The Origin of Dude Numbers Page

The History of The Dude Number World Pt II

Dude Numbers are given out to listeners who consider themselves to have opinions and a sense of humor as sick and twisted, YET far out, solid and right on as mine is.

The story of the Dude Number begins in March of 1999 when I started my gig at Huntsville’s 770 WVNN. Sean Hannity had filled the same gig only four years prior to my arrival and I wanted to set myself apart. I had become a huge fan of South Park and the Big Lebowsky and must have sensed the word “dude” was soon to replace “man” in our vernacular. On my first day on the air there 3 March 1999 a caller tried to makes his point with me by saying” ...man, you don’t know what you’re talking about” “first of all it’s ‘dude’ not ‘man’ “ I responded, Dudedom was born. 
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One night in December of that same year a caller informed me that I was much more than just a “Dude” I was the “KingDude” his suggestion was seconded by many callers after that. This explains the “named and proclaimed by you as the KingDude” part of every show open because...shocker! it REALLY happened.


  What happened next is still unclear and has been muddies by the sands of time and too many shots of Jim Beam. Back then I kept a composition book with notes from the show in it (I still do today but the frequency of entries has been greatly reduced).

The first recorded entry mentioning ANYTHINg about the term “Dude Number” is from 11 January, 2000. It’s a funny entry because I, like millions of others” had not become accustomed to writing out the year 2000, it just didn’t click, kind of like P Diddy’s popularity or Madonna’s acting skills. So on the page dated 1-11-99 are the words “EVERYONE’S A DUDE”. The next entry is dated 1-24-99 (actually 24 January, 2000) and there’s a recording of #73, #74 & 74A. Then producer “Wild Bill” was keeping track of the numbers and I have no clue what happened to HIS notebook.

A Dude Number is an Supreme Honor and the Highest Distinction awarded to a member of the Red White & Dude Nation. Many are called but few are chosen... ahhh who are we kiddin’? If you can scrape together the $18.95 for the t-shirt it’s yours. When purchasing your Dude Number Remember that there are lots of different ways to show off your new Manly Digits in the Dude Gear Store.

There’s the Suitable for framing Bandana, the Official Signature Series Dickies Jacket, The Dude Number All Stars and the Dude Number Hoodies Sweat. You can also combine your Dude Number with even more DudeGear and get a discount to boot.

Sometime in the next year the words “now serving Dude #...” started being used. By the time I reached Real Radio 97.9 in October of  2001 “Dude Numbers” were an integral part of the show. I wish I could fill more of this in and someday when somebody takes the time to suffer through listening to the miles of cassette tapes that contain the shows between 11 January, 2000 and  June of 2002 the rest of the story will be written. It’s amazing to think that since the beginning over 1400 have CALLED and chosen to identify themselves as “Dudes”, may God have mercy on us all and let’s hope that the Supreme one is indeed, a Dude.

- 17 june 2005