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Passengers get trip through hits

 
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kevlaf983



Age: 41
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 99
Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:14 am    Post subject: Passengers get trip through hits Reply with quote

From the Ottawa Sun today
Page link: http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/01/18/4779420-sun.html
Youtube video of him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jBk1jegrPg

Passengers get trip through hits

By DONNA CASEY, SUN MEDIA

Yves Roy has never been to a live concert in his life but every day the OC Transpo bus driver gives a show, bringing middle-aged women to tears.

In his ball cap, sunglasses and uniform, the 58-year-old looks like a typical bus operator, but when he hits a straight stretch of road, Roy sends his riders on a sentimental journey.

His passengers know him as "the singing bus driver," the baritone who breaks into song between calling out stops on routes criss-crossing the city.

An appreciative rider made Roy an Internet star when he used his cellphone to film the driver's rendition of Unchained Melody during a snowstorm on Valentine's Day last year.

While the "Happy OC Transpo Driver" clip doesn't show Roy or name him, the two-minute clip features the Orleans man crooning while navigating traffic on Route 118.

"I didn't think it was that good of singing," said Roy with a laugh, waiting in his bus outside OC Transpo's St. Laurent garage before heading out for his shift earlier this week.

Roy's transit warbling began about five years ago when he started to whistle La Boheme by legendary French crooner Charles Aznavour.

"When I finished, everyone applauded," recalls Roy, who's been a driver for seven years.

Growing up near Rouyn-Noranda, Roy was the little boy trotted out to sing Le Petit Voilier to his aunts and uncles and as a teen, he memorized the lyrics of classic rock 'n' roll songs in French and English. A few years ago, he practised a few songs at home and tried them out on the road.

Tackling his playlist like a master class, Roy downloaded karaoke computer programs and filled four binders with the lyrics to 250 songs. He organized a song schedule that would guarantee no riders hear the same song twice in a four-month period.

His bosses have received more than 150 positive comments from passengers who called in or wrote to OC Transpo to sing Roy's praises.

"If I'm with people my age, I'm a hit for sure," says Roy, whose bosses have logged about 20 complaints.

High school students are "not a good audience," says Roy, recalling how one kid once shouted "shut the f--k up!" from the back of the bus.

"The way I think about it, if it's disturbing somebody, they know it won't be for long," says Roy.
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