Friendly Rich, born Richard Marsella, is a Canadian music composer and musician from

Brampton, Ontario Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

. He has independently released a number of albums of satirical and melodramatic songs. His music has been featured on

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 ** ...

and ''

The Tom Green Show ''The Tom Green Show'' is a television show, created by and starring Canadian comedian Tom Green, that first aired in September 1994. The series aired on Rogers Television 22, a community channel in Ottawa, Ontario until 1996, when a single p ...

''.

Early life and education

Marsella earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in music at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

under the supervision of Lee Bartel and composer R. Murray Schafer, studying mainly musical instrument construction and parade pedagogy. In 2021, Marsella earned a PhD in music education at the

, with his dissertatio
The Musical Playground as a Vehicle for Community Building

Career

Rich composed background music for three seasons of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''The Tom Green Show''. Since 1994, he has recorded exclusively for his own eclectic record label, The Pumpkin Pie Corporation. Friendly Rich has produced and composed nine full-length CDs, which have been featured on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

(five documentaries for ''Outfront''),

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

(continuous airplay on

Brave New Waves ''Brave New Waves'' was a Canadian radio program which aired on CBC Stereo, later known as CBC Radio 2, from 1984 to 2007. Airing overnight five nights a week, the show profiled alternative and indie music and culture, including film, comics, ...

TFO TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (OTELFO), a Crown corporation owned by t ...

(VOLT) and

Muchmusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

(Muchnews, BradTV). In 2000, Friendly Rich founded the Brampton Indie Arts Festival, an annual event which promotes underground artists, held in February at the

Rose Theatre The Rose was an Elizabethan playhouse, built by theatre entrepreneur Philip Henslowe in 1587. It was the fifth public playhouse to be built in London, after the Red Lion in Whitechapel (1567), The Theatre (1576) and the Curtain (1577), both i ...

in downtown Brampton. This event, under Rich's direction, has featured

Nash the Slash James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and Electric mandolin, mandol ...

The Nihilist Spasm Band The Nihilist Spasm Band (NSB) is a Canadian noise band formed in 1965 in London, Ontario. The term "spasm band" refers to a band that uses homemade instruments. Most of the NSB's instruments are modifications of other instruments, or wholly i ...

Ron Sexsmith Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has ...

Cuff the Duke Cuff the Duke is a Canadian alt-country band from Oshawa, Ontario. They play a blend of traditional country and folk music with indie rock influences. History Cuff the Duke formed in Oshawa, drawing their name from a shirt purchased by front-ma ...

Bob Wiseman Robert Neil Wiseman (born 1962) is a film composer, songwriter, author and music teacher. Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former Canadia ...

, John Oswald,

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, Scott Thompson, and

Hayden Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States * Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado *Hayden, Idaho *Hayde ...

. Friendly Rich and his live ensemble The Lollipop People signed a deal with Hazelwood Records (Germany) to release two albums in Europe. They have since toured Europe three times; the first album to be released there was ''We Need a New F-Word''. Rich's 2007 album ''The Friendly Rich Show'', with the feel of a Vaudeville act, exemplified his satirical song-writing style, combining beat poetry and political commentary. ''Dinosaur Power'', also released in Europe, appeared on the !earshot National Top 50 Chart in 2008. The third to have a European release, 2010's ''The Sacred Prune of Remembrance'', noisily combined music from several genres. In 2014, Rich released a solo album, ''Bountiful'', and performed in support of it with the Lollipop People at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. In 2018, Friendly Rich arranged and performed, with the Lollipop People, Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's piano solo ''Pictures at an Exhibition''."Friendly Rich reinterprets Mussorgsky, loosely"
''The Globe and Mail'', November 2, 2009. Robert Everett-Green In 2023, Friendly Rich released his
Man Out of Time
' recording on vinyl through th
We Are Busy Bodies
record label.

Film and television credits

* 1994 to 1996 - Composer for children's TV series "The King Stanlislav Show" (Russia) * 1998 to 2001- Background music for MTV's "The Tom Green Show" * 2005 - 3 pieces used in

Thom Fitzgerald Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald (born July 8, 1968) is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer. Life Fitzgerald was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York. His parents divorced when he was five years ol ...

3 Needles ''3 Needles'' is a 2005 Canadian drama film directed by Thom Fitzgerald. The title refers to the three main characters who make a deal with the Devil in order to survive a global epidemic. The plot deals with interwoven stories of persons aroun ...

(director's cut) starring

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

. * 2006 - Old Trout Puppet Workshop short film (featuring The Lollipop People). * 2022 - Score for Gabrielle Favaretto's short animated film ''Tadpole''.

References

External links

The Pumpkin Pie Corporation
Friendly Rich's company.
Friendly Rich's Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Friendly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Brampton