![[Small logo of Thornwood girl]](girtouc.gif)
MARK's first movie since Mother Ghost ready for Hollywood
|
DISNEY'S MARK AND BRIAN
ROAR RADIO FLASH: Mark & Brian are getting a big national publicity boost. "Mother Ghost", written by and starring Mark, has been bundled in the new Red Laser, DVD format for marketing promotion with a special
BIOGRAPHY
As top-rated syndicated morning show
personalities, Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps of the Los Angeles
based "Mark and Brian Show" entertain audiences LIVE with
their dauntless comedy weekday mornings from 6:00 am to 10:00 am PCT on radio. Jump to the KLOS Internet site.
The duo was introduced in 1986 by a mutual friend who was working at radio station I-95 in Birmingham, Alabama who felt that their personalities "might click". Deciding to heed the friend's advice, Mark and Brian each gathered bags of audio cassettes, locked themselves in a hotel room with coffee, junk food and a tape player and proceeded to sit through an entire evening listening to each other's work. Management at 1-95 agreed to give the pair a chance. In no time, the radio team was racking up solid ratings. After a year at the station where they reached number one status, Mark and Brian left Birmingham in September 1987 and ventured west where as they say, "the rest was history!" Built on the foundation of friendship, comedic timing and mutual respect, the "Mark and Brian Show" is currently in its 23nd year on the air. Already two-time winners of Billboard Magazine's "Air Personalities of the Year," Mark and Brian are also credited with achieving the radio industry's highest honor -- The National Association Broadcasters' Marconi Award for "Air Personalities of the Year."
The duo won an
Emmy Award for hosting an Andy Griffith TV Special which aired
Dr. Avon Edward Foote, one of several UNA and UCLA instructors in the UNA/UCLA Joint Certificate in Film Program, rubbed shoulders with Mark's North Alabama fans for the screening, and now loudly proclaims the Hollywood radio star's film future to his students. Foote talked of fond recollections of Mark's mother when he took guests, including Jess Daily from UCLA Archives who is Hollywood associate of Dustin Hoffman and Norman Lear, to see Tonya S. Holly's new movie, "When I Find the Ocean". The movie is available on DVD since 2008. Bob Blume, Foote's Shoals friend, went with Jess and Eddie after wives Bets and Dottie departed for home. A few nights earlier, Dottie with granddaughter Niki Foote/Foot of Roanoke, Virginia, had been at a head table for the regional premiere of the film at the Shoals Marriott Convention Center near where the Shoals Chamber of Commerce is now located (see film advisory from Chamber at link). But, Jess, Bob, and Eddie attended the showing of Holly's "When I Find the Ocean" at the same theatre where "Mother Ghost" had been introduced by Mark Thompson to the Shoals. At dinner in Tuscumbia just doors from the old Bijou Theatre, which closed forever at the beginning of the sound film era, Foote had told all his guests about Dottie's and his own brushes with Mark's "Mother Ghost". The Footes think -- with a smile -- that the Shoals Theatre and other Shoals' film locales, such as the old Bijou building, are haunted since the Shoals' showing of "Mother Ghost". That should make Holly's hair stand on end. But if "Mother Ghost" doesn't do it for Holly, Mark's newer movie is waiting on a Hollywood Movieola. Move over "Mother Ghost" for 2:13 The Movie, with an Official Film Website at www.213themovie.com . Mark Thompson's parents had lived at 213 Duncan in North Florence, Alabama. Kathryn Tucker Windham was in the Shoals a few years ago, but she did not speak on Ghosts during run-up to Halloween. Instead, she played the musical comb with Ernest Borgnine on his second trip to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, joined Mark Thompson at the 2004 Festival. Friends Borgnine and Lindsey are long-time "pals" and Ernie had come back to the Festival to put world attention on the Shoals. In 1992, "Current Affair" went to Jasper, Alabama, to give us a lasting video history of the friendship between Goober and Ernie. Borgnine is best known for his talented work in "Marty", "The Dirty Dozen", and "McHale's Navy", but he has starred in hundreds of other films and television shows and won many awards for his work, including a legendary Academy Award for "Marty". The "MARK AND BRIAN SHOW" has been syndicated live from (95.5) KLOS-FM, a Disney station, to several cities, including Birmingham, Portland, Sacramento, and Seattle during last few years. The Walt Disney Company announced several years ago a merger of ABC Radio with Citadel Broadcasting Corporation of Las Vegas. The MARK & BRIAN program's distribution continues to change since the merger affected station line-up. The completion of the merger agreement gave Disney shareholders 52 per cent majority of Citadel Broadcasting stock. As broadband use peaks in urban areas, KLOS on-demand streaming of MARK & BRIAN expands. KLOS personalities are holding local fundraising events -- such as one given in Pasadena during November 2008 with sister station KABC. On any given day, the top names in music, sports and entertainment frequently join Mark and Brian live in the studio or make call-ins to the show. Among those who have visited their digs are Scott Bakula, David Spade, Michael York, and Billy Idol. Such star power as Tim