Celebrated DJ Mark Thompson’s memoir doesn’t miss a beat

“Our beginning had no producers, no assistants and no writers,” says celebrated radio host Mark Thompson of becoming one of the top dogs, along with his professional partner in crime Brian Phelps, in the syndicated radio business in the late 1980s and beyond.

“Those years were just the two of us, and we were never better,” Thompson says of his collaboration with Phelps. “We were comrades in arms, rising to new heights together, and we had no equal. Though unaware, we were destined to create a new kind of morning entertainment. We were connected, and it was the most magical time of my life."

Like most Hollywood fairy tales, the spell was eventually broken. Thompson chronicles both the highs and lows in “Don’t Bump the Record, Kid: My Adventures With Mark and Brian,” an ambitious memoir that traces the meteoric rise of Thompson and his creative partner in crime, Brian Phelps.

Collectively, the duo fueled their radio show, “The Mark and Brian Show,” with playfulness and honesty, welcoming listener phone calls and featuring comedy sketches and interviews with in-studio guests. They even tossed in road trips. The morning show lasted for 25 years.

“I'm one of only two people who could tell this story,” Thompson says, noting how he felt driven to share his compelling behind-the-scenes tale about the “morning drive,” celebrities, studio politics, eager fans and putting a creative spin on morning entertainment for 2½ decades.

He also points out the curiously long time it took for him and Phelps to be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, which took place in 2020.

“I decided to just calmly tell the story — from my chair, my viewpoint — and let people know what was happening behind the scenes while people were listening,” he says. “It was daunting because I’d never written a book, so I just sat down and started telling the story from day one — when the phone call came, introducing me to the idea of taking a partner — and up until the very last day.”

Thompson and Phelps met in 1985 when Thompson was a DJ on a Montgomery, Alabama, radio station. Eventually, the folks at KLOS-FM in Los Angeles took notice and their show became a hit, peaking in popularity and enjoying the thrills of syndication in 21 other markets in the western U.S., including Honolulu, San Francisco and Tucson.

By 1997, the duo received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an event that should have felt “joyous." But Thompson says it felt empty.

“I wound up having to delve back into my solo career and radio and even into my childhood in the book,” Thompson says. “It was supposed to be just 27 years of Mark and Brian, but it quickly became a memoir.”

What readers will experience is a powerfully candid, often emotional and thoroughly entertaining read.

“It felt like we were rock stars, and we were being courted,” Thompson says. “This is after we became No. 1. Our ratings were just ridiculous.”

ABC, CBS and NBC came knocking, offering deals for a television show. The DJs opted for NBC and were immediately swept away into production for a half-hour show.

“Right away, I knew time was going to be a problem,” Thompson says. “We were working — literally — 20 to 21 hours a day, because we were still doing the radio show. Then we’d be whisked off in a van to shoot the show. Later, I’d fall in bed to get, maybe, three hours of sleep, then get up and do it again. And we’d been doing that for most of 1991.”

The show launched. Expectations were high. A bloated promotional campaign ensued — Thompson recalls meeting Ted Danson, Jay Leno, James Garner and Bob Hope at one dizzying NBC promotional push.

Despite all the hoopla, the show was canceled relatively quickly.

“Several months after that, we lost our No. 1 radio position,” Thompson says. “And it all happened in the same year. I started 1991 on top of the world, and I ended it devastated with what real life does to us sometimes.”

It’s that emotional touchstone that may appeal to readers seeking to understand Thompson’s inner world. After all, how do people come to know themselves — truly — and discern something valuable: that all the fanfare “out there” is nice, but ultimately, it’s what’s going on inside that matters.

Bottom line: Perhaps we’re all rock stars, Thompson may be saying. Either way, as the old saying goes, “it’s an inside job,” and “Don’t Bump the Record, Kid” touches on that while keeping readers entertained with plenty of showbiz pizzazz.

Thompson sees Palm Springs as a soothing saving grace in some ways.

“Palm Springs is like no other,” he confesses. “We were syndicated in Palm Springs — we were syndicated in many places and almost all the markets wanted us to visit their city. My answer was ‘no,’ because I didn't want to be saddled with the burden of having to get on an airplane and go to whatever city it was. But not only did I agree to go to Palm Springs, I agreed to go twice a year, because — really! — who doesn't love Palm Springs? There's no place like it.”

The desert and warm weather are perks, of course, but Thompson alludes to something — for lack of a better phrase — “unique and replenishing” in the air.

“I’ve always been interested in the history of Palm Springs, too,” he says. “All the biggest Hollywood stars had homes here. I love all the culture. The food is tremendous. The entertainment is great.”

When asked what he’d love most for readers to take away from his book, he says that in addition to enjoying the fun stories and the shenanigans, he hopes there’s an appreciation for how transparent he’s being.

“For somebody standing on the outside, listening in, it would seem as though my life was a great success — money, houses, all the trappings that come with that. But unfortunately, there’s ‘real life,’ too,” he says. “It doesn't matter what pedestal you think you're standing on. You're a human being. That's what real life is. It's great. And it sucks.

“And you have to learn to deal with all the highs and the lows.”

Greg Archer writes about change agents, happenstance and the entertainment industry. His work has appeared in the USA Today Network, Palm Springs Life, Huffington Post, The Advocate and other media outlets. His memoir, "Grace Revealed," chronicles his Polish family's odyssey during World War II. gregarcher.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Celebrated DJ Mark Thompson’s memoir doesn’t miss a beat