by Jazmine Noguera
“You can have ‘[Mr.] Loverman.’ Take it. Fine! … All I ask in return is you do something with this song, too. All right? It’s called ‘Boy Toy.’”
In 2016, former frontman of The Honeysticks, Ricky Montgomery released his first solo album, Montgomery Ricky. Montgomery had left his indie music career long behind him until his song, “Mr. Loverman” went viral four years later in 2020. Where did this sudden popularity spark from? None other than Banana Fish fan edits of Ash Lynx and Eiji Okumura, complete with added voiceovers.
Banana Fish has become a running inside joke between Montgomery and his fans, understandably so. He even has a highlight on Instagram of his progress watching the anime. I was lucky enough to meet Montgomery when he played at The Catalyst in 2022, and he signed my sister’s copy of Banana Fish Vol. 1; which they purchased solely for this meet and greet. When he was handed the manga, he told us, “I’ve signed a few of these by now!” He was also gifted a painting of Ash and Eiji while onstage at this same show, which he proudly presented to the audience. It is also incredibly common for folx in the crowd to scream iconic lines from fan edits such as Banana Fish’s “Nice to meet you” (which several people did at my show) at just the right part of “Mr. Loverman” while Montgomery is performing. It was just like listening to the edit audio come to life.
2023 kept “Mr. Loverman” trending with a viral TikTok audio featuring voiceovers of Jujutsu Kaisen characters, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto saying each other’s names over the song. This TikTok trend involved users filming black and white objects/animals/you name it using the audio for their videos, reflecting Geto and Gojo’s hair colors. Montgomery’s own account was tagged in many of these videos and he quickly caught wind of this trend as well.
In September 2023, Montgomery released his sophomore album, Rick. One month prior to Rick’s release, Montgomery pre-released “Boy Toy”, which he labeled a pansexual song. To encourage promotion, he took to TikTok to ask fans to make edits with his song. He had specifically mentioned Jujutsu Kaisen fans to take advantage of yet another “Mr. Loverman” trend, but would quickly be introduced to SK8 the Infinity editors who began using his song for Reki Kyan x Langa Hasegawa edits. This led multiple fanbases into comment debates on whether “Mr. Loverman” was an AshEiji or SatoSugu anthem while Renga fans happily claimed “Boy Toy”. All in all, Montgomery’s song gained the traction he was seeking. He made another Instagram highlight to document his watch progress of SK8 the Infinity just like he did with Banana Fish.
@rickymontgomery help me #jjk #anime #mrloverman #boytoy
Thanks to the internet, Ricky Montgomery still creates music today, and it’s been wonderful listening to his growth. If you’re already familiar with “Mr. Loverman”, “Line Without a Hook”, and “This December”, try giving “California”, “Talk to You”, “It’s Ok to Cry”, “Settle Down”, and “Boy Toy” a listen. These are some of my favorite Ricky Montgomery songs, and here’s to his career flourishing for many more years to come. As a former fan video editor myself, never underestimate the power of these edits. You never know where in life they could take you or the artist of the song you’re using.