Rick Moranis - Alt Country Balladeer
January 20, 2006 7:43 AM   Subscribe

Rick Moranis - Alt Country Balladeer. Whatever happened to Rick? The former SCTV star and 80s/90s movie comedian apparently doesn't miss "acting." His new album of humorous country songs is nominated for a Grammy.
posted by Parlour Tricks (49 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
listen here

(this is weird)
posted by mr.marx at 8:03 AM on January 20, 2006


From the small sampling on his site, I'd say the songs are fairly meh. Were they really just reaching to throw a fifth nominee into the "comedy album" category?
posted by Gator at 8:06 AM on January 20, 2006


I was wondering what the hell happened to him.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:06 AM on January 20, 2006


Ditto, Astro Zombie. I guess I figured he was doing stand-up or theater in the backwoods of Canada. You learn something new every day.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:08 AM on January 20, 2006


WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
RICK MORANIS.
posted by Plutor at 8:09 AM on January 20, 2006


I always thought his best work was on SCTV and his worst in films.

The Elton John versus Liberace skit, Gerry Todd, Tom Monroe, his Robin Williams, etc.

That he did this indepedent of Hollywood bodes well. However, I didn't really care for the McKenzie brothers album. Worth a look though of course. Thanks for letting us know about it.
posted by juiceCake at 8:09 AM on January 20, 2006


Well I'm listening and so far I think it is funny as hell. Thanks for the link!
posted by LarryC at 8:15 AM on January 20, 2006


This is not bad at all.
posted by Rothko at 8:16 AM on January 20, 2006


Your favorite former-SCTV-star-and-80s/90s-movie-comedian-cum-alt-country-balladeer sucks.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:19 AM on January 20, 2006


Yeah, I've wondered this myself.

This reminded me of him not too long ago.

He will always be Dark Helmet to me...
posted by slimepuppy at 8:21 AM on January 20, 2006


Hell, if Hillary Clinton can win a Grammy....and Bill Clinton can win two...
posted by you just lost the game at 8:22 AM on January 20, 2006


Oh my GOD.
Gerry Todd.
SCTV was the shiznit.

Rest in peace, Johnny LaRue.
posted by willmize at 8:22 AM on January 20, 2006


How can you not love Geddy Lee and the McKenzie brothers.

"Take off! To the Great White North!
Take off! It's a beauty way to go.
Take off! To the Great White North!"
posted by beowulf573 at 8:24 AM on January 20, 2006


Yikes. I'd read about this, but until now, never tried to listen.

Maybe he should consider an album of standards . . .
posted by cptnrandy at 8:24 AM on January 20, 2006


He was interviewed on Fresh Air not all that long ago (I couldnt find the link to it - search came up empty) talking about his "music". While he did sound fairly sincere about wanting make music, his attitude was pretty clearly set in the comedic vein.
posted by elendil71 at 8:33 AM on January 20, 2006


Honey, I Shrunk My Celebrity Status!
posted by crunchland at 8:36 AM on January 20, 2006


Never did understand how that talentless Un-funny guy managed to keep being in movies.

He must have some VERY incriminating photos of hollywood bigwigs.
posted by HTuttle at 8:44 AM on January 20, 2006


We could always use more-anus.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 8:46 AM on January 20, 2006


He's pretty funny in "Ghostbusters," though. I watched it this weekend for the 18th or so time and found his stuff funnier than I ever had.
posted by raysmj at 8:47 AM on January 20, 2006


For the haters, I heard him interviewed on KCRW's The Treatment, and he's pretty genuine about it. He knows he's not a great singer, but he wrote some silly country songs, put out an independently-released album for the heck of it, and people like it. More power to him!

Also, now you see why evil will always triumph. Because good is dumb.
posted by Robot Johnny at 8:49 AM on January 20, 2006


(this is weird)

Damn, This is, indeed, very weird. I want to say his singing sounds like a flat tire but I also fear this would grow on me. I also think if I found this in a thrift store with no Moranis connection (just an anonymous self-pressed thing) it would become the instant WTF ironic cool etc record between me and friends.

It's grown on me. I'm on track two!
posted by Peter H at 8:51 AM on January 20, 2006


He was interviewed on Fresh Air

You might have been thinking of this Weekend Edition interview. That page also allows you to listen to some songs from the album.
posted by mikepop at 8:52 AM on January 20, 2006


Maybe he should consider an album of standards . . .

One of my favorite SCTV bits of his was his Mel Torme-style take on "Turning Japanese." I guess that kind of stuff would get old after a whole album, though.

Oh yeah, and I blame his Canadian veejay character for the fact that I almost always pronounce the word "video" as "vuhdeo" now.
posted by soyjoy at 8:52 AM on January 20, 2006


I think it's pretty interesting that this happened through Artist Share, and seems to have been and end run around the industry until it started winning awards. I don't fully understand Artist Share yet, but am I right in thinking it's a pretty cool new-school model for music creation and distribution? Seems like it may still work better for established artists, but it clearly seems to nurture more creative, risky projects.
posted by freebird at 9:01 AM on January 20, 2006


I actually like it a lot! it reminds me of Silver Jews.
posted by mcsweetie at 9:01 AM on January 20, 2006


Elvis Mitchell has a half hour discussion with Moranis on his show "The Treatment" on KCRW.
posted by NotWeButOne at 9:20 AM on January 20, 2006


OMG I used 'and' when I meant 'an'. I must either reconsider my usual assumption that this implies utter insipid drooling stupidity when I see others do it, or throw myself wailing from the office window now. I am not accepting suggestions, it's an entirely personal decision.
posted by freebird at 9:21 AM on January 20, 2006


As far as I'm concerned, being a MacKenzie Brother entitles you to do whatever the fuck you want for the rest of your life. He and Dave Thomas should be knighted, or maybe declared kings of somewhere.
posted by COBRA! at 9:25 AM on January 20, 2006


You might have been thinking of this Weekend Edition interview. That page also allows you to listen to some songs from the album.