Allen, Billy Crystal, Tom Cruise, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Mel Brooks, Jason Priestley, Stone Temple Pilots, Graham Nash, Dick Van Dyke, Mike Piazza, Walter Payton, Jack Palance, Anne Rice, Martin Landau, Pete Townshend, Charlie Sheen, Tina Turner, Black Crowes, Luc Robitaille, Tony Bennett, Marilu Henner and Chris Isaak to name a few that have signed their guest book in the KLOS studios. Every morning, the show takes on a shape of its own. Often, Mark and Brian's spontaneity leads them to outrageous man-on-the-street skits, episodes of "Freeway Love Connection," remote broadcasts, comic "bits" by the duo and other members of the morning program team, "Miniature Theatre" bits and listener call-ins offering various unique, peculiar and humorous talents. The fellows even allow for more serious moments including a call from a brother confessing his homosexuality to his sister, a child wanting to reunite with an estranged parent or a nervous young man proposing marriage to his girlfriend. Because Mark and Brian are open with their feelings and personal lives, listeners are made to feel as though they are part of the "Mark and Brian Show" family. Mark and Brian don't limit their exposure
to the four hours they share with the audience on the air. The
duo provides listeners with a myriad of events, including
"Mark and Brian Drive-Ins," the "Mark and Brian
Their daily encounters with listeners and staff, coupled with their own ambition came in handy during the production of their short-lived, prime-time series for NBC, "The Adventures of Mark & Brian." Juggling both radio and television proved to be very chaotic. However, Mark and Brian still maintained their high radio ratings throughout the experience. Mark Thompson, originally from Florence,
Alabama, attended the University of North Alabama and claims
he gravitated to radio by starting at North Alabama's WSHF in the Shoals, (Huntsville-Decatur-Florence DMA), because he "couldn't do anything
else." As a high school senior Mark worked for Richard Biddle at WOWL Radio. Rick Shayne was WOWL Radio's Program Director during Mark's employment and later a famous country-music programming consultant with Rusty Walker,
Shayne could remember personal "escapades" by Mark during his "OWL Radio" years. Shayne said that Dick Biddle, who hired Shayne in 1971 right off Sand Mountain, considered Mark's professional attitudes outrageous, but Dick changed his assessment after Mark's great success in Birmingham radio. Mark and his wife Lynda have three grown children in Malibu, Burbank and Pasadena -- Matthew, Amy, and Katie. In his spare time he enjoys baseball, tennis, and riding his Harley Davidson. [2007 comment from Eddie Foote (born 1937 in Soggy Burnsville Bottom): Rick Biddle, son of Dick, put his family's flagship WOWL Radio on an FCC educational radio FM channel assignment at Burnsville. Biddle's "Fun 91" is on 91.9. Since his commercial stations originate from offices and studios in Iuka, overlooking old Jaybird Park on Front Street, he should be,
I'm lookin' for some old-timey material. People can't seem to get enough since we started broadcasting it on the Pappy O'Daniel Flour Hour. (Radio Station Manager, "O Brother, . . . ")
Disney's Mark Thompson
receives an Honorary Lifetime Membership Brian Phelps went to Illinois State University where he toured with a comedy group for three years which guided him into writing and producing humor. Brian is single and enjoys skydiving and cruising on his Harley Davidson. Daily, Mark and Brian remain loyal to their long time fans while continuing to gain a newer and broader following. Listen to Mark and Brian from KLOS, Disney's FM station in Los Angeles. KLOS is sister station of News-Talk KABC (790 AM). The information on Mark and Brian was first prepared at Disney's Los Angeles station and reviewed by Dr. Foote with Mary and Luther, Mark Thompson's parents of Florence, in the Pine Street MultiMedia Lab, Communications Building, In time for Foote's May 2006 visit to London, the Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, placed historic 1994-95 BBCNC E-mail documents sent to Foote at unaalpha.una.edu by BBC Education into Museum digital and vertical file collections. Shortly before Dr. Tilly Blyth, Curator of Computing and Information for the Museum, commenced correspondence with Foote in September 2005, she had told an interviewer, "I'm in the enviable position of being able to identify and acquire significant computing items for the National Collection, but that also means you have to develop a strong sense of items that are culturally and socially important, not just technological firsts or breakthroughs. It is fascinating to try and identify contemporary items . . . that will engage our audiences and evoke meaning and stories from them in the future." She wrote Foote that she believes the BBC E-mails to him will be "of interest to future generations". [You can find the complete interview with Blyth in the Autumn 2005 issue of the Museum of Computing Magazine in PDF format from UK. Lead article in this issue is "Computers in Film".] The documents donated by Foote are kept in the same building in England where exhibits of the Fleming Diode valve, the de Forest Audion tube, and Baird's mechanical television receiver are on public view. The Science Museum is situated near the Victoria and Albert in a famous museum complex. During Foote's trip, he attended the Science