A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KREWE OF C.R.U.D.E.
by Ray "Plaine" Kern
I formed C.R.U.D.E. in order to join the Krewe of Clones, KdV's predecessor. This was done in the Fall of 1983 for the Clone Parade in 1984. The theme for the Clones parade that year was "Barbie and Ken go to the Worlds Fair". C.R.U.D.E.'s theme was "Barbie's generic relatives - The New Orleans Doll-ings". We all dressed in generic yellow with a UPC code on the back and black lettering indicating either "boy doll" or "girl doll". It was the debut of our generic doubloon. We also had a yellow pick-up truck, labeled "pick up truck". I think we had around 40-42 members. Dues were $10.
The following year, 1985, the Clones paraded with the theme "Celebrity Tragedy" and C.R.U.D.E. did "Hollywood Habits - The Drugs of the Stars" where we all dressed as various controlled substances and paraphernalia. We had grown to 67 members. Dues jumped to $15.
In 1986, New Orleans was the site of Superbowl XX. The Clones parade was scheduled to appear the night before the Superbowl, but was canceled by the City Administration. The official reason give was it was done for safety reasons, but everyone felt the City did not want to be embarrassed by the Clone parade. The Krewe of C.R.U.D.E. that Saturday night marched anyway in the French Quarter by joining forces (or farces) with the Pair-A-Dice Tumblers, Krewe of Kosmic Debris, and members from the Seeds of Decline and perhaps a few other Clone rejects. The theme of our "Tumble" was "The Stupor Bowl". I have no idea how many of us were on the streets that night. It seemed like a usual Tumble size at that time - about 50-60.
Plaine Kern meets the press.
