACE Channel.
At The Hit List's peak, two compilation CDs were released by YTV and MCA in 1994 and 1996, each featuring pop, R&B, rap, and dance songs aired on the show's countdown. The later Big Fun Party Mix compilation album series, which debuted in 2000 through Universal, can be seen as a spiritual successor to the Hit List CDs.
The celebrities include "Weird Al" Yankovic, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, *NSYNC, Take That, The Smashing Pumpkins, Spice Girls, Five, No Doubt, Britney Spears, Blur, Kim Stockwood, The Moffatts, Hanson, O-Town, Eiffel 65, Aaron Carter, Shawn Desman, Lillix, Simple Plan, Avril Lavigne, Busted, Rachel Stevens, Clay Aiken, Alanis Morissette and many others.