Museum's special exhibition, "Pixar: 20 Years of Animation", organized by the MOMA from the archives of the Pixar Animation Studios. Disney had announced in January 2006, that it was buying Pixar, and Disney under Michael Eisner had released all the films highlighted in the 2006 New York and London exhibitions. Steve Jobs relinquished his leadership of Pixar in May 2006 after heading the animation company for 15 years, and a new Disney CEO then announced that Jobs was becoming a board member of the parent Disney. During this time, Foote sat-in on London lectures by famous BBC, ITV and British movie animators at the Science Museum, London. One educational talk featured the underwater animation team for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". The film's lead London artist and the London-based producer of the Potter film segment participated in the presentation, that the Science Museum titled, "Walking with Monsters to Harry Potter". Mike Milne, head of computer animation for Framestar CFC, with help from animator Max Soloman, explained that as Europe's largest animation company, CFC employs around 250 animators on its largest film contracts. The Milne/Soloman lead team, responsible the underwater action scenes from the 3rd-annual, Potter film worked first on a Discovery Network/BBC joint series, "Walking with Dinosaurs". This internationally famous series spawned another Discovery special on dinosaurs that included exteriors shot in North Alabama at Dismals Canyon using students from UNA. Framestore CFC has won "an unprecedented 11 Emmy awards in the United States", according to Science Museum promotion literature. The Discovery Network -- founded by John S. Hendricks, history graduate of University of Alabama, Huntsville -- offers a DVD set with North Alabama footage. A different DVD set from Discovery features Milne's explanations about the London production on disc two. The Milne two-disc pack is available from the Discovery website store for $29.95. The New York Times reported, 4 March 2007, in the Arts & Leisure section on plans for Pixar as Disney purchase of its rival reached a first-year anniversary. Foote also visited Ealing Studios during his trip to London. He photographed exteriors of older sound stages and new construction to revitalize the studio. "The Queen", nominated for an Academy Award in 2007, was filmed at Ealing and other locations in England, Scotland, and France. According to Sky News, tonight's ceremony [this sentence is being written on 25 February 2007] is expected to bring deserved recognition to Helen Mirren who plays Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. On his visit to Ealing, Eddie Foote toured the new 11.5 million GBP digital film Institute next door at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College. He talked of opportunities for educational cooperation with The Ealing Institute of Media / EHWLC administrators and faculty during this May 2006 visit to London with Dr. Dorothy Gargis Foote. Administrators and faculty explained the BBC's participation in the Institute approvals process. Facilities design makes it a designated, state-of-the-art Centre for Media Excellence. The famous Studio and the BBC-affiliated Ealing Institute overlook historic Ealing Green. The BBC owned Ealing Studios from 1955 to 1992 but dumped Movieola film with the arrival of the digital film and broadband era. The
Coens shot their second movie in Mississippi in 2004, when they remade "The Ladykillers" with a new Deep South plot and African-American music. T-Bone Burnett who assisted the Coens with the music in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" produced the brothers' soundtrack music once more. Ealing Studios had produced "The Ladykillers" film in Britain in a 1955 release that was destined to be the last for famous Ealing comedy films starring Alec Guiness. It has been called one of the the best British films ever, and the title still gives goosepimples to home viewers. Coinciding with opening of the film's publicity, the BBC snapped up ownership of the famous studio.
CHOTANK TITLE: O Brother features Pickwick Lake Flooding in 1937
When the Coens shot O Brother in Mississippi, Sam Haskell, |
on the Fox network. And, they starred in their own NBC television show. Therefore, Eddie Foote predicted long ago that because of Andy Griffith connections and the sagging, shelf-load of Radio and TV awards, they were expected to show up "any year" for the famous University of North Alabama George Lindsey Film 
Day Before Thanksgiving Day Parade," "Mark and Brian's:
What Would You Do For Superbowl Tickets?" and their biggest
show of the year, "The Mark and Brian Christmas Show,"
in addition to various advance private film screenings and
listener appreciation events, such as "Chic Night" and
"Dude Night." They encourage listener participation and
involve themselves in scores of charity benefits including their
own "Mark and Brian Pet Adoption Day" and the
"Annual KLOS Christmas Tree Drive." The team put
together a charity CD of "favorite moments" from the
show, titled, "Mark and Brian: All of Me," which
benefits the Mark and Brian Scholarship Fund and the KLOS Food
Bank.
already knew 
![[Mark Thompson and Greg Privett]](mark.gif)
University of North Alabama before their deaths. Since that important Florence meeting by Dr. Foote with Mark's parents, Mark's friend and WOWL Radio program director ![Take a giant footstep.
