Phlash Phelps
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Phlash Phelps | |
|---|---|
 Phlash with his late dog Clyde in Montauk, New York | |
| Born | Gordon Phelps April 11, 1966 |
| Occupation(s) | Disk jockey, radio personality |
| Years active | 1983-present |
Gordon "Phlash" Phelps (born April 11, 1966)[1] is a radio personality and disc jockey on Sirius-XM Radio, broadcasting from Washington, D.C. He hosts the weekday morning drive time Phlash Phelps Phunny Pharm on the '60s Gold, channel 73, which plays music hits from the 1960s. He has been with SiriusXM, and before that XM Satellite Radio, since before it went on the air in 2001. Prior to that, Phelps held a number of radio jobs, moving around the country to work in a series of secondary and tertiary markets. He is known for his fast-talking, retro style of broadcasting and for making American geography a focal point of his show.
Born in Towson, Maryland, Phelps grew up in nearby Baltimore City.[2][3] He has at least one sibling, an older sister.[4] He attended Calvert Hall College High School in Towson.
As a youngster he listened to Casey Kasem and his American Top 40 countdown show and became very knowledgeable about what the current hits were.[4] After winning a station contest he received a tour of the studios of Baltimore's WBSB (B-104); at age 15 he then knew that being a radio personality is what he wanted for a career.[4]
The deejays that influenced Phelps included Baltimore's Johnny Walker on WFBR, with his sound effects and personality-driven style, as well as some of the jocks on B-104.[5] In addition, he listened to Rick Dees and the nationally syndicated Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 countdown show, which included plenty of sound effects and humor.[5] A final influence was the fast-talking Terry "Motormouth" Young, whom he heard on WCAU (98.1) in nearby Philadelphia during its early-mid-1980s Hot Hits phase.[5]
Different on-air jobs around the country
After a potential internship at B-104 fell through, through more contest entries Phelps parlayed his knowledge of current music to the program director at local rival WQSR (Q105) instead, garnering an internship there when he was 17 and still in high school.[4]
In the common industry practice he then attempted to work his way up the ladder, holding a series of on-air jobs in secondary and tertiary markets.[1] For instance, in 1995 after his departure from WDJB (B-106 FM) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he spent five years, his longest stint during this period, he joined WSSX (95SX) in Charleston, South Carolina as its morning drive personality.[6]
Phelps is known for his never-ending travels around the United States. By the time he was age 23 he had been to 49 states, with his 50th state, Alaska, added at age 29.[7] A true radio enthusiast, at times in his career he traveled to different radio markets in the country just to tape the broadcasts of different personalities.[2]
Phelps created a show that reflected his desire to capture both the craziness of Rick Dees and the fastness of Terry "Motormouth" Young.[5] As the title of the Phlash Phelps Phunny Pharm indicates, a central concept is to replace all instances of the letter 'f' with 'ph'. Thus his fan club was called the Phlash Phelps Phunny Pharm Phan Clan[8] (and years later, listeners would call in and recite what number they were in the club). When he talks about the professional American football league, he refers to the "NPHL" rather than the "NFL"; the 27th state to join the union is "Phlorida", not "Florida", and so forth.[9] The fast talking is exemplified by showing how fast he can recite the letters of the alphabet backwards and similar feats.[10]
By 2000 he was back in Fort Wayne, this time doing mornings for WCKZ (Rhythmic/102.3), before leaving in September 2000 for the East Coast and satellite radio.[11]
