Trooper is a Juno Award winning[1] Canadian rock band that developed from a group formed by vocalist Ramon McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith in 1975. The group is best known for its Canadian hits: "Raise a Little Hell", "We're Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)", "The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car", "General Hand Grenade", and "Janine".
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History
Winter's Green, Applejack, and the 1970s
1967 saw McGuire and Smith playing in a band named Winter's Green, which recorded two songs, "Are You a Monkey" and "Jump in the River Blues", on the Rumble Records Label. "Are You a Monkey" later appeared on a rock collection: 1983's The History of Vancouver Rock and Roll, Vol. 3".[2]
In the early seventies Winter's Green changed their name to Applejack and added drummer Tommy Stewart and bassist Harry Kalensky to their lineup. Applejack became a very popular band in the Vancouver area, and began touring extensively in British Columbia. The band played a few original tunes such as Raise a Little Hell, and Oh, Pretty Lady, as well as Top 40 songs by artists such as Neil Young, and Chicago.[3]
After hearing Applejack perform, Randy Bachman of BTO and The Guess Who signed the band to his "Legend" label. The band changed their name to Trooper, and Bachman produced the band's self-titled debut album, Trooper, which contained the Canadian hits "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" and "General Hand Grenade". Managed by Sam Feldman, Trooper began touring extensively in both Canada and the United States.
After moving from Legend Records to MCA Records, Trooper added Frank Ludwig on keyboards. Their 1975 debut album was followed by Two for the Show in 1976, which was certified Gold in Canada. The album contained the hits "Two for the Show", and "Santa Maria". The latter of the two hits was inspired from a trip by boat to Tugwell Island, near Prince Rupert, BC.[4]
Bassist Harry Kalensky was replaced by Doni Underhill before the recording of Trooper's third studio album. Knock 'Em Dead Kid, was released in 1977 and became the group's first Canadian Platinum record. This album contained the hits "We're Here For a Good Time (Not a Long Time)", and "Oh, Pretty Lady".
In 1978 Thick As Thieves went double-platinum and featured the group's only successful U.S. single,[5] "Raise A Little Hell". This album also contained the hits "Round, Round We Go" and "The Moment That It Takes", both of which were sung by keyboardist Frank Ludwig.
Trooper's fifth studio album, Flying Colors, was released in 1979, and contained the hits "Three Dressed Up as a Nine", and the band's highest-charting single to date, "Janine", which pushed the album to attain Double-Platinum status.
The band's 1979 album, Hot Shots, broke all records for Canadian sales of a Canadian album, reaching Quadruple-Platinum status. Hot Shots was a greatest hits album containing remixes of all of the most popular songs from Trooper's first five studio albums.[6] "The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car" (originally released on Two for the Show in 1976), became a hit single upon the release of Hot Shots.
1980s
In June 1969, Trooper was honoured with a Juno Award for "Group of the Year". Two of their albums (Hot Shots and Flying Colors, both released in 1979) were also nominated that year for "Album of the Year".
Also in 1980, Trooper severed their artist/producer relationship with Randy Bachman and Frank Ludwig was replaced by Rob Deans, who performed on the next two albums: Trooper's self-produced seventh album Untitled, released in October 1980, and Money Talks which was released in 1982 and produced by Heart producer Mike Flicker and released on the RCA Label.[7]
Fairbury, Nebraska's well known DJ group Total Sound stakes claim to playing "Raise a Little Hell" more than any DJ in the nation making Trooper a local favorite throughout the 80's.
In 1986, Trooper was without a permanent keyboardist, and Frank Ludwig re-joined the band as a temporary replacement on their summer tour.
The Last of the Gypsies was released in 1989 on the band's self-owned Great Pacific Records label and distributed by Warner Music Canada. This was Trooper's first studio album in six years, and was certified Canadian Gold. It contained the hits "Boy With the Beat", and "The Best Way (to Hold A Man)".
1990s
Ten, released in 1991, contained the regional hit "American Dream", and was the group's tenth studio album and Trooper's last album to date.
In 1996, Gogo became Trooper's keyboardist.[8] Gogo is currently the longest running member of the band in history, excluding founding members Ra McGuire and Brian Smith. In 1997, bassist Scott Brown joined the band.[9] Both Gogo and Brown continue to tour and perform with Trooper today.
In 1998, Trooper guest starred on This Hour Has 22 Minutes' New Year's Special. Their songs were also played in numerous episodes of 22 Minutes throughout the 8th season (2000–01).
