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Trooper is a Canadian rock band that formed in 1972 by vocalist Ramone McGuire. Members Tommy Stewart (drums) and Harry Kalinsky (bass) were acquired by 1974. Trooper was signed to the label Legend after Randy Bachman had heard them play a show. They then released the song “Baby Woncha Please Come Home” in 1975 and their self titled debut album followed soon after. They released another album in 1976 entitled “Two For The Show.”  Trooper then added a piano player to their line up named Frank Ludwig and Harry Kalinsky was replaced by Doni Underhill. Frank Ludwig played for a few albums released from 1977-1979 but was then replaced by Rob Deans.¹ Members of changed throughout the years but currently are as follows:  Ramone (Ra) McGuire (vocals), Brian Smith (guitar), Paul Gogo (keyboard), Scott Brown (bass) and Clayton Hill (drums).²

Two of Troopers hits that will be recognizable by most people are “We’re Here For A Good Time”, off their album Knock Em’ Dead Kid and “Raise A Little Hell”, off their album Thick As Thieves.³

 

 

Trooper had a long, successful career releasing 10 studio albums and selling millions of copies. Their greatest hits album Hot Shots has gone 6 times platinum and continues to be one of Universal Music Canada’s best- selling catalog CD’s.

Trooper was nominated and won a Juno Award in 1979, early in their musical career, for group of the year. Two of their albums were also nominated for album of the year this same year.⁴ At the 1999 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) Awards, Trooper was awarded SOCAN Classic Awards for “Here For A Good Time” and “Santa Maria”. The classic award was awarded to songs that gained over 100,000 documented radio plays.⁵ To date, Trooper has won 6 SOCAN awards including one national achievement award.⁶

I’m sure with the development of the CanCon Regulations Trooper would have gained a greater US listener following however, I do believe they would have had a strong career without the CanCon Regulations coming into effect. One reason I say this is because they only had one song on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts which peaked at #59 in 1978.⁷ This demonstrates that even without having a top hit in the US, they still had a dedicated fanbase and loyal listeners that contributed to a long music career. If the CanCon regulations had had a significant impact on Troopers career we may have seen more of their songs charting because US listeners would have heard their songs more easily and more often than prior to the CanCon regulations.

Before writing this blog post I was only familiar with a few Trooper songs and I do enjoy them as I am a fan of rock music. Writing this blog post allowed me to listen to more of their music including songs such as “Round Round We Go”, “Oh Pretty Lady” and “Real Canadians”. I think everyone has probably heard “Here For A Good Time”.  Country artist Terri Clark has also released a cover of this song as well.

Trooper currently still tours (mainly Canada) and will be in Saskatoon on August 19 and Regina on August 31. To still be touring roughly 46 years after the band formed is a testament to the longevity of their musical career and the dedication of their fans.

 

 

 

1. Bush, John. “Trooper.” All Music. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/trooper-mn0000746841/biography (accessed Aug 9, 2018)

2, 4. Trooper. “The Band.” Trooper Official Website. http://www.trooper.com/index.php?page=band  (accessed Aug 9, 2018)

3. “Trooper.” Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/artist/443709-Trooper-4 (accessed Aug 9, 2018)

5. “SOCAN Awards.” Socan. http://www.socan.com/what-socan-does/socan-awards/ (accessed Aug 9, 2018)

6. “SOCAN Awards Search.” Socan. http://www.socan.com/what-socan-does/socan-awards/wpv_post_search=Trooper&wpv_aux_current_post_id=204&wpv_view_count=1964-TCPID204  (accessed Aug 9, 2018)                                                                                  

7. “Trooper- Chart History” Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/trooper (accessed Aug 9, 2018)

