Tube Bar prank calls#History

In 1975, two young men – Jim Davidson and John Elmo,{{cite journal

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBQ8UwCC_3AC&q=%22Tube+Bar%22+Prank&pg=PA76

| title=Off the Hook

| newspaper=SPIN

| publisher=SPIN Media LLC

| page=76

| date=June 2002

| last=Beato

| first=Greg

| access-date=2020-11-07

| archive-date=2021-03-17

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317121831/https://books.google.com/books?id=tBQ8UwCC_3AC&q=%22Tube+Bar%22+Prank&pg=PA76

| url-status=live

}}{{cite web

| url=http://www.franksworld.com/prantagonize/97July/index.html

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001082738/http://www.franksworld.com/prantagonize/97July/index.html

| title=Prantagonize, Issue 1: The Bum Bar Bastards

| website=Frank's World Entertainment Network

| date=July 1997

| access-date=3 June 2015

| archive-date=1 October 2008

| last=Burke

| first=Doug

}}{{cite web

| url=http://members.aol.com/crankings/bastard.html

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320023104/http://members.aol.com/crankings/bastard.html

| title=The Bum Bar Bastard Interview

| website=CranKings

| date=27 May 1997

| access-date=3 June 2015

| archive-date=20 March 2008

}} later known collectively as the Bum Bar Bastards, or the BBB – began calling the Tube Bar, located at Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey. The bar was owned by heavyweight boxer Louis "Red" Deutsch, and most of the time Red himself answered the calls. During a call, the pranksters would ask Red to call out fictitious, pun-like or homophonous names such as "Pepe Roni" (pepperoni), "Hal Jalykakick" (how'd you like a kick), "Phil Mypockets" (fill my pockets),{{cite web

| url=http://www.missioncreep.com/mw/tubebar/intro.html

| title=The Legend of the Tube Bar, Part 1: Introduction

| website=Mouth Wash: Articles, Stories, and Humor by Mike Walsh

| access-date=2 June 2015

| last=Walsh

| first=Mike

| archive-date=21 March 2015

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321214131/http://www.missioncreep.com/mw/tubebar/intro.html

| url-status=live

}} "Al Coholic" (alcoholic) or "Mike Hunt" (my cunt).{{cite news

| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E5DE173FF934A35750C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

| title=POP MUSIC; Giving Jerseyana A Voice

| work=The New York Times

| date=March 7, 1999

| access-date=October 14, 2007

| last=Sisario

| first=Ben

| archive-date=June 10, 2008

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610115519/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E5DE173FF934A35750C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

| url-status=live

}}{{cite web

| url=http://www.goarna.go.ro/articole%20nr%205/transcript.htm

| title="The Tube Bar Tapes" - Transcrierea

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310072718/http://www.goarna.go.ro/articole%20nr%205/transcript.htm

| archive-date=10 March 2011

| access-date=18 September 2013

| website=grup goarna.go.ro

}} Most of the time, Red would call out the names, unaware that he was being subjected to a prank.

At times, Red would catch on, and when he did, he would respond with extreme hostility, shouting profanity, obscene sexual references (usually involving the caller's mother), and threats of physical harm at the caller. He would utter threats such as, "I'll break dem bones on you, on your feet, you'll never be able to walk for the rest of your life!" 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 pranksters a reward of $100 or $500 if they would show up at his bar in person, but they never took him up on the offer, in one case even counter-offering him $5.{{cite book

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6TxcT7N9RgC&q=tube%2Bbar%2Btapes&pg=PA110

| title=Weird N.J. Vol. 2: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

| publisher=Sterling

| isbn=978-1454903628

| page=110

| last1=Moran

| first1=Mark

| last2=Sceurman

| first2=Mark

| year=2006

| access-date=2020-11-07

| archive-date=2021-03-17

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317121846/https://books.google.com/books?id=J6TxcT7N9RgC&q=tube%2Bbar%2Btapes&pg=PA110

| url-status=live

}}

By the 1980s, dubbed cassette tapes of the calls were shared between staff of several major league sports teams such as the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Dolphins. These dubbed copies of the calls were unofficially referred to as the Red Tapes or Tube Bar Tapes.{{cite web

| url=http://www.missioncreep.com/mw/tubebar/recording.html

| title=The Legend of the Tube Bar, Part 2: How the Recording Got Around

| website=Mouth Wash: Articles, Stories, and Humor by Mike Walsh

| access-date=2 June 2015

| last=Walsh

| first=Mike

| archive-date=11 November 1999

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991111022959/http://missioncreep.com/mw/tubebar/recording.html

| url-status=live

}} The popularity of these prank calls spread throughout respective sports leagues, branching out to sports reporters and then into the larger media world.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