My bad mikepop, you are quite right. Thanks for the correction.
posted by elendil71 at 9:33 AM on January 20, 2006


I like it.
posted by I Foody at 9:33 AM on January 20, 2006


One of my favorite SCTV bits of his was his Mel Torme-style take on "Turning Japanese."

That was his Tom Monroe character I believe. He also did the Police's "Da do do do do" (or whatever it's called) on a grassy hill.

And I was wrong about Robin Williams, that was Martin Short of course. Another who I find best in sketch comedy rather than films.
posted by juiceCake at 9:38 AM on January 20, 2006


Metafilter: I'm surrounded by Assholes!
posted by furtive at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2006


I dunno folks. I listened, loved it, and bought the CD. I don't think I would have ever heard about this if it weren't for the Blue.

Good trick Parlour Post.
posted by djeo at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2006


I actually like it a lot! it reminds me of Silver Jews.
posted by mcsweetie at 12:01 PM EST on January 20 [!]


It does actually!
posted by juiceCake at 9:45 AM on January 20, 2006


He does remind me of The Silver Jews.
Meh, at least he's doing something fun and different, instead of just letting Hollywood typecast/waste him in nebbish roles.

Are you listening, Eugene 'If The Cheque Clears' Levy?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:09 AM on January 20, 2006


If you need to log in to any of those sites to listen to the music, the password is:

1........2..........3...........4
posted by spicynuts at 10:11 AM on January 20, 2006


Boy, that's a lot of periods for a password. How does anyone remember the exact number in between each numeral?

He and Dave Thomas should be knighted, or maybe declared kings of somewhere.

Now here's where I gotta disagree. I assume Dave Thomas is a talented comedy writer. But I've never been a fan of his performance. He seems to have exactly one character/attribute - "pissed off" - that shows up in different costumes in different sketches. Well, I guess he did do Bob Hope OK. But other than that, he's nowhere near the comic actor that Moranis is.
posted by soyjoy at 10:42 AM on January 20, 2006


yeah. He just latched on to the comic meteor that is Rick Moranis.

</sarcasm>
posted by crunchland at 10:44 AM on January 20, 2006


As far as I'm concerned, being a MacKenzie Brother entitles you to do whatever the fuck you want for the rest of your life.

That's a good attitude. He and Dave Thomas also were brilliant as the duos Woody Allen & Bob Hope and David Brinkley & Walter Cronkite. Moranis was such a part of that show it's hard to believe he was only on for years 3 and 4 of the six seasons.

All things SCTV.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:46 AM on January 20, 2006


Isn't he the guy who plays Jiminy Glick?
posted by dgaicun at 11:15 AM on January 20, 2006


But I've never been a fan of his performance. He seems to have exactly one character/attribute - "pissed off" - that shows up in different costumes in different sketches. Well, I guess he did do Bob Hope OK. But other than that, he's nowhere near the comic actor that Moranis is.

No argument there. But he was perfect as Doug MacKenzie, and that's good enough for me.
posted by COBRA! at 11:20 AM on January 20, 2006


dgaicun, Martin Short plays Jiminy Glick. Not funny.

But, man the Woody Allen/Bob Hope "Play It Again, Bob" parody is one of the funniest things from that show! It basically takes the plot of Woody's play/movie "Play It Again, Sam" and replaces the imaginary Bogart with Bob Hope.

The SCTV guide is definitely the best site, there's also sctv.org.
posted by tublecain at 12:36 PM on January 20, 2006


I'm afraid I'm one of the three people who like Jiminy Glick. And Clifford. Go Martin!

Ditto on the Mackenzie bros. knighthood. As an aside, I got to meet Pam Elsinore (Lynn Griffin) from Strange Brew a few months ago ..
posted by mrgrimm at 2:04 PM on January 20, 2006


I love the Glick too. But not the film version.
posted by juiceCake at 4:33 PM on January 20, 2006


Dave Thomas may have lacked Moranis' range as a character performer, but I'll never forget his Cruisin' Gourmet, which I'm convinced only passed the NBC censors because they didn't understand it. And his Max Von Sydow as an insane barber from the (short lived but often completely brilliant) The New Show had me simultaneously laughing and gasping with amazement.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:11 PM on January 20, 2006


To continue the derail, let me just say Dave "Lin Ye-Tang" Thomas and Harold "Moe Green" Ramis are the main reasons Season 1 of SCTV is my favorite.
posted by evilcolonel at 9:17 PM on January 20, 2006


I brought up that Cruisin' Gourmet skit a couple of weeks ago when discussing Turkey dressing.

Dave did a wonderful Lee Iacocca fund raiser for Chrysler parody as well. There was Tex, G. Gordon Liddy, Captain Kombat, the K-Tel announcer, and of course, his wonderful Richard Harris.
posted by juiceCake at 9:50 PM on January 20, 2006


Mostly not funny, but I like the bit about 'pop-up she males'.
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:29 PM on January 20, 2006


Dave did a wonderful Lee Iacocca fund raiser for Chrysler parody as well. There was Tex, G. Gordon Liddy, Captain Kombat, the K-Tel announcer, and of course, his wonderful Richard Harris.

Yeah, again, though, all those characters were pretty much "pissed off" the whole time. But I see your point - early on he did some good turns, but by the end he just seemed to do nothing but Angry Curmudgeon.
posted by soyjoy at 1:01 PM on January 23, 2006


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