# "Convoy". What the Hell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508 "2014-06-24T03:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/41 "2014-06-24T17:47:57Z")
Convoy… The movie was so much better. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/42 "2014-06-24T17:49:27Z")
It’s important to remember that when Homer wanted to demonstrate how cool the Mr. Microphone gift Bart got was, this was the song he used. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/43 "2014-06-24T18:22:42Z")
My mother did jump on this bandwagon and have my dad install a CB in our tiny little VW. Her handle was something inappropriately sexy, like Short Shorts. Geez. And she even let me talk on it as a 9 year old. Breaker, breaker 1-9, this is Hollie Hobbie. Over and out! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/44 "2014-06-24T18:44:35Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Her handle was something inappropriately sexy I remember hearing a woman called ‘Turkey’ – Because, she said, she’ll ‘Gobble, gobble, gobble!’ On another subject: Personae. Dad had a friend who spoke normally, except when he was on the CB. Then, Ten-four would become Tee-yen FO’. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/45 "2014-06-24T18:56:10Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > People using the latest technology to share news, opinions, joke, etc. under pseudonyms? What kind of bullshit is that? CB patter was the leetspeak of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/46 "2014-06-24T19:12:51Z")
> [@carnalk](#): > > cb patter was the leetspeak of the day. omg! Lol! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/47 "2014-06-24T19:19:45Z")
My granddad had a CB in the spare room of his house in NJ and would always be chatting up the truckers passing by on I-80. His [del]nickname[/del] handle was “the Maitre D’” I remembering him using an old clothesline to hoist his antenna up to the top of a tall tree so he could get a wider reception footprint. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/48 "2014-06-24T20:00:22Z")
I was a city kid with no exposure to long distance truckers, but my brothers, friends and I all got into the CB fad fior a while. It was the closest thing we had to an Internet in the 70s! We mostly used it to tell stupid dirty jokes, eavesdrop on other peoples’ conversations and mock them (coming up with obscene variations on their handles was always fun), or start singing random stupid songs. Yes, I know. We were very mature. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/49 "2014-06-24T20:10:15Z")
I remember that during indoor recess at my elementary school at my school, that album was played every day that year. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/50 "2014-06-24T20:18:49Z")
Several of us here probably know this trivia, but in case some don’t, C.W. McCall of _Convoy_ and Mannheim Steamroller of the oft-played '90’s new-agey instrumental Christmas collections are the same guy. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/51 "2014-06-24T20:27:06Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > Several of us here probably know this trivia, but in case some don’t, C.W. McCall of _Convoy_ and Mannheim Steamroller of the oft-played '90’s new-agey instrumental Christmas collections are the same guy. According to the Wiki articles on CW McCall and Mannheim Steamroller, Chip Davis collaborated with Bill Fries before Mannheim Steamroller. They collaborated for MH’s 2003 _American Spirit_ album. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/52 "2014-06-24T21:06:40Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > … Big Rig fever … > Then it all came to a screeching halt, and its brief pop cultural impact vanished like it had never existed. Well…it transformed. Into _Transformers_! [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Optimusprimealtmoviemode.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Optimusprimealtmoviemode.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/53 "2014-06-24T21:18:12Z")
I had a CB in my Land Rover as recently as 6 years ago, we used it when off-roading in remote locations. My favorite memory is that I had it on when my wife and I were on a road trip somewhere in the Dakotas and suddenly some guy starts singing a country song at the top of his voice. I knew my CB didn’t have a very long range and it was pretty obvious it was the guy driving the only semi around a few miles in front of us. As we pulled alongside he finished the song and my wife grabbed the CB and commented on his voice, he turned absolutely purple with embarassment! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/54 "2014-06-24T21:54:41Z")
I had a Radio Shack CB receiver kit in the early '80s. I-84 ran right behind our housing development and the northern terminus of 684 was a few miles away but I never really received very much. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/55 "2014-06-24T22:03:10Z")