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Canadian rock band, Trooper, was developed in the 1970s by lead vocalist Ra McGuire (born Ramon McGuire, 1950) and guitarist Brian Smith (b. 1949). Ra McGuire and Brian Smith played in a band called Winters Green, which then changed their name to Applejack in the early seventies.[3] The band included drummer Tommy Stewart and bassist Henry Kalensky.[3] Applejack began touring British Columbia, but  it wasn’t until 1975 that the band would start to get noticed. Randy Bachman had heard Applejack perform and immediately signed them to Bachmans “legend” label.[2] The band then changed their name to Trooper and released their first hit “Baby Woncha Please Come Home”. Later that year, the band produced their first self titled debut album.[2] 

Trooper went on to produce more successful albums: Two for the Show (1976), Knock ‘Em Dead Kid (1977), Thick as Thieves (1978), Hot Shots (1979), Flying Colors (1979), Untitled (1980), and Money Talks (1982). Their last albums recorded were The Gypsies (1989) and Ten (1991).[2] Hot Shot sales exceeded 500,000, and several other albums of theirs topped 100,000, making Trooper the most popular Canadian rock band of the 1970s. [4] I believe Trooper became so successful because of the 1970 CanCon regulation. The regulation states that a certain amount of Canadian content must be played on media outlets. [5] As we see above, Troopers success comes after 1975, once the CanCon regulations are already in place.

Tommy Stewart and Henry Kalensky left the band and were replaced with keyboardist Gogo (born Paul Gogo, 1965) in 1995, bassist Scott Brown (b. 1964) in 1996 and drummer Clayton Hill (b. 1965) in 2006.[1] These members have remained with the band ever since and are still very active. Trooper continues to perform their collection of hits with at least 100 shows per year throughout Canada and the United States.[1] Without a doubt, we can say that Trooper has become a Canadian legend.

Personally, I have always liked Troopers music. Their songs are catchy and upbeat. If you want to see Trooper live, they will be preforming in Saskatoon August 19th, 2018 at the Rock the River event.

 

[1] http://www.trooper.com/index.php?page=band

[2] https://www.allmusic.com/artist/trooper-mn0000746841/biography

[3] http://www.canadianbands.com/Trooper.html

[4] https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/trooper-emc/ 

[5] https://lsslib.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/the-rise-and-fall-of-cancon-throwback-thursday/

The Guess Who

I was born in 1981 and at that time, my parents were 25 and 26. I grew up listening to my parent’s music which happened to be 70’s rock. Canadian bands like Trooper, April Wine and Bachman-Turner Overdrive were played on continuum in my home. The only Canadian artist that was NOT allowed in our home was Anne Murray. Anne was never invited to any parties as per the matriarch of our family, my Grandma. Apparently, she believed that Anne stole her songs from a 14 year old girl and she was ostracized from our family, never to be invited to a family gathering. You could not even speak her name in my Grandma’s presence as she would not be ashamed to speak her opinion on the matter!

The Guess Who is a successful band from Canada that had its most popular era in the 1970s. I put together a timeline of some of their career highlights so that you can visualize their career progression. What I find most interesting about their career progression is that their major success in Canada and the United States come mainly after the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRC) was established. The CRC (the name was later changed in 1976 to Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC))[i] were the enforcers of the Broadcasting Act of Canada which mandated that a certain amount of Canadian created content must be played on media outlets.

I find the music of The Guess Who to be interesting, varied and catchy. I like how each of their songs has individuality changing styles throughout their career. For example, “American Woman” has a blues/rock/funk feel to it, “Shakin’ All Over” sounds like surf music and “These Eyes” has more instrumentation and sounds like a ballad. I must not be the only person who values their contribution to the Canadian music scene because they were inducted into the Canada Music Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Canada Walk of Fame in 2001.[ii]

TIMELINE [iii] [iv]    

Late 1950s: The Silvertones was created with Chad Allen (Allan Kobel) and Jim Kale

1962: Randy Bachman, Bob Ashley and Garry Peterson joins the group

1962: the band name was changed to Chad Allen and the Reflections

1965: the name of the band was changed to Chad Allen and the Expressions

1965: recorded a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates song, “Shakin’ All Over”. The song was sent to radio stations under the name The Guess Who? to try and garner interest from the disc jockeys

