Trooper (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Trooper | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Genres | Rock Hard Rock |
| Members | Ra McGuire (Vocals) Brian Smith (Guitar) Paul Gogo (Keyboards) Scott Brown (Bass) Frankie Baker (Drums) |
Trooper is a Juno Award winning Canadian rock band that developed from a group formed by vocalist Ramon McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith in 1965. As the principal songwriters for the group, McGuire and Smith have performed as Trooper (originally called Winters Green and later Applejack) from inception to the present day.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1970s
1972 saw McGuire and Smith started playing the Vancouver lounge / Bar circuit as a duo named Winters Green after years of playing in friends basements. McGuire and Smith began augmenting their act with various musicians before finally adding drummer Tommy Stewart and bassist Harry Kalinsky they changed thier named to Applejack not happy with the name McGuire and Smith final decide to go with the name Trooper by 1974. After hearing Trooper perform, Randy Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who signed the band to his "Legend" label and produced the band's first album, Trooper , that containing the Canadian hits "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" (Smith/McGuire) that reach # 14 [1]on October 04, 1975, on CHUM (AM) in Toronto, Canada and "Good 'Ol General Hand Grenade" (Smith/McGuire) that on January 17, 1976 reached # 18 on CHUM (AM). Managed by Sam Feldman, the band began touring extensively in both Canada and the United States of America US.
After moving from Legend Records to MCA Records, Trooper added Frank Ludwig on keyboards. Their 1975 self-titled debut album was followed by Two for the Show (1976) which was certified Gold in Canada. The album contained the hits "Two for the Show" (McGuire) that reached # 24 September 29, 1976 and "Santa Maria" (Smith/McGuire). "The Boys in the Bright White Sportscar" (Smith/McGuire), initially released off this album, later became a hit when it was re-released (with a few modifications) on the Hot Shots greatest hits package in 1979. Kalensky was replaced by Doni Underhill prior to the recording of Knock 'Em Dead Kid (1977), which was the groups first Canadian Platinum. This album contained the hits "We're Here For a Good Time (not a long time)" (Smith/McGuire) and "Oh, Pretty Lady" that reached # 16 April 1, 1978 (Smith/McGuire). Thick as Thieves went double-platinum and featured the group's only successful US single, "Raise A Little Hell" (Smith/McGuire)) (1978). This album also contained the hit "Round, Round We Go" (written and sung by Frank Ludwig) that reached # 13 October 28, 1978, and "The Moment That it Takes" (written by Stewart and Underhill and sung by Ludwig). Flying Colors (1979), which contained the hits "Three Dressed Up as a Nine" (Smith/McGuire) and "Janine" that reached # 12 March 22, 1980 (Smith/McGuire) also attained Double-Platinum status. Hot Shots broke all Canadian sales records for Canadian sales of a Canadian album, reaching Quadruple-Platinum.
[edit] 1980s to Present
In March of 1980 Trooper was honoured with a Juno Award (Canada's 'Grammy') for 'Best Group'. Two of their albums (Hot Shots and Flying Colors) were also nominated that year for "Best Album". The same year Hot Shots was released, Trooper severed their artist/producer relationship with Randy Bachman and Ludwig was replaced by Rob Deans, who performed on the self-produced album Untitled (1980) and Money Talks (1983) (Produced by Heart producer Mike Flicker and released on (Flicker/RCA). The Last of the Gypsies (1989), released on the band's self-owned Great Pacific Records label and distributed by Warner Music Canada, came after a six year recording absence and was certified Canadian Gold. It contained the hits "Boy With the Beat" (Smith/McGuire) and "Thin White Line" (McGuire). Ten (1991), containing the regional hit "American Dream" (Smith/McGuire), was the group's tenth and last album to date.
In 1998, Trooper guest starred on This Hour Has 22 Minutes's New Year's Special. However, their songs were played in numerous episodes of 22 Minutes throughout the 8th season (2000-01).
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, The 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: "Here For a Good Time - On the Road With Trooper, Canada's Legendary Rock Band". The book was published by Insomniac Press.[2]..[3]..[4]..[5]..
[edit] Discography
 Trooper (1975) |
 Two for the Show (1976) |
 Knock 'Em Dead Kid (1977) |
 Thick as Thieves (1978) |
 Hot Shots (1979) |
 Flying Colors (1979) |
 Untitled (1980) |
 Money Talks (1982) |
 The Last of the Gypsies (1989) |
 Ten (1991) |
[edit] Singles
- 1975 - "Baby Woncha Please Come Home"
- 1976 - "General Hand Grenade"
- 1976 - "Two For the Show"
- 1976 - "Santa Maria"
- 1977 - "We're Here For A Good Time (Not a Long Time)"
- 1978 - "Oh, Pretty Lady"
- 1978 - "Raise A Little Hell"
- 1978 - "Round Round We Go"
- 1979 - "The Moment That it Takes"
- 1979 - "The Boys in the Bright White Sportscar"
- 1979 - "3 Dressed Up As 9"
- 1980 - "Janine"
- 1980 - "Good Clean Fun"
- 1982 - "Only A Fool"
- 1989 - "Boy With A Beat"
- 1989 - "The Best Way (to Hold A Man)"
- 1991 - "American Dream"
[edit] Current members
- Ra McGuire (Vocals)
- Brian Smith (Guitar)
- Paul Gogo (Keyboards)
- Scott Brown (Bass)
- Frankie Baker (Drums)
[edit] Past members
- Tommy Stewart (Drums)
- Harry Kalensky (Bass)
- Frank Ludwig (Keyboards)
- Doni Underhill (Bass)
- Rob Dean (Keyboards)
- Marc LaFrance (Drums)
- Ronnie Baran (Drums)
- John Dryden (Bass)
- Richard Sera (Keyboards)
- Aaron Anderson (Drums)
- Blaine Smith (Keyboards)
- Larry Church (Bass)
- Mike Shmidt (Drums)
- John Stoltz (Drums)
- Tony Ferraro (Drums)
- Skip Prest (Guitar)
- Timothy B. Hewitt (Bass)
- Scott Aquino (Drums)
- Lance Chalmers (Drums)
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ For all Chart positions CHUM AM Chart Arcives. www.1050chum.com.
- ^ Trooper's Official Site. trooper.ca.
- ^ Ra McGuire's Site. ramcguire.com.
- ^ Bio at CanadianBands. CanadianBands.com.
- ^ Bio at Jam!. jam.canoe.ca.
| Trooper |
| Ra McGuire • Brian Smith • Paul Gogo • Scott Brown • Frankie Baker |
| Tommy Stewart • Harry Kalensky • Frank Ludwig • Doni Underhill • Rob Dean • Marc LaFrance • Ronnie Baran • John Dryden •Richard Sera • Aaron Anderson • Blaine Smith • Larry Church • Mike Shmidt • John Stoltz • Tony Ferraro • Skip Prest • Timothy B. Hewitt • Scott Aquino • Lance Chalmers |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: • Trooper (1975) • Two for the Show (1976) • Knock 'Em Dead Kid (1977) • Thick as Thieves (1978) • Hot Shots (1979) • Flying Colors (1979) • Untitled (1980) • Money Talks (1982) • The Last of the Gypsies (1989) • Ten (1991) |
