# Friendly Rich > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Friendly_Rich > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Friendly_Rich.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Rich > Source revision: 1139248878 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Canadian composer and musician Friendly Rich performing with The Lollipop People at [Pop Montreal](/source/Pop_Montreal) in 2005. **Friendly Rich**, born **Richard Marsella**, is a Canadian music composer and musician from [Brampton, Ontario](/source/Brampton%2C_Ontario). He has independently released a number of albums of satirical and melodramatic songs. His music has been featured on [CBC](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation) and *[The Tom Green Show](/source/The_Tom_Green_Show)*. ## Early life and education Marsella earned a [Master's degree](/source/Master's_degree) in music at the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto) under the supervision of Lee Bartel and composer [R. Murray Schafer](/source/R._Murray_Schafer), studying mainly musical instrument construction and parade pedagogy. In 2021, Marsella earned a PhD in music education at the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto), with his dissertation [The Musical Playground as a Vehicle for Community Building](https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/104917/3/Marsella_Riccardo_202103_DMA_thesis.pdf). ## Career Rich composed background music for three seasons of [MTV](/source/MTV)'s *The Tom Green Show*.[1] 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](/source/CBC_Radio_One) (five documentaries for *Outfront*), [CBC Radio 2](/source/CBC_Radio_2) (continuous airplay on [Brave New Waves](/source/Brave_New_Waves)), [TFO](/source/TFO) (VOLT) and [Muchmusic](/source/Muchmusic) (Muchnews, BradTV). In 2000, Friendly Rich founded the [Brampton Indie Arts Festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brampton_Indie_Arts_Festival&action=edit&redlink=1), an annual event which promotes underground artists, held in February at the [Rose Theatre](/source/Rose_Theatre%2C_Brampton) in downtown Brampton. This event, under Rich's direction, has featured [Nash the Slash](/source/Nash_the_Slash), [The Nihilist Spasm Band](/source/The_Nihilist_Spasm_Band), [Ron Sexsmith](/source/Ron_Sexsmith), [Cuff the Duke](/source/Cuff_the_Duke), [Bob Wiseman](/source/Bob_Wiseman), [John Oswald](/source/John_Oswald_(composer)), [Moneen](/source/Moneen), [Scott Thompson](/source/Scott_Thompson_(comedian)), and [Hayden](/source/Hayden_(musician)). 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*.[2] 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. [3][4] *Dinosaur Power*, also released in Europe, appeared on the !earshot National Top 50 Chart in 2008.[5] The third to have a European release, 2010's *The Sacred Prune of Remembrance*, noisily combined music from several genres.[6] In 2014, Rich released a solo album, *Bountiful*,[7] and performed in support of it with the Lollipop People at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.[8] In 2018, Friendly Rich arranged and performed, with the Lollipop People, Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's piano solo *Pictures at an Exhibition*.[9] In 2023, Friendly Rich released his *[Man Out of Time](https://friendlyrich.bandcamp.com/album/man-out-of-time)* recording on vinyl through the [We Are Busy Bodies](https://wearebusybodies.bandcamp.com/) 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](/source/Thom_Fitzgerald)'s [3 Needles](/source/3_Needles) (director's cut) starring [Lucy Liu](/source/Lucy_Liu). - 2006 - Old Trout Puppet Workshop short film (featuring The Lollipop People). - 2022 - Score for Gabrielle Favaretto's short animated film *Tadpole*. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Rock, Blues, and a Healthy Dash of Crazy"](http://www.electriccitymagazine.ca/2013/04/rock-blues-and-a-healthy-dash-of-crazy/). *Electric City Live*, April 25, 2013 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["FRIENDLY RICH AND THE LOLLIPOP PEOPLE"](https://nowtoronto.com/music/album-reviews/friendly-rich-and-the-lollipop-people/). *NOW Toronto*, by Elizabeth Bromstein, February 16, 2006 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Friendly Rich The Friendly Rich Show"](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/friendly_rich-friendly_rich_show). *Exclaim!*, By Vish Khanna Feb 16, 2007 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People, The Friendly Rich Show"](http://brokenpencil.com/reviews/friendly-rich-and-the-lollipop-people-the-friendly-rich-show/). *Broken Pencil*, Hal Niedzviecki (Moderator)July 21, 2011 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The National Top 50 For the Week Ending: Tuesday, May 27, 2008"](http://www.earshot-online.com/charts/index.cfm?intChartTypeID=101&dWeekOfID=2008-05-27). *!earshot*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People The Sacred Prune of Remembrance (The Pumpkin Pie Corporation)"](https://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/friendly-rich-and-the-lollipop-people/Content?oid=1837255). *The Coast*, September 09, 2010By Sean Flinn 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Friendly Rich Returns with 'Bountiful' Album"](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/friendly_rich_returns_with_bountiful_album). *Exclaim!*, By Alex Hudson Apr 16, 2014 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Friendly Rich & the Lollipop People at the Horseshoe"](https://nowtoronto.com/music/concert-reviews/friendly-rich-and-the-lollipop-people-at-the-horseshoe/). *NOW Toronto*, by Sarah Greene, July 25, 2014 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Friendly Rich reinterprets Mussorgsky, loosely"](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/friendly-rich-reinterprets-mussorgsky-loosely/article792197/). *The Globe and Mail*, November 2, 2009. Robert Everett-Green ## External links - [The Pumpkin Pie Corporation](http://friendlyrich.com/), Friendly Rich's company. - [Friendly Rich's Myspace page](http://myspace.com/friendlyrich) Authority control databases: Artists MusicBrainz 2 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Friendly Rich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Rich) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Rich?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.