The Arrogant Worms

The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio that parody many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music.

The Arrogant Worms
OriginKingston, Ontario, Canada
GenresComedy, folk
Years active1991–present
LabelsOglio/Arrogant Worms
MembersTrevor Strong
Mike McCormick
Chris Patterson
Past membersJohn Whytock
Steve Wood

History

The Arrogant Worms came together in 1991 to do a few spots on campus radio station CFRC in Kingston, Ontario,[1] and quickly moved to doing spots on CBC Radio, particularly on Jack Farr's The Radio Show. Since 1992 the troupe has released fifteen CDs. Their most recent album, The First Farewell Album, was released in November 2016. The Worms have toured in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Each album consists mostly of independent tracks paying homage, always humorously, to different genres and topics. Two exceptions are the 1997 Live Bait and 2003 Semi-Conducted CDs, which are live albums, comprising collections of their best songs. Semi-Conducted is performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Rock, folk, ballads, country, and children's music all have been genres parodied by the Worms.

When not spoofing a particular style of music, the Worms' material pokes fun at various aspects of daily life in Canada with songs like "Canada's Really Big", "Me Like Hockey", "We are the Beaver", "I Am Not American", and "Proud to Be Canadian".

They have also recorded music videos for three songs: "Big Fat Road Manager", "Carrot Juice Is Murder", and "The River (River of Snot)". The first two of these are included on the Three Worms and an Orchestra DVD.

Members

Current members
  • Trevor Strong - vocals (1991–Present)
  • Mike McCormick - guitar, vocals (1991–Present)
  • Chris Patterson - bass, vocals (1995–Present)

Former members
  • John Whytock - bass (1991-1995)
  • Steve Wood - bass (1991)

Additional contributors

Include (but not limited to):

  • Andy Thompson - producer, recording engineer, keyboards, backing vocals, and more
  • Andrew Affleck - bass
  • Gord Thompson - bass, electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Adrian Dolan - accordion, fiddle, and mandolin
  • Tim Readman - guitar (filled in for Mike McCormick in the early 2006 tour and has opened for the Worms many times as well as being their perennial dialect coach)
  • Mike Ford - bass (filled in for Chris Patterson in March 2009, after Chris' wife gave birth to twins, and appeared on SPACE)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Videos

Get Stupid!

Get Stupid! is a book released in February 2005 that was written by one of the Arrogant Worms, Trevor Strong. It teaches the "Ignorance IS Bliss Method". It contains three parts:

  • "The IQ (Ignorance Quotient) Test", which tests how ignorant you really are.
  • "The Seven Steps to Bliss", which teaches you how to find happiness through ignorance.
  • "Simplifying the World", which teaches you how to deal with the problems of the world after you have become ignorant. It contains information about everything, including art, gardening, health, and recipes.

Misattribution

The Arrogant Worms are frequently miscredited[2] (on the internet and otherwise) as having written and/or recorded songs such as "The White House Burned (The War of 1812)" and "The Toronto Song" (both of which are by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie) as well as Vito Petroccitto Jr's recording of "The Assumption Song". Other frequent misattributions, according to their official website, include "Cows With Guns" by Dana Lyons and "Wayne Gretzky Rocks" by The Pursuit of Happiness. This has occasionally led to fans requesting these songs during encores of their live shows.

On a similar note, the Captain Tractor cover version of the Worms' "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" is often simply credited to the Arrogant Worms themselves, or Captain Tractor is credited with having written the song.

References
  1. "The Arrogant Worms: Biography". Archived from the original on 2008-03-21. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  2. "The Arrogant Worms: Official Discography (lists misattributed songs at the bottom)". Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
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