(Ricky) Blue: pair of bionic hips.
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Time waits for no one, and it ain't waiting for Ricky Blue, either. And if the pop-music police will indulge us to follow up this Mick Jagger refrain with another timeless classic: Blue wants the world to know that just like Ole Man River, he will keep trudging along with his much younger musical sidekick, George Bowser, who turned 50 a few months back.
Bowser has fared better of late. He had only to undergo an emergency appendectomy. Mercifully, Bowser doesn't trigger metal detectors at airports. Blue, less spry but still smilin' at 54, has been keeping airport security personnel busy, thanks to two newly implanted bionic hips.
"What's worse is that the female security guard will invariably ask for a male guard to frisk me," Blue moans. "In the old days, women wanted to feel my thighs, dammit. Now they call a guy over. That hurts."
COURTESY OF BOWSER AND BLUE / George Bowser (left) and Ricky Blue: not interested in doing showcase mini-sets to wow scouts at festivals.
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Though not as much as the recent surgery to remove Blue's gall bladder. On the plus side, Blue has discovered that a pint of Smithwicks can go a long way toward dampening the pain. Oh, yes, he also possesses a mighty fine singing voice.
And he and partner Bowser have something else to crow about: they've just released their 11th disc, appropriately titled We're All Here ... Because We're Not All There. They also taped a special with the same title for CFCF-12, which is set to air shortly.
Bowser and Blue need little introduction in these parts. They are Quebec's most renowned anglo, satirical folk duo - even if they are Quebec's only anglo, satirical folk duo.
They have managed to stay together for 22 years. At this point, they could soon surpass longevity records set by Mick and Keith or Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, who hung in together without talking to one another.
It probably helps that Bowser and Blue live far enough apart. The Bowsers and their three offspring reside in Westmount, while the Blues and their two young children live in Beaconsfield.
Bowser and Blue never necessarily sought to make a difference, but for reasons that escape them (after several pints) they have somehow emerged as defenders of anglo rights by taking potshots at this province's sacred political cows.
Bowser, a native of London and an Oxford University dropout, began his musical career as a solo club act shortly after moving to Montreal in 1970.
After graduating from Concordia with a master's degree in literature, Blue, who was born in Britain, did a little hard time in New Jersey, but essentially grew up here, toiling as a bar minstrel while contemplating the great Canadian novel.
It's worth noting that one of the tunes they are most proud of on the new disc - recorded live at Theatre Lac Brome in September - is Paint the Town...Beige. They say they can relate well to that one, as well as Working Through My Mid-Life Crisis. But the song that brings them the most joy is When Lawyers Take Viagra...They Get Taller.
They can relate ever better to this vindictive little ditty. It seems that after spending the better part of a year penning a play that was to be a musical celebration of the life of late and beloved Montreal boulevardier Nick Auf der Maur and that was slated for an extended run at the Centaur, lawyers got into the fray and have put the project on hold. The boys are hopeful, but they are also chagrined that lawyers can't see the humour in their homage to Nick.
"I was crushed that anyone would think we would want to do anything but honour Nick's memory," says a sombre Bowser. "But we were just outgunned by lawyers."
This, too, will get resolved and pass. Bowser and Blue will continue to soldier on, playing more than 100 nights a year at clubs and fundraisers and corporate gigs. Though it is assumed that you can count on one hand the number of Quebec anglos who haven't caught them in concert, Blue insists there are pockets of local humanity not as yet exposed to their antics. "But we will track them down and force them to listen to us," Blue pledges.
At this point in their careers, they are not interested in doing showcase mini-sets to wow the talent scouts at festivals like Just for Laughs. "We're in our 50s," Blue stammers. "How many auditions do we have to do? The best-case scenario would be that some American scout hires George to play an English butler on a sitcom and I get signed to play a grumpy dad on another, that we get separated from our families, and that Bowser and Blue break up."
And the worst-case scenario? "We're living it," a grinning Blue says.
When pressed as to how many more years they can continue at this frantic pace, Blue winks and simply adds: "Apparently, there's no limit."
A Westmount Rhodesian.
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