Bob & Doug McKenzie are a pair of Canadian Brothers who do nothing but drink, say Eh! and Hoser! constantly and are the epitome of every Canadian Stereotype.  The comedy duo is played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.  They were able to take these two dumbass characters and turn them into comedy gold.

Both Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas went on to great success, but might always be remembered for these characters.  Rick Moranis is known for his comedic acting in such great films as Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  Dave Thomas had a long life on SCTV and mostly stayed in television.  Recently has has a recurring role in Blacklist.

The album was included in a box of vinyl I received from my brother-in-law.  I was curious as to why the hell he had this album and then I saw the little sticker on the front that said “featuring Geddy Lee” and then I knew.  My brother-in-law is a HUGE Rush fan so now it made sense.

Since this site is a music site, I shouldn’t even be talking about a comedy album; however, the album contains 2 very popular songs so that is where my focus will remain.  I have to admit that when I listened to the comedy bits, I really don’t find them funny anymore.  When I was kid they were hilarious, but now it is tedious and the constant phrases of “take off”, “eh!” and “hoser” as well as the constant mentioning of touques and beer drinking get old really fast.

The highlights really are the songs.  The first one is called “Take Off” featuring the great Geddy Lee from Rush.  Bob & Doug banter back and forth at each other and when one gets mad, they say “Take Off” and then Geddy kicks in with his high pitched vocals and sings the chorus and is truly the best part of the song.

It made me wonder how Geddy got involved with this song.  Well, he and Rick Moranis were in school together growing up and when his friend asked, he was glad to help out.  The song actually charted in the US and hit #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The second song is Bob & Doug’s version of  “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.  Of course it starts out with a little comedy bit talking about what are the 12 days of Christmas which of course are Christmas and Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas.  They determine the actual 12 days of Christmas are as follows:

• Eight comic books
• Seven packs of smokes
• Six packs of two-four
• Five golden touques!
• Four pounds of backbacon,
• Three French toast,
• Two turtlenecks,
• And a beer (in a tree),

Okay, they don’t really get past 8 as they are either too drunk or just too stupid.

Those are the two highlights of the album for me.  The album sleeve is actually a copy of the first Hoser Newsletter called ‘The Daily Hoser’.  It is actually funnier than the album so it is worth a read.  It contains a crossword, a horoscope section, and a Dear Abby type section.

There is a section where you are the guest of the show.  For Track 13, you read along with them and when it gets to “You”, you are supposed to read that so you can be the guest on the album.  I actually did find this bit a little funny.

That is all I have to say about this album.  It was a one time novelty listen for me, but I seriously doubt I will go back to this to give a listen anytime soon.  So, Take Off you Hosers!!