Rock et Belles Oreilles (RBO) was a Canadian radio, television, and stage comedy group popular in the primarily French-speaking province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

during the 1980s and 1990s. Their name was a pun on the

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

blue dog character

Huckleberry Hound Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue dog who speaks with a North Carolina accent. He first appeared in the series ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to win an Emmy Award in 1960 as a ...

(" Roquet Belles Oreilles" in French). The group was formed in 1981, with the original lineup consisting of Guy A. Lepage, Yves P. Pelletier, Bruno Landry, André Ducharme, Richard Z. Sirois, and . Sirois left the group in 1987 and Francke in 1992; the group separated in 1995.

History

Radio era: 1981–1986

The show ''Rock et Belles Oreilles'' was created on 15 May 1981 by Richard Z. Sirois and Guy A. Lepage, who at the time hosted at a

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

community radio station, and initially focused on the history of rock music. It quickly became a comedy show, however, and the duo recruited Bruno Landry, Yves P. Pelletier, and André Ducharme. Chantal Francke joined on occasion and became a permanent member of the troupe in 1987. Rock et Belles Oreilles got their own show on

CKOI-FM :For the CKOI radio network, see '' CKOI (network)''. CKOI-FM (96.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It airs a French-language contemporary hit radio format and is owned and operated by Cogeco. The studios are in Pl ...

in 1984. Two years later, they released the album ''The Disque'', a compilation of their most popular sketches and songs.

Television era: 1986–1990

In 1986, RBO were given a contract by Guy Fournier, director of programming at Télévision Quatre Saisons, to produce a television show, giving the group significant freedom to air their creativity. The show proved popular overall but also generated some criticism, including an article written by journalist Claude Jasmin, who criticized RBO for their crude humour. At the start of the show's second season, in 1987, Sirois left the group and was replaced by Chantal Francke. Later the same year, RBO released the album ''The Spectacle''. In 1989, they published the album ''Pourquoi chanter ?'', consisting entirely of original songs. A year later, they retired their television show.

Further shows: 1990–1995

Following their departure from television, RBO embarked on a two-year tour of Quebec and New Brunswick, titled Bêtes de scène. In 1991, they celebrated their tenth anniversary with the release of the compilation album ''Anthologie du plaisir''. After the tour, RBO returned to radio, with a daily show on the Radio-Mutuel network, and issued two more compilation albums, ''Le gros cru'' and ''Le gros cru 2''. Chantal Francke subsequently left the group. In 1994, the quartet moved to

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...

, first taking part in a special titled ''100% cru'' and later running their own show, ''RBO Hebdo'', which would run for a year. Throughout the course of that year, the group shot three TV movies: ''Pas de quartier pour monsieur Caron'', ''Vie de bureau'', and ''Un jour mon prince viendra''. A year later, on 3 May 1995, they decided to put an end to RBO, with each member intending to focus on personal projects.

Anniversaries: 2001–2011

20th anniversary In 2001, to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary, its former members released two compilations: ''The Tounes'' and ''The Sketches''. They also issued a series of DVDs, included in a box set in 2004, each with a season of their former television show. The group also made several television appearances and published ''RBO: The Documentaire'', a series of five documentaries spanning their career. ''Bye Bye'' 2006 In 2006, to mark their 25th anniversary, RBO returned to television after being recruited by the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

to co-produce and direct '' Bye Bye'', a humorous end-of-year program, together with, among others, former member of the comedy troupe Les Chick'n Swell Simon-Olivier Fecteau. They returned to the show the following year. 30th anniversary In 2011, the group received the Medal of Honor of the National Assembly of Quebec and celebrated its 30th anniversary with a radio show, a website, a mobile application, and the series ''RBO 3.0''. 40th anniversary On 8 December 2020, the group launched the television series ''RBO – The Archives'' on the streaming platform Crave to mark its 40th anniversary. It consists of twenty episodes that include excerpts from shows broadcast between 1986 and 1988. On 15 May 2021,

Noovo Noovo is a Television in Canada, Canadian French language, French-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The network has five Owned-and-operated station, owned-and-operated a ...

presented a 60-minute special titled ''TOP 40'' about the group, comprising an anthology of their best sketches, appearances, and interviews of the past forty years.

Post-RBO collaborations

Various members of RBO have collaborated on different projects over the years, including on the following productions: * '' Un gars, une fille'' (1997–2003) * '' Tout le monde en parle'' (2004–present) * '' Happy Camper'' (2004) * '' Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure'' (Quebec dubbed version, 2007)

Discography

* ''La Cassette de farces'' (1981) * ''The Disque'' (1986) * ''The Spectacle'' (1987) * ''Pourquoi Chanter ?'' (1989) * ''Anthologie du Plaisir'' (compilation, 1991) * ''Le Gros Cru'' (1992) * ''Le Gros Cru 2'' (1993) * ''The Tounes'' (compilation, 2001) * ''The Sketches'' (compilation, 2001) * ''The Tounes + The Sketches'' (compilation, 2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Et Belles Oreilles Comedians from Quebec Television shows filmed in Quebec 1980s Canadian sketch comedy television series Noovo original programming Canadian comedy troupes Year of Canadian television series debut missing Year of Canadian television series ending missing Audiogram (label) artists Comedy collectives 1990s Canadian sketch comedy television series Sketch comedy troupes