Straight From the Mouth

Mercedes: Yeah, and also, I think Mike Marino played a big part.

So, you went to Vegas, and the rest is history, How long after getting there did it begin to kick in?

Mark: I felt like it kicked in right away. We started with an April Fool's stunt. April Fool's day of '97, we told listeners to come down to the Stratosphere, the huge tower at the end of the strip, and everybody that showed up would get a $100 bill. We did the old $100 bill stunt, and what they ended up getting was an invoice charging them $100 for listening to our radio station. And we got TV, we got a blurb at the end of Brokaw, and the GM was just about ready to send us back to Denver. But the stunt really put us on the map. It got our names out there, and from that point on, listeners responded right away.

I'm curious, when a show like yours begins to take off, how do you determine the right time to sit down with management to discuss your relationship?

Mercedes: I think once we realized we had a buzz on the streets. We saw the rates going up, the audience was getting a lot larger. I think we just said "Hey, look what we're bringing to the table. We're anchors of the station," and they agreed that we should be compensated. I don't think it was much of a battle. I think they acknowledged it and said "You're right, you deserve more money."

Mark: There were a couple of articles in The Mouth that stuck out, that helped us both. They were written by Jerry St. James, about negotiating your own deals, and I think we got a lot of knowledge that way. We went to management, we showed what we have done, in terms of rating successes, awards that we had been presented with, and said, "Look, this is the real deal. It's working, we want to stay here for a while. Let's do something about it."

How does 'Vegas compare to Denver?

Mark: Denver is definately home, but there are some amazing things about this city that you really don't hear about or know about until you've lived here. And the city has been very good to us. I don't think we're ever going

How do you out-Vegas, Vegas on the radio?

Mark: The locals avoid the strip like the plague. If you live here, you stay away from the strip unless you have family or friends in town. The locals aren't paying $500 to see the Eagles at the Hard Rock. The advantage that we have is that while those celebrities are coming through, it's a great chance for us to get them on our show. We have a chance to get celebrities on our show that a lot of other shows outside of 'Vegas don't get, simply because they're not coming through.

You're also very close to number of local celebrities. Didn't Wayne Newton attend Mercedes wedding?

Mercedes: I think that we've developed a lot of great personal relationships, and I know I tell this story all the time, but I actually invited Wayne Newton to my wedding, and he showed up with his wife. And they got more attention at my wedding than my husband and I did. It was funny. We were up at the alter saying our vows, and all we saw was the back of everyone's head. They couldn't care less about us. All they wanted to do was get his autograph.

Mark: We have a lot of live opportunities versus taped phoners. That's an excellent way to develop more relationships.

What's been the meat of your success? What is it that keeps people listening to Mark and Mercedes?

Mercedes: As people, we go through the same things that all of our listeners go through. I don't think we bill ourselves as stars. We come off as regular people. We can talk about trivial things. Like today, we talked about mucus plugs, if that's any indication.

Mark: Mucus plugs became mp's. We tried to code it down, and then from mps we went to mp3s. My fiance's period is 2 weeks late. That's been a topic of conversation on the show. So, from that we went into the not-so-pleasant thing that happen with pregnancy, that you don't hear about. And as a show that targets women, the phones wouldn't stop. It was so relateable. We had a

In your relatively brief, but very successful tenure as a morning show, what are some of the most important things you've learned about doing a good show?

Mark: Things that you're most uncomfortable or afraid to talk about are the most compelling and relatable. I think it's important to stay grounded. There's a lot of ego in this business, and I think we go on the air every single day, appreciating what we do, and what this market has given us, and the fact that we're able to live our dream keeps us very modest about what we do and how big the show becomes, and I think keeping it real with your audience.

Have you always had a producer?

Mark: No, we began without one. We then brought on J.C. Fernandez. He produced for us for a couple of years. He is now at Z104 in Washington, DC. And now we have Chad, and he's been with us for about a year and a half.

What was it like having a producer for the first time?

Mercedes: A Godsend. It was wonderful, because Mark and I were trying to book the interviews in addition to prepping for our show, returning calls... things like that. It was so hard.

How do you keep an edge to your show when you're going after an adult audience?

Mark: Mucus plugs is a good example from this morning. When we do edgy, we try to come up with codes. Instead of saying mucus plugs over and over again, they became mp3s. We also did a topic a couple of years ago that the FCC had an issue with, that ended up becoming an ordeal, and it involved chicken soup.

Mercedes: That was code for "soup" that a man provides.

Mark: Male output.

What other code terms have you developed with your audience?

Mark: Solitaire is masturbation. Chicken soup is the male ejaculate, mp3s are mucus plugs, what else do we have?

Mercedes: For everything else, we just use slang that's not too offensive. Ya know, boobs...

