Are you one of those rare people who remembers Zud Funk? (Forgive me, but I’m not sure exactly which spelling he used: Zudd Funk, Zudd Funck, Zudfunk, Zudfunck, Zuddfunk or some variation like one of these!) Well, if you do remember Zud, you recall his odd little dialup message which was based in Royal Oak, Michigan for a time (back around 1981-1982.) You’d dial up Zud’s phone number, and you’d be connected to an answering machine that would enable you to listen to whatever Zud happened to have on his mind that day. In theory, the message changed daily, but actually we were lucky to get a new message every two weeks or so!
Zud would drone on and on about all sorts of things: favorite songs, sports, politics, cigarettes, and he’d sometimes share pieces of his own writing. At times, he’d drift off into the ether slapping together sound collages, or spouting self-important mysteries punctuated with beer-induced hiccups. A few times, he just seemed to let the phone dangle in the air, letting us hear the background sounds. One of my favorite Zud messages began, "This is your Source – Zud Funk. Sometimes I’ll stay up till four to get in touch with the Realm beyond the Fringe. It’s more involved than that really. I can’t elaborate right now. It’s a long time to stay up, you drink a lot of coffee . . . ." After this he lapsed into some obscure commentary about freedom and the variety of people in society. Doesn’t sound very impressive in print, but it was a great piece of telephone theater!
At times Zud seemed to fancy himself a social or cultural critic. At other times, he (lightheartedly) presented himself as a cult leader, his eager followers being called "Zuddies". Part of the fun of calling Zud up was trying to figure out just what he was trying to accomplish! I’m don’t think he was quite sure what he was up to, but it was always fun listening to him do it!
Well, it’s been almost 20 years since I last dialed up Zud Funk. He pulled the plug on his machine some time in 1982 or 1983 I think. He had had previous "phone gigs" (one in Highland Park, I think), and for all I know he may have had some in the intervening years. I tape recorded a series of Zud’s messages back then, one long tape of his weekly creations. In listening to the Zud tape today, I am amazed and delighted at how well his odd little medium has maintained its charm! The medium truly was a major part of the message with Zud, but it was more than just the medium. Though many of his messages were pretty thin, when he was on target, he was very good! Even brilliant at times.
Zud seemed to have succeeded in creating his own art form, his own strange little forum in which his desire to create, to interact, to be taken seriously, could find expression. No small achievement! I admired this then, and I admire it now.
Were you a Zuddie? Do you have any memory, however wispy, of this eccentric phone philosopher? Please communicate with me if you do! Please let me know if it would be OK to post your thoughts here. (If you would rather keep them private, that’s fine too.) Perhaps you also have some recorded messages? (Not likely, you say.) If you do, it would be fun to swap tapes.
Or if you happen to be Zud, please drop me a note! It would nice to learn how the years have been to you. I hope you have been well and in good spirits! And thanks for all those thoughts you strung together like beads all those years ago!
DBR (longtime listener)
[Note, as of July 16, 2003: My contact information has been removed since you can now contact Zud directly at http://www.zudfunck.com/ Happy listening!]
"This Zud’s for you!"
Some words for
the search engines (you may disregard these): Zud Funk, Zudd Funk, Zud
Funck, Zudd Funck, Zudfunk, Zuddfunk, Zudfunck, Zuddfunck, Virginia, Unit
6, Royal Oak, 48067, Michigan, This Zud’s for you, Zuddies, Zud Tone Phone,
bumper sticker, Detroit Metro Times, The Blue Light, Jerry Hodak
Those who enjoyed Zud in the 60's, 70's, and 80's will be delighted to learn that ZUD LIVES in the 21st Century! Be sure to check out http://www.zudfunck.com/ , where Zud's daily message may be heard in MP3 format. (Quite amazing, I must say!)
Notwithstanding
this recent development, the legacy version of this website will be maintained
(unchanged) above. Thanks for all the input from Zuddies over the
last few years!