Back when C.W, McCall was popular I used my audio cassette recorder mike to get one of his tracks off of the radio. It was called “Black Bear Road” and was about the trials and tribulations of trying to drive a jeep over a high mountain road in Colorado. I saved the tape for my dad because I thought he’d find it funny. He loved(loves) driving over the old roads in the mountains, not the interstate. I didn’t realize just how funny he’d find it because, unbeknownst to me, Black Bear Road is a real road in Colorado, which my folks had driven over, both by 4 wheeler and trailriding with their motorcycle. The sign for the road, mentioned in the song, was really there, and my dad already had a picture of my mom standing by the sign!!! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/98-tOmVYpro/maxresdefault.jpg "CW McCall Black Bear Road") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-tOmVYpro) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/56 "2014-06-24T22:23:19Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > It also helped that the C.W. McCall character was originally developed as the spokesperson for Old Home bread ads and had already had another trucking related hit with “Old Home Fill’er up and Keep-on-a-trucking café”, so people were getting exposure to the lifestyle even in their normal lives. They must have used it for several local brands of bread. It was used for Kerns bread in East Tennessee. Kerns also used Jim Henson muppets in a commercial where one would say, “everybody likes Kerns bre-ad.” Another would say “Not everybody!” The naysayer would be grabbed by a hand or stomped by a foot, and we would hear, "now everybody likes Kerns Bre-ad. Last time I looked these were actually on YouTube; I had thought I’d never see them again. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/57 "2014-06-24T23:10:16Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > My mother did jump on this bandwagon and have my dad install a CB in our tiny little VW. Her handle was something inappropriately sexy, like Short Shorts. Geez. And she even let me talk on it as a 9 year old. Breaker, breaker 1-9, this is Hollie Hobbie. Over and out! My dad was in the middle of his midlife crisis during this time. He had a silver Corvette with a CB radio and his handle was Silver Fox. I remember it as the year I fell in love with Peterbilts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/58 "2014-06-24T23:11:38Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Back when C.W, McCall was popular I used my audio cassette recorder mike to get one of his tracks off of the radio. It was called “Black Bear Road” and was about the trials and tribulations of trying to drive a jeep over a high mountain road in Colorado. I saved the tape for my dad because I thought he’d find it funny. He loved(loves) driving over the old roads in the mountains, not the interstate. > > I didn’t realize just how funny he’d find it because, unbeknownst to me, Black Bear Road is a real road in Colorado, which my folks had driven over, both by 4 wheeler and trailriding with their motorcycle. The sign for the road, mentioned in the song, was really there, and my dad already had a picture of my mom standing by the sign!!! > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-tOmVYpro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-tOmVYpro) I’ve driven it. Well, rode it while an experienced backwoodser drove. 8% or steeper in places, wicked switchbacks, super narrow in places. Wow, that was fun! I can’t remember if it was Aug or July, but it snowed on us going down. Shirt sleeve and shorts weather and snow. Yep, you’re in Colorado alright. My friend who drove his modified Toyota had spent a lot of time in Alaska and the Yukon, taking some amazing photos. I still have one of his pics on my wall. A polar bear in full run towards the camera position. The extreme telephoto foreshortening made it look a lot more dire than it was, but he said he kept looking up from the viewfinder to make sure. A Mountie he showed the pics to still said he was a doofus for doing that. /end hijack ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/59 "2014-06-25T00:09:59Z")
It hasn’t been mentioned yet, but the 70’s CB craze aligned with a peak in the 11year solar activity cycle, yielding frequent long range propagation, or “skip” in the lingo. The craze faded with the solar cycle. It may be a case of correlation not being causation, but no longer being able to contact ones CB buddies might have been part of what caused the craze to fade. The start of the craze was probably a result of of a lucky alignment of the skip cycle and synthesized rigs suddenly becoming available and affordable. Prior to this you had to buy a crystal pair (one for Tx and one for Rx) and most rigs had only a handful of crystal sockets so you were limited to maybe 3 or 5 channels. Suddenly anyone could afford a 23 channel (later 40, when FCC expanded band) rigs. This led to people being able to form groups that hung out on particular channels, each with a particular “culture”. The ability to flirt and troll anonymously with virtually no risk of being found out was. was a very new thing. It would be a decade or so before it was possible online. The use of online pseudonyms likely has it’s roots tied to CB handles. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/60 "2014-06-25T01:11:59Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The song was an improvement over Red Sovine’s works. Tell me you didn’t tear up when your heard _Teddy Bear._😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508.md?page=4)