Mark: The code softens the edgieness, and we don't do many of these code topics, but when we do, it softens the blow, and the comedy becomes not so much about the actual material, but the codes that we're using.

Mercedes: Awhile back when we talked about women faking orgasms, and we didn't want to say orgasm every five minutes, so we called it "going to Ohio." And pretty soon we had native of Ohio calling in and saying "What's wrong with Ohio? Why do you keep talking about Ohio - it's a great place."

Do you think men prefer hearing about sex and relationship from a women rather that a man?

Mercedes: I think so. It's a lot like "Sex In The City." We talk about it. We may not talk about it like men talk about it, but I think a woman's perspective on sex brings the relationship aspect to it, whereas the man's may not. It's more of a physical aspect.

Is there anything you won't talk about?

Mark: No, not at all.

When you walk in the door at night, do your other halves ever confront you about something you said or did on the air that morning?

Mercedes: Every day! There've been a lot of fights at my house about things that I brought up - as I'm sure it is for you, Mark. I think we both told them getting into the relationship "Look, our lives are on the radio."

What's gotten you in trouble?

Mark: Just the possibility of my fiance being pregnant, the fact that she's late. When it first came on the radio, it was about 6:40 in the morning. By about 6:42, she had about 10 voicemails on her cellphone, and she didn't have the radio on, and was under the impression that I told the entire city that she was pregnant. And there were a few choice words for me when I got home.

What's the most interesting thing that's ever happened on your show?

Mark: In the big picture, this was so small, but it was fun. We had Ray Romano on our show, and we begged him for a walk-on role in his show. The last thing we ever expected to come out of his mouth was "okay," and he said "Sure." So, two days later we took the show to Burbank. We did the taping. We were on an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond." It was about a 2.5 second blurb, but we had a really good time with it.

Is it more difficult for AC shows to find material than other formats?

Mark: I don't think it's difficult at all to get material, if you're willing to be yourself, to do things that might scare you. If you're willing to put it all out there, and do it with sincerity and depth, I think you're nature of the market, we share 30% of our audience with the two other AC stations, an 80's station, 2 CHR stations, one mainstream, one Rhythmic, and we share a good chunk of our audience with Howard Stern.

Mercedes: Sometimes I don't think you can spend too much time looking at the competition, because you have to concentrate on what you're doing and just knowing that you can make it the best so that they will chose you first. Before they go to any of your competitors.

Mark: If you're going to share a guest, then put a better interview on the radio. If you're going to be doing some topical material that other stations are going to do, find a better angle. Make sure you're on top of your game, and you're outperforming.

What's the worst experience you've ever had with a guest?

Mark: Huey Lewis won't come on our show any more.

Mercedes: Mark pissed him off.

What did you do?

Mark: Made fun of The News. No, Huey Lewis was in town for a concert. He invited us and some listeners to go backstage. I was with my girlfriend, and he was hitting on her. I brought it up on the air during our next interview, lightheartedly, having some fun with it. His wife was in town, listening to the interview, and he wasn't happy, and informed us that he would never return to our show again.

What is the most revealing bit of information you ever got out of a celebrity?

Mark: We actually broke the Kid Rock/Pam Anderson engagement, and we were getting calls from People magazine and all sorts of publications to find out what happened. I went to the Kid Rock concert here in town the night that he proposed to her, and we were doing a meet and greet, and I overheard one of his people tell someone else that the reason why the meet and greet was late, was because he proposed, and I wasn't supposed to hear that. So, I acted like nothing happened, and the next morning, we went on the air with it. All of the sudden, we were getting calls from all of the gossip rags wanting information on it.

Do you have specific roles on your show that you adhere to?

Mark: I'm the Simon, she's the Paula Abdul. I'm the asshole, she's the nice one. I lead and direct the show. I do the daily dirt entertainment feature, get us in and out of breaks. Mercedes is total content. She handles the news. Off-air, we both update our web site section and e-mail.

Are you bit-oriented? Do you do stunts on the air?

Mark: No, we hate bits. We are topic intensive, phone intensive. We'll play games occasionally to give away prizes, but as far as parody songs, parody spots, no. We'll do some street stuff occasionally, but as far as a bit-driven show, that's not us.

When do you go over material?

Mark: We meet when we get off the air. We put together a detailed plan, a schedule. 90% Of the time, we deviate from the schedule, but we always have a plan in place.

Do you ever share that with management or programming?

Mark: No. We've been very fortunate. We have pretty much total freedom.

So what's your take on the business these days? Do you follow it closely?

Mark: I think we're both very much involved. I'm online several times a day, finding out what's going on. Personally, I think the business is lacking a lot of drive and passion that used to be there. Why the fizzle?

