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Austin “Super Blue”
(formerly “Blue
Boy”)
Lyons, was born in St.
Andrew's, Grenada of Grenadian
parentage. His father
Cantay Lyons was
a well-known shop
owner in La Poterie, St.
Andrew's.
Lyons migrated to Trinidad
& Tobago at a young
age and became
famous from his
first foray into the
calypso tent world
in 1980 with Soca
Baptist - a song he
penned in 1979.
Soca
Baptist also won
him his first
Carnival Road March
title, while
giving him the
biggest win at that
time, though the
magnitude of that
win would be dwarfed
by his own
subsequent landslide
victories. Lyons’
premiere into the
calypso art form
took Trinidad &
Tobago by storm.
He would go on to win
the annual Carnival
Road March title
eight times.
In 1981, Lyons
repeated his win
with Ethel
and in 1983 it was
Rebecca, the
selection which also
clenched the
National Panorama
title for
Desperadoes Steel
Orchestra.
The title of
Trinidad Soca
Monarch (now the
International Soca
Monarch) also
belonged to “Blue
Boy” for a record
five times. As
his moniker
suggests, he is famous
for wearing blue
costumes, and developed a
reputation for
performing daring
antics while on
stage for the
Trinidad Soca
Monarch
competitions.
In 1991, Get
Something and Wave
not only ushered in
the “jump-and-wave”
token soca element
but also won “Blue
Boy” another Road
March title. Jab
Jab won for him
again in 1992,
Bacchanal Time
did it in 1993,
Lara followed up
in 1995 and Pump
Up in 2000.
The latter Road
March triumph came
under scrutiny when
Neil “Iwer” George
sued the National
Carnival Committee (NCC)
claiming his
song Carnival
Come Back Again
was the true winner.
It was later
declared a tie.
“Super Blue” also
dominated the Soca
Monarch competition.
He was the
competition’s very
first winner in 1993
and went on to claim
the crown another
six times.
His daughter
Fay-Ann Lyons, whose
mother is
calypsonian Lady
Gypsy, is herself a
well-known soca
musician, composer
and performer, and
has already herself won three
Road March titles (2003,
2008 and 2009).
Fay-Ann performs both
locally and
internationally.
“Super Blue’s” songs are still
held to be classic
soca compositions
and the artist is
hailed as the
originator of the
"jump and wave"
style of soca songs.
His song entitled
Barbara was
played as a
background track in
the movie 1998 Side
Streets. |