"Disney [in Virginia]",
"Jesse Owens" &
"Go Home" --
take you there.](/smthdis.gif)
New Material (c) Copyright 1996 -- 2010
Avon Edward Foote
chotank@aol.com
WHNT -- Channel 19, the CBS network affiliate
for North Alabama, owned and operated by The New York Times until 2006,
transferred the station's Huntsville area news film archive to Dr. Avon Edward
Foote in 1994 for instructional distribution and research.
The WHNT Newsfilm Archive will remain with Dr. Foote
after his retirement in September 2008 for research and production.
Recently, Dr. Foote recalled two of his professor-friends at
Ohio State University with Tishomingo ties. Professor Galen Rarick
had been editor and publisher of a Mississippi newspaper at Booneville
before receiving a Stanford Ph.D. and becoming Director of Journalism
at OSU. Professor Walter Emery had sold Nashville Bibles and Dictionaries
in Lee County, Mississippi long before being certified to practice law
before the U. S. Supreme Court and before writing widely-read books on
federal regulation of broadcasting and international systems of
broadcasting. Both men agreed to help Foote by serving on his
Ohio State Ph.D. Committee. Other Committee members were
I. Keith Tyler, Richard Rieke and Bob Monaghan, Chair.
Mass Media Bureau Call Sign Actions (Report #367) for 15 October 1999 show
that the Federal Communications Commission assigned WOWL-FM to
Southern Cultural Foundation, Burnsville, Mississippi on 12 October 1999,
after granting new tower height and moving the tower location toward Corinth.
On 15 November 2008, FCC official records show that the Southern
Cultural Foundation has current radio station
applications pending
in Anderson and Moulton, Alabama, and in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The
current address for the Foundation given on the Anderson application is
Huntsville-Brown's Ferry Road, Tanner, Alabama. If checking online,
readers find that the Pine Ridge station is now operating and
gives ownership information naming the Southern Cultural Foundation.
Dick Biddle's radio team employed Rusty Walker at WOWL in 1972 -- a year after
Rick Shayne had arrived for his own air shift with the station. And,
twelve years later Mark Thompson and Rusty Walker barely missed competing
head to head in Birmingham radio. By 1983 Walker had become nationally
famous for his exceptional country music ratings at Birmingham's WZZK.
Buddy Bain and wife Kay would be hired by Frank Kyle Spain at his
television station in Tupelo after Spain returned to NE Mississippi from
his job in New York's Radio City and built TV station WTVA. Buddy Bain had
contributed significantly to early successes of Muscle Shoals music by
joining Blue Seal Flour Pals on network from WJOI,
Florence, & WSM, Nashville.
More at Chotank.com on Spain and his support of Comcast Cable start-up in Tupelo
in 1963 -- the very same year that Spain himself became a co-founder of MCI.
Go to subject page (http://chotank.com/una2.html) to get details of Frank
Kyle Spain in Tupelo and his marriage into Richard (Dick) Biddle's family.
Holly Biddle Spain asked her husband for a MG sports car -- the model she had
owned as a teenager in Florence. Spain's restoration of
the sports car for
Holly in 1974 started a collection that decades later has become the famous
Tupelo Automobile Museum. In the 1960s, Ron Pressley, WOWL Radio DJ,
owned MG that was often seen around the radio/tv studios in Florence.
Max Berryhill, retired manager of the Tupelo Museum, is a former NASA engineer
in Huntsville, Alabama. Carl Powell, Powell Electronics in Sheffield, first employed him
in Radio-TV-Music electronics when Berryhill was still a teenager living in Florence.
When Mark Thompson and Rusty Walker worked in Muscle Shoals radio over
30 years ago, they competed with a pirate station home-based in Sheffield.
The pirate teenage broadcaster mimicked WABC, New York.
The New York Times published an important 2 May 2001 article by Emily Yellin on
Spain's new Tupelo Automobile Museum. Yellin credits Frank Kyle Spain with
beginning of MCI. In November 2009 the article appears in the GOOGLE web cache.
Moffitt Library, UC-Berkeley, has a comprehensive bibliography
on the Coens including a special section devoted to "Oh Brother
Where Art Thou?". One 2007 entry is titled: Homer in Tishomingo.
Reviewed . Revised . Refreshed 4 February 2010 Our 15th Year