The Tube Bar itself was located at 12 Tube Concourse, Jersey City, adjacent to the entrance of the Journal Square PATH station and across the way from the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre.{{cite web

| url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/195093715dotc922_1819.xml/TUBE%20BAR,%20INC.%20v.%20COMMISSIONER

| title=Tube Bar, Inc., Petitioner, v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent

| website=leagle.com

| date=26 December 1950

| access-date=2 June 2015

| publisher=Leagle

| archive-date=2 June 2015

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602231110/http://www.leagle.com/decision/195093715dotc922_1819.xml/TUBE%20BAR,%20INC.%20v.%20COMMISSIONER

| url-status=live

}} The small complex of commercial storefronts that included the Tube Bar was demolished in early 2009 to make way for the 1 Journal Square development project.{{cite web

| url=http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1239171942113660.xml&coll=3

| title=It's all up from here for Journal Square

| website=NJ.com

| date=8 April 2009

| access-date=1 June 2015

| publisher=The Jersey Journal

| first=Charles

| last=Hack

| archive-date=3 June 2015

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603010941/http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews-8%2F1239171942113660.xml&coll=3

| url-status=live

}}{{cite web

| url=http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/01/kushner_scoops_up_journal_square_property_for_27m.html

| title=Jared Kushner buys site of long-delayed Journal Square project for $27M

| website=NJ.com

| date=5 January 2015

| access-date=2 June 2015

| publisher=The Jersey Journal

| first=Terrence T.

| last=McDonald

| archive-date=3 June 2015

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603011037/http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/01/kushner_scoops_up_journal_square_property_for_27m.html

| url-status=live

}}

• Animator and cartoonist Matt Groening has described himself as a fan of the tapes, particularly the "Garden Grove calls". His series The Simpsons features a running joke of Bart Simpson making prank calls to barkeeper Moe Szyslak, asking to speak to patrons with joke names. Groening describes the similarity between these jokes and the Tube Bar calls as "creative synchronicity."{{cite news

| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-03-vw-42985-story.html

| title=Telephone Trespassing: Think only kids make prank calls? Now grown-ups are dialing, baiting their prey and taping what follows. And thousands collect the recordings.

| newspaper=Los Angeles Times

| date=3 June 1993

| access-date=18 September 2012

| last=Ehrman

| first=Mark

| archive-date=3 December 2013

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203211508/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-03/news/vw-42985_1_prank-calls

| url-status=live

}} Co-developer Sam Simon told The Howard Stern Show in 2007 that the jokes are a "homage to or parody of the classic Red tapes".{{cite interview|last=|first=|subject-link=|interviewer=Steve Langford|title=The Howard Stern Show|url=|access-date=|work=|publisher=|location=|date=8 November 2007}}

• During the 1980s, several different record labels released various edits of the tapes on CD, LP and cassette tape before the Bum Bar Bastards came forward in the 1990s to claim copyright of the tapes and officially release their version.

• In the 1990s, on The Howard Stern Show, Billy West would often imitate Red, usually after Stern would ask Billy a question, but referring to him as "Red."

• List of practical joke topics
• Roy D. Mercer
• The Jerky Boys
• Touch-Tone Terrorists
• Longmont Potion Castle

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://missioncreep.com/mw/tubebar/ Tube Bar: The Legendary Tube Bar Recording] by Mike Walsh

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tube Bar Prank Calls}}

Category:Practical jokes

Category:Culture of Jersey City, New Jersey

Category:Prank calling

Category:Mass media in Hudson County, New Jersey

Category:Prank call albums

Category:1970s in New Jersey

Category:History of Jersey City, New Jersey