HITS 25th Anniversary

BRING IN THE CLOWNS: HITS begins its 25th anniversary year—which is as hard to believe for us as it must be for you—by taking a look back over the last quarter century. Here’s a shot from our good friend Peter Baron of the mid-‘80s Arista Records, where they’ve hired Ronald McDonald to moonlight for a U.K. band called Hurrah. Thanks to CMT’s Jay Frank for remembering the name of the single, “Sweet Sanity,” a perfect description of what the following distinctly lack (l-r): VH1’s Rick Krim, Peter Baron, Abbey Konowitch, MTV’s Tom Freston and Sam Kaiser back in the days when Jersey Shore referred to Springsteen’s hometown, not Snooki’s. (1/10p)