2000s
In 2001, "Shot Spots", a Punk tribute to Trooper, was released on Visionary Records. It contained 30 Trooper songs performed by 30 Canadian punk bands (D.O.A., SNFU, Dirty Bird, Dayglo Abortions and others) and an introduction by Canadian comedian Rick Mercer. As detailed in a four-page 2004 photo essay by Todd Korol in Macleans Magazine and a two-page 2005 Globe and Mail story by Peter Cheney, Trooper is still very active and popular as a touring band, performing as many as 100 shows a year across Canada.
In April 2006, Trooper singer and songwriter, Ra McGuire released his first book, published by Insomniac Press, Here For a Good Time – On the Road With Trooper, Canada's Legendary Rock Band.
2010 Onwards
2010 will see Trooper celebrating their 35th Anniversary - starting with their performance at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Victory Ceremony on February 21, which was broadcast across Canada and the world on networks such as CTV and MuchMusic. and carrying on with other major parties across the country all year long.[10]
Trooper`s first official compilation album Hits From 10 Albums was released on July 1, 2010, celebrating the band`s 35th anniversary.
Discography
Studio Albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1975 | Trooper |
| 1976 | Two for the Show |
| 1977 | Knock 'Em Dead Kid |
| 1978 | Thick as Thieves |
| 1979 | Hot Shots |
| 1979 | Flying Colors |
| 1980 | Untitled |
| 1982 | Money Talks |
| 1989 | The Last of the Gypsies |
| 1991 | Ten |
Compilation Albums
At least one unauthorised compilation album has been released featuring Trooper`s hits. Trooper`s first official compilation album was released on July 1, 2010, celebrating the band`s 35th anniversary.
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Hits From 10 Albums |
Singles
Chart positions compiled based on the highest position between the RPM 100 Singles, The CBC and The Record charts, which all measured hit singles in Canada.
| Year | Titel | CAN | US | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" | 45 | — | 14 | Trooper |
| 1976 | "General Hand Grenade" | 14 | — | 18 | |
| "Two For the Show" | 15 | — | 24 | Two for the Show | |
| "Santa Maria" | 30 | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "We're Here For A Good Time (Not a Long Time)" | 12 | — | — | Knock 'Em Dead Kid |
| 1978 | "Oh, Pretty Lady" | 10 | — | 16 | |
| "Raise A Little Hell" | 26 | 59 | — | Thick as Thieves | |
| "Round Round We Go" | 10 | — | 13 | ||
| 1979 | "The Moment That it Takes" | 14 | — | — | |
| "The Boys in the Bright White Sportscar" | 25 | — | — | Hot Shots | |
| "3 Dressed Up As 9" | 24 | — | — | Flying Colors | |
| 1980 | "Janine" | 7 | — | 12 | |
| "Good Clean Fun" | 81 | — | — | ||
| "Real Canadians" | — | — | — | Untitled | |
| "Are You Still My Baby" | — | — | — | ||
| "Laura" | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "Only A Fool" | 44 | — | — | Money Talks |
| "Money Talks" | — | — | — | ||
| "Ready for the Night" | — | — | — | ||
| "Could've Been Me" | — | — | — | ||
| 1989 | "Boy With A Beat" | 33 | — | — | The Last of the Gypsies |
| "The Best Way (to Hold A Man)" | 70 | — | — | ||
| 1991 | "American Dream" | 26 | — | — | Ten |
Membership
Current members
Past members
- Tommy Stewart (Drums)[11]
- Harry Kalensky (Bass)[11]
- Frank Ludwig (Keyboards)[11]
- Doni Underhill (Bass)[11]
- Rob Deans (Keyboards)[11]
- Marc LaFrance (Drums)[12]
- Ronnie Baran (Drums)[12]
- John Dryden (Bass)[12]
- Richard Sera (Keyboards)[12]
- Aaron Anderson (Drums)[12]
- Blaine Smith (Keyboards)[11]
- Larry Church (Bass)[11]
- Mike Schmidt (Drums)[11]
- John Stoltz (Drums)[12]
- Tony Ferraro (Drums)[12]
- Timothy B. Hewitt (Bass)[12]
- Lance Chalmers (Drums)[11]
- Frankie Baker (Drums)[11]
See also
References
- ^ "Juno award winners". junoawards.ca.
- ^ "The History of Vancouver Rock and Roll, Vol. 3 1983: Album review and songs from". Answers.com. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "Billboard chart rankings". billboard.com.
- ^ "Ra McGuire's Site". ramcguire.com.
- ^ "Bio at CanadianBands". CanadianBands.com.
- ^ [3][dead link]
- ^ [4][dead link]
- ^ [5][dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Trooper". Jam!/The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g h [6][dead link]