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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The rest of my stay at ‘VNN I was always addressed as “Dude” which I’m
sure royally pissed off the local KKKlansman who contemplated many a
protest of the show. After moving the show to 1110 WBT in Charlotte NC
later that Fall “dudedom” was a regular part of the program.
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. 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
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