“How do rumors get started? They’re started by the jealous people, and they get mad seeing something they had and somebody else is holding,” sung Timex Social Club’s Michael Marshall on “Rumors” 40 years ago. As for the song itself, it got started at a Bay Area high school.

If you’re a DJ or vinyl collector of any kind, odds are you’ve got a copy of “Rumors” or at least seen it floating around in dollar bins. The record, with a distinctive air-brushed cover of a woman whispering into another’s ear, reached No. 1 on the Hot Black Singles chart in 1986 and is said to have sold over one million copies domestically. 

“[‘Rumors’] brings back great memories of just partying and hearing the song on the radio. Yes, I still play it, yes, it still does really well at parties and get-togethers, people really like it,” said radio DJ Chuy Gomez, who has played the song on his radio show for decades.

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Stylistically it sits in a sweet spot between boogie, R&B and new jack swing, with an infectious sing-along hook, punchy drum machine rhythms and syrupy harmonies. But the aftermath of its creation is far from sweet.

The story of Timex Social Club is a classic story of the sour side of the record industry, complete with disregarded handshake deals, an acrimonious band breakup, and a dueling group designed to piggyback off Timex’s 15 minutes of fame — that went as far as to copy that air-brushed album art.

Founding member Marcus Thompson’s 174-page book “How Do Rumors Get Started: The True Story of Timex Social Club” offers his side of the group’s history with detailed description of their rise, revelrous tour alongside Run DMC and Beastie Boys, and industry backdealing that led to the creation of rival group Club Nouveau and the breakup of the band.

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Thompson was born in 1965 in Oakland, enrolled in piano and guitar lessons at a young age but excelled at neither. Then at 15, he discovered DJing, and began saving his allowance to buy R&B 12-inch singles and made edits of the songs using a cassette deck that he shared with friends under the name the Blaster Mixologist. Prince and Michael Jackson were primary influences, with Prince-produced group the Time serving as inspiration for a new five-man crew that he initially dubbed Timex, rocking custom logo baseball tees to Berkeley High.

FILE: A BART train goes past above Seventh Street and Peralta Street in West Oakland, mid-1980s.

Armed with a Tascam four-track recorder, Yamaha MK-100 keyboard and Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-110 drum machine, Thompson started writing songs of his own under the name Timex Social Club. The story of their signature hit began in the summer of 1983, fresh out of high school.

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“It was a song about some of the scandalous lies I........

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