1965: “Shakin’ All Over” reaches number one in Canada

1966: Burton Cumings (1947) joins the group and replaces Bob Ashley

1966: Chad Allen left the band

1966: The band released the LP It’s Time

1966-1968: many singles released that reached the top 40s in Canada

1968: the band ends a two year run as the house band for a television show called “Let’s Go”

1968: released A Wild Pair album and was spotlighted as a promo item for Coca-Cola

1968: the question mark is dropped from the band name. They are now officially known as The Guess Who

1968: Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRC) was established[v]

1968: Jack Richardson (producer) acquires their contract from Quality Records

1969: album released called The Wheatfield Soul (“These Eyes” made top 10 in Canada and the US)

1969: album released called Canned Wheat

1970: album released called American Woman. The song “American Women” from this album became the first song from a Canadian group to reach number one in the US. It stayed at the top spot on Billboard for three weeks. This was the only album by The Guess Who to reach Top 10 on Billboard pop album chart

1970: Randy Bachman leaves the group, Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw joins the bands.

1970-1971: two albums were releases (Share the Land and So Long, Bannatyne)

1974: album Road Food released. The song “Clap for the Wolfman” enjoyed the longest run for The Guess Who on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks

1975: album Flavours was released

1975: Burton Cummings leaves the group

1976: album The Way They Were was released

1976: Kale officially registers the band name as The Guess Who

1978-1981: three more albums were released (Guess Who’s Back, All This For a Song, Now and Then)

 

The single that started it all was “Shakin’ All Over”. This song has a strong steel guitar sound and a surf song style. It employs stop-time measures and a repeated refrain “shakin’ all over” as well as a guitar solo. Bass, guitar and drums are the only instruments used on this song.

I have vivid memories of listening to songs by The Guess Who when growing up. I can remember where I was, what I was doing and what the weather was like when I hear them played again. For instance, I remember painting my parents back yard deck when I was 16. I was out in the garage looking though my Dad’s cassettes and I stumbled upon The Guess Who. It was hot outside without a cloud in the sky and I really did not want to stain the deck. I remember falling in love with the song “These Eyes”. The song caught my attention with the quiet instrumental at the beginning on the song, only the bass and the piano playing. The hook of the title “these eyes…” captured my imagination and drew me into the lyrics. The song is a ballad of heartache told from the man’s perspective after having his heartbroken. The instrumentation includes a string and horn section with the drums changing the rhythm. The rhythm increases and decreases throughout the son. It increases to reflect the pain and the anger of the singer and slows to reflect the singers desire to have his lover back.

I hope that you can learn to enjoy this classic Canadian band as much I do! You can leave a comment below to thank me for getting this hook stuck in your head!

Endnotes

[i] “About Us, The CRTC’s Origins”, crtc.gov.ca, accessed August 8, 2018. https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/acrtc/50.htm

[ii] “The Guess Who”, Canadianmusichalloffame.ca, accessed August 8, 2018. http://canadianmusichalloffame.ca/inductee/the-guess-who/

[iii] “The Guess Who,” Brittanica.com, accessed August 8, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Guess-Who

[iv] “The Guess Who”, thecanadianencyclopedia.ca, accessed August 8, 2018. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/guess-who-the/

[v] “About Us, The CRTC’s Origins”, crtc.gov.ca, accessed August 8, 2018. https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/acrtc/50.htm

References

2016. “About Us, The CRTCs Origins.” Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. July 3. Accessed August 8, 2018. https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/acrtc/50.htm.

n.d. “Canadian Music Hall of Fame.” The Guess Who. Accessed August 8, 2018. http://canadianmusichalloffame.ca/inductee/the-guess-who/.

2017. “The Guess Who.” Historica Canada. 02 14. Accessed August 8, 2018. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/guess-who-the/.
2018. “The Guess Who, Canadian Rock Group.” Encyclopedia Brittanica. September 05. Accessed August 8, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Guess-Who.