Tube Bar prank calls

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Spxmet (talk | contribs) at 08:54, 11 March 2011 (→‎Fictitious names used: Added Pepe, Hal and Phil). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Tube Bar prank calls are a legendary[1] series of prank calls.[2] Performed in the mid-1970s, John Elmo and Jim Davidson made a number of phone calls to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, asking the proprietor if they could speak to a named customer. The given names were homophones for other, often offensive, phrases. Recordings of the calls circulated widely on bootleg tapes and were suggested as the inspiration for a running gag in The Simpsons.[2]

History

In the mid-1970s, two young men, John Elmo and Jim Davidson (later known collectively as The Bum Bar Bastards, or BBB), began calling a bar named the Tube Bar, which was located in Jersey City, New Jersey, in Journal Square. The Tube Bar was owned by heavyweight boxer Louis "Red" Deutsch, and most of the time Deutsch was the person who answered the calls. During each call, the callers would ask Deutsch to call out fictitious names, which, when said aloud, sounded like something else entirely (for example, "Al Coholic" = alcoholic, "Ben Dover" = bend over, or "Cole Kutz" = cold cuts).[1] Most of the time, Deutsch would call out the names, unaware that he was being subjected to a prank. Sometimes, however, Deutsch would catch on to the prank, and when he did, he responded with extreme hostility, shouting at the caller with profanity, obscene sexual references, usually involving the caller's mother, and threats of physical harm. He would say things such as, "I'm gonna break dem bones in your feet, so you'll never be able to walk right again!" as well as "I'll cut your belly open and show you all the black stuff you got in there!" Sometimes, Red would offer the two $100 (and later $500) if they would show up at his bar, but they never did.[3]

All the prank calls were taped and shared with friends. By the 1980s, the equipment managers of several Major League Baseball teams had shared copies of the tapes, which had become known unofficially as the Red Tapes or Tube Bar Tapes. The tapes' popularity spread throughout the league, branching out to other professional sports leagues and then to sports reporters and into the media. By 1981, one of the Bastards' gags ("Mike Hunt") was incorporated into the movie Porky's. Animator Matt Groening had obtained a copy and incorporated the phone high jinks into a running gag on The Simpsons with barkeeper Moe Szyslak, who is based on Deutsch. Several New York City alternative rock record labels released various edits of the tapes on vinyl before the Bum Bar Bastards came forward in the 1990s to copyright the tapes. The Bastards later released their own "official" version on CD which is now available for purchase on iTunes.[3]

Discography

  • The Tube Bar (11/6/88, TeenBeat Records)
  • Tube Bar (Album) (1993, Detonator)
  • Tavern Tour (1997, Padded Cell Productions)
  • Bum Bar Bastards Special DVD/CD Collector's Edition (9/1/04, T.A. Productions)
  • Tube Bar Collector's Edition [2-CD Set] (1/1/06, T.A. Productions)
  • Drunk, Dirty and Disgraceful (10/30/06, T.A. Productions)
  • Tube Bar Red's Bootleg Tape (Remastered) (9/6/07, T.A. Productions)
  • Tube Bar (album) (9/6/07, T.A. Productions) (CD reprint of Tube Bar Collector's Edition Disc 1)
  • Tube Bar Collector's Edition DVD (9/6/07, T.A. Productions) (DVD reprint of Tube Bar Collector's Edition DVD)
  • Tube Bar 5.1 Surround Sound – Collector's Edition DVD (04/04/08, T.A. Productions)
  • Tube Bar Legendary Prank/Crank Calls (The Ultimate Collection) (10/23/08, TubeBar.com)
  • "Red's Tube Bar Christmas" (Single) (12/23/08, T.A. Productions; Digital download mp3 single of the "12 days of Christmas" song Tube Bar Spoof. The song was written and recorded by Bob Ryan)
  • Tube Bar Prank Calls 35th Anniversary Collection Vol. 1 (07/21/2010, T.A. Productions)
  • Tube Bar Prank Calls 35th Anniversary Complete Collection (DVD+CD) (09/01/2010, T.A. Productions; features all 105 Tube Bar Calls in chronological order)
  • Tube Bar Prank Calls 35th Anniversary Complete Collection (09/01/2010, T.A. Productions)

Fictitious names used

Among the names used in the prank calls were:

  • Al Coholic (Alcoholic)[2]
  • Cole Kutz (Cold cuts)[2]
  • Sal Ammy (Salami)[2]
  • Al Brickyurnick (I'll Break Your Neck) [4]
  • Bill Loney (Bologna) [5]
  • Mike Ocksmal (My Cock's Small) [6]
  • Ben Dover (Bend over)
  • Holden Megroin (Holding my groin)
  • Mike Hunt (My cunt)
  • Stu Pitt (stupid)
  • Al Killue (I'll kill you)
  • Pepe Roni (pepperoni)
  • Hal Jalikik (How'd you like a kick)
  • Phil Mipockitz (Fill my pockets)

References

  1. ^ a b Sisario, Ben. "POP MUSIC; Giving Jerseyana A Voice", The New York Times, March 7, 1999. Accessed October 14, 2007. "Mr. Sceurman and Mr. Moran also scattered excerpts from The Tube Bar Tapes throughout the CD. These legendary prank-call recordings – containing classics like Can I speak to Al Coholic? and Is this the party to whom I am speaking? (borrowed from Lily Tomlin) – have circulated on bootleg tapes for years."
  2. ^ a b c d e Ehrman, Mark (24 July 1993). "Phone Pranks: Not Just For Kids Anymore". Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved 19 August 2010. [dead link]
  3. ^ a b Weird NJ Vol. 2 Tube Bar Interview
  4. ^ Tube Bar Prank Calls 35th Anniversary Complete Collection
  5. ^ Tube Bar Prank Calls 35th Anniversary Complete Collection >
  6. ^ Tube Bar Prank Calls 35th Anniversary Complete Collection

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tube_Bar_prank_calls&oldid=418269898"