A Joke That Became a Phenomenon
In the mid-1970s, two pranksters began calling a Jersey City bar owned by a former boxer. Their goal was simple: to trick the proprietor into shouting outrageous names across the room. What followed became a widely shared underground sensation that would echo for decades—possibly even inspiring one of television’s most iconic jokes.
The Rise of the Bum Bar Bastards
Between 1975 and 1978, Jim Davidson and John Elmo regularly telephoned the Tube Bar in Journal Square, where Louis “Red” Deutsch usually answered. They used joke names like “Al Coholic” and “Phil Mypockets,” prompting Red to yell them out, unknowingly. When Red realized he was being pranked, he would erupt into graphic threats and profanity. The calls were secretly recorded and duplicated onto cassette tapes that became known as the Red Tapes.
How the Tapes Spread Across America
By the 1980s, copies of the prank calls circulated among players and staff in Major League Baseball, the NFL, and beyond. These tapes were shared unofficially, moving through locker rooms and press boxes until they became staples in broader media circles. Their reach grew without the help of any traditional publication or radio play.
From Jersey City to Cartoon Immortality
The bar, located at 12 Tube Concourse, was demolished in 2009. But the prank calls lived on. In interviews, Matt Groening acknowledged hearing them before creating The Simpsons, where similar prank calls from Bart to Moe became a recurring bit. In the 1990s, the original pranksters came forward, claimed copyright, and officially released the tapes under their name, the Bum Bar Bastards.
In the mid-1970s, two pranksters began calling a Jersey City bar owned by a former boxer.
Their goal: trick the owner into shouting outrageous names.
The calls, recorded without consent, became a widely shared underground sensation for years to come…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/4xjegwEoF6
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) July 30, 2025