Mercedes: I think syndication has a lot to do with it. It's hard sometimes, when you're in the same building with 3 of your major competitors. You're right next door to them. It's a little awkward. Consolidation, too, has a lot to do with it.

Do you spend much time chatting with other morning shows in the building, or is that awkward?

Mercedes: I think we all get along great, but at the end of the day, we know they are our competitors.

Who are the other morning shows in your group?

Mark: We have Melanie in the Morning at KMZQ, Morning Zoo at KLUC, we have Howard Stern at KXTE, and two other AM's.

Is there anything you've ever been asked to share?

Mark: We have never been asked to share our prep. We have been asked to share our guests, occasionally.

In a few weeks, I'll look forward to seeing you at MSBC. Is there anything you're specifically looking to get there?

Mark: The big word would be motivation.

Is there another morning show you'd particularly like to spend some time with?

Mark: There are so many that we really respect. I'd say Jamie and Danny at Star, in L.A. We're both big fans of Jamie White, because we listened to her when we lived in Denver.

Mercedes: I really respect her a lot. I learned a lot just listening to her. I like how she will say what she thinks, and she doesn't care. I think she gets it.

Do you think she opened the door for a other female personalities?

Mercedes: Yeah, I think so. I know some female think that she is just a female Howard Stern, but I think there's a lot to be said about her honesty and her bringing all of that on the air.

Are there any other female morning personalities you look up to?

Mercedes: I like Kelly on the Kidd Kraddick Show. She's like a tamed-down version of Jamie. She still speaks her mind, she's very strong. I think she comes across as being very open and honest. That, to me, is the most important trait in a female on a morning show.

Are there things that you're continually trying to improve on your show?

Mark: I think we've all been at the point where the show gets in a rut. I'm learning that being focused mentally is everything, and your attitude and state of mind is 90% of the battle. And if you can stay upbeat and positive, even in times of ruts, when things aren't going the way you want, that's the perfect time to re-energize the show and start throwing things out that you may not normally try to get some fresh blood going.

Do you have an elusive guest?

Mark: A couple of times recently, Bill Clinton has been through town, and we did a couple of contests for people trying to get him to call, and I don't think either one of us is that passionate about 'we have to have him on the air,' but I think we spent a lot of effort on air, trying to get him on our show, and we've never had any luck. We ended up with Bob Barker's home phone number at one point. Mercedes was a big fan of Bob Barker. We called him at home and wanted to say hello.

Mercedes: We were trying to get him on for my birthday. He was cranky.

Mark: He screemed and yelled and slammed the phone down. We keep that in our 360 machine. It's a drop we go to from time to time.

Mark, when is your wedding?

Mark: Tentative date is March 29th.

If neither of you ended up on the radio, what would you have done?

Mercedes: I would have been a pharmacist. That's what I went to college for originally, and I just wasn't into. I had taken a public speaking class as an elective, and I kind of liked it. Like Mark did, I went to the radio station to get an internship, and I realized that's what I really like.

Mark: I would have been a lawyer, probably.

I was told to ask you about fast food.

Mark: We brought back the encharito at Taco Bell in Las Vegas and then nationally. That was a show highlight. It was about 2 years ago.

Mercedes: We were just talking about it on the air, that we miss the encharito. Somebody from Taco Bell heard and said "we'll do a special today for lunch 94 cent encharito." They got inundated with people trying to by encharitos, so they decided to bring it back to all Taco Bells."

Do you eat at Taco Bell for free now?

Mark: No, but we should. They had our picture on every menu board in the valley for about a year when the encharito came back.

What's the secret of getting a male/female morning show to last?

Mercedes: Organized chaos. We are very organized when it comes to what's gonna go on the show. Our secret to making it work is to make it seem spontaneous. Mark - I think you have to nurture the relationship. Dr. Phil talked about one year at Boot Camp. Nurture the relationship, take care of the chemistry and be good to one another, respect each other's space, and let each person be themselves on the air.

Do you spend much time together off the air?

Mark: Not a whole lot.

Has the popularity of your show posed any challenges?

Mercedes: Well, you have to tip, because they know who you are.

Mark: It sucks when your getting your car out of valet, and they start talking about what a great show it was, and they enjoyed listening.

Do you have a favorite way to end an interview?

Mark: We ask if there was a make-believe place called Hump Island, a place of sand, surf, and sex, what five celebrities (assuming you had total permission from your signifigant other) would you take?

Are there certain celebrities that usually end up on Hump Island?

Mercedes: Mark McGrath ends up there a lot. When we had him on, we let him know that he was on everyone else's.

Mark: Debbie Gibson came on once, and put somebody on her list who had put her on his list. It was a mutual exchange. It was like a Hump Island connection.

Who would you have on the island?

Mark: Don Anthony.

Ya know, this is one of those things that could get you in trouble with your fiance... I'll send the Mouth to the station.