“Shut Up Little Man,” has been illustrated for a comic book, issued on a recording sold by Tedium House in San Francisco, and performed on stage in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Among famous tapes in this category is a recording allegedly made on Buddy Rich’s tour bus of the drummer in a sputtering rage, screaming curses at his band.Įqually renowned is “Shut Up Little Man,” a tape of the acrid exchanges between two old, bitter alcoholic roommates surreptitiously recorded by a downstairs neighbor in San Francisco. Most collectors acquire not only tapes of prank calls, but other bootlegged tidbits of audio verite. “They have the means to make a lot of copies of them, and musicians tend to be outsiders, so they admire the people who make the calls.” Musicians and people in the music business are major purveyors of tapes, Alfonso says. Despite the annoying nature of the calls, a number of country-music stars admired the prankster so much that they once threw a party for him in Nashville. While Arnie/Barney’s identity is not publicly known and Garrick never admitted to knowing his nemesis, some people know.
PHONE NUMBERS TO PRANK CALL CALIFORNIA SERIES
In the series of calls, a fellow salesman would call Garrick and assume the voice of “Arnie” or Arnie’s brother “Barney.” The calls stretch out over years, during which a long, twisted narrative unfolds. Audio verite fans make pilgrimages to Al White Motors, as they do to the Tube Bar. The late Benny Garrick was a used-car salesman at Al White Motors in Manchester, Tenn. The New Saigon calls, he says, are his favorites-although he prefers to characterize the similarity between the Moe’s Tavern calls and the Tube Bar tapes as “creative synchronicity.”Īlfonso is partial to a series known as the “Benny Garrick Calls,” which are most widely circulated in the South. “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening confesses to being a fan of prank tapes. More often, he recognizes his tormentors and uncorks a stream of expletives.įans of “The Simpsons” may recognize the similarity to Bart’s calls to Moe’s Tavern. “Last name, Koholic.” Sometimes the bartender falls for it, hoarsely calling out for a patron named Cole Kutz or Sal Ammy. “Can I speak to Al?” goes a typical call.
The New Jersey and Garden Grove calls are particular favorites of connoisseurs of a phenomenon some have dubbed audio verite. Although many would condemn the callers and the listeners, in some circles, the tapes and discs are considered entertainment. Thousands of people nationwide can-and do-listen to these or other, similar calls on audio- or videotape or CDs. If you think these kinds of telephone calls are still the exclusive domain of bored adolescents, think again. Don asks the salesman for outrageous services such as bringing a cheap, secondhand sofa across town for his scrutiny. Again, the response is rage and off-colorlanguage.Ī furniture salesman in Redondo Beach is badgered on the phone by “Don,” who says he lives in Lakewood. On the East Coast, callers harass a New Jersey bartender, asking for fictitious customers named Stu Pid and Sal Ammy. The caller says he’s collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to change the name of Garden Grove to New Saigon, eliciting rage from many of those he calls. Against a backdrop of tension among some Anglos and Asians in Garden Grove, a man feigns a “Vietnamese accent” and telephones residents.
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