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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Trooper| image = TrooperLive.jpg| caption = Trooper performing at Vancouver 2010 Olympic Victory Ceremonies. From L-R: Brian Smith (Canadian musician)|Brian Smith , Scott Brown (bassist)|Scott Brown , Gogo (Canadian musician)|Gogo , Ra McGuire , Clayton Hill (drummer)|Clayton Hill .| image_size =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Vancouver, British Columbia|Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada | genre = Hard rock | years_active = 1975& ndash;present| label = MCA Records|MCA , Great Pacific Records| associated_acts =| website = http://www.trooper.com| current_members = Ra McGuire (vocals, harmonica) Brian Smith (Canadian musician)|Brian Smith (guitar) Gogo (Canadian musician)|Gogo (keyboards) Scott Brown (bassist)|Scott Brown (bass) Clayton Hill (drummer)|Clayton Hill (drums)| past_members =| notable_instruments = Trooper is a Juno Award winningcite web | title= Juno award winners| work=junoawards.ca|url= http://www.junoawards.ca/archive_past.php Canada|Canadian rock music|rock band that developed from a group formed by vocalist Ra McGuire|Ramon McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith (Canadian musician)|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", "3 Dressed Up as a 9", and "Santa Maria".
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".cite web|url= http://www.answers.com/topic/the-history-of-vancouver-rock-and-roll-vol-3 |title=The History of Vancouver Rock and Roll, Vol. 3 1983: Album review and songs from |publisher=Answers.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-30
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 (band)|Chicago .
After hearing Applejack perform, Randy Bachman of BachmanTurner Overdrive 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 (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 .
L-R: Tommy Stewart (view blocked), Brian Smith (Canadian musician)|Brian Smith , Ra McGuire , Doni Underhill, Frank Ludwig
After moving from Legend Records to MCA Records , Trooper added Frank Ludwig on Keyboard instrument|keyboards . Their 1975 debut album was followed by Two for the Show Trooper (album)|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 .
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 (album)|Thick As Thieves went double-platinum and featured the group's only successful U.S. single,cite web | title= Billboard chart rankings| work=billboard.com|url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_index.jsp "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 (Trooper 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 (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.cite web | title=Ra McGuire's Site | work=ramcguire.com |url= http://ramcguire.com "The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car" (originally released on Two for the Show Trooper (album)|Two for the Show in 1976), became a hit single upon the release of Hot Shots .
1980s
In June 1979, Trooper was honoured with a Juno Awards of 1980|Juno Award for " Juno Award for Group of the Year|Group of the Year ".cite web | title= Juno award winners| work=junoawards.ca|url= http://www.junoawards.ca/archive_past.php Two of their albums ( Hot Shots (album)|Hot Shots and Flying Colors (Trooper album)|Flying Colors , both released in 1979) were also nominated that year for " Juno Award for Album of the Year|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 Trooper(album)|Untitled , released in October 1980, and Money Talks Trooper (album)|Money Talks which was released in 1982 and produced by Heart (band)|Heart producer Mike Flicker and released on the RCA Label.cite web | title=Bio at CanadianBands | work=CanadianBands.com |url= http://www.canadianbands.com/Trooper.html
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 Trooper (album)|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 Trooper (album)|Ten , released in 1991, contained the regional hit "American Dream", and was the group's tenth studio album. Drummer John Stolz played with the band from 1990 to 1995, when Lance Chalmers took his place and played with the band for eight years. In 1996, Gogo (Canadian musician)|Gogo replaced Blaine Smith, becoming Trooper's keyboardist http://www.trooper.com/index.php? page=gogo and in 1997, bassist Scott Brown joined the band. http://www.trooper.com/index.php? page=scottbrown Both Gogo and Brown continue to tour and perform with Trooper today.
In 1998, Trooper guest starred on This Hour Has 22 Minutes ' '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes: News Year '98|New Year's Special . Their songs were also played in numerous episodes of 22 Minutes throughout the 8th season (200001).
2000s
In 2001, "Shot Spots", a Punk rock|Punk tribute to Trooper, was released on Visionary Records. It contained 30 Trooper songs performed by 30 Canadian punk bands ( D.O.A. (band)|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 .
In Fall 2006, drummer Clayton Hill (drummer)|Clayton Hill joined the band, and continues to tour and perform with Trooper today. http://www.trooper.com/index.php? page=claytonhill
2010 onwards
2010 saw Trooper celebrating their 35th Anniversary - starting with their performance at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics VictoryCeremony on February 21, which was broadcast across Canada and the world on networks such as CTV Television Network|CTV and MuchMusic , and ending with their performance on November 28 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton for the 98th Grey Cup , with shows throughout the year and coast to coast, many which broke attendance records. http://www.trooper.com/index.php? page=shows
Trooper's first official compilation album Hits From 10 Albums was released on July 1, 2010, celebrating the band's 35th anniversary. The totally updated and re-mastered collection featured songs spanning the entirety of their recording career. John Kereiff of Gonzo Magazine called it "THE summer album of 2010." http://www.gonzomagazine.ca/rockdoc.html Universal Music Canada|Universal Music 's official Press Release named Trooper as "one of Canada's top five selling bands of all time".
On August 11, 2010, the members of Trooper enjoyed a private tour of the Gatineau Preservation Centre to see where Library and Archives Canada houses its collected Trooper archives. The Trooper archives consist of 401 photographs and a stack of textual records such as financial records, which McGuire and Smith donated in 2004, hoping to provide some insight to the Canadian music industry of the '70s and '80s. McGuire, "now 60, bald, and bespectacled" had a chance to laugh when he read aloud from an old Toronto Sun clipping among the collection which described McGuire as "a new teen idol." The band is now preparing to make another donation to the archive, including some of their early demo recordings, lyrics sheets, and master tapes. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Trooper+records+here+long+time/3392942/story.html
The band has also donated the massive 32-foot sign http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=KU304Gs3r60 bearing Trooper's logo, complete with strobe-lit stars once used to illuminate their shows, to the Canadian Museum of Civilization .
Trooper's visit to the archive was covered by almost every major newspaper in Canada. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/Canadian+band+joins+Lord+Elgin+Glenn+Gould+Constitution/3397841/story.html http://www.leaderpost.com/news/todays-paper/Trooper+donates+papers+library+archives/3398909/story.html http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/artslife/Trooper+band+artifacts+will+here+good+long+time+National+Archives/3396076/story.html
At least one unauthorised compilation album has been released featuring Trooper's hits. Trooper's second official compilation album was released on July 1, 2010, celebrating the band's 35th anniversary.
Scott Brown (bassist)|Scott Brown ( Bass guitar|bass )
Clayton Hill (drummer)|Clayton Hill ( Drum kit|drums )
Past members
Tommy Stewart (drums)cite web | url= http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/T/Trooper.html | title=Trooper | publisher=Jam!/The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia | accessdate=2007-12-04
http://www.frankbakerdrums.com Frank Baker's official site
http://www.sgeorgebrown.com Scott Brown's official site
http://frankludwig.ca/ Frank Ludwig's official site
Trooper DEFAULTSORT:Trooper Category:Juno Award winners Category:Musical groups established in 1975 Category:Musical groups from Vancouver Category:Canadian hard rock musical groups
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