At university, he made his first musical foray with The Brothel Creepers, a band formed for a student movie in 1973. This group evolved into the five-piece
pub rock band
Plummet Airlines in 1974, releasing two singles and an album before breaking up in 1977. By the early 1980s, Hunt was DJing and playing with various groups in London at
The Pindar Of Wakefield and elsewhere in the capital. He produced a one-off music fanzine, "Haywire", relating to the club nights at The Pindar Of Wakefield. He was in the punk rock band The Favourites, who released a single
7-inch on
Coventry-based Race Records in 1981. He performed in a band, Crazeology, who were supported at least once by
Pogue Mahone. Another band, Baby Lotion, morphed into lounge act
Pride Of The Cross with the addition of Pogue
Cait O'Riordan on vocals.
Phil Gaston was a supporter of the band, ultimately writing for and producing their only release, a posthumously-released 7-inch single. However, the band came to an end as The Pogues' popularity increased, leaving O'Riordan unavailable. Hunt and Baby Lotion/Pride of the Cross guitarist Dave Scott then started a new group called The Troubleshooters, which included
Debsey Wykes as singer and songwriter. Hunt also performed in a short-lived duo with Gaston called Pearl & Dean, whose material included a song called "The Ballad Of Pogue Mahone", a satirical overview of the members of
Pogue Mahone set to the tune of
The Old Orange Flute. == The Pogues ==