Trooper in Concert
If you've ever found yourself in a loud bar, at a sporting event in Canada or passing by a convertible Camaro at some point in the past 40-odd years, there's a good chance you've had a Trooper song soundtracking the experience. From the mid-to-late 1970s, the Vancouver quintet pumped out a steady stream of Top 40 singles that encompassed everything you'd want in a rock band: arena-sized riffs, huge shout-aloud hooks and lyrics about cars and having a good time. Trooper was formed by frontman Ra McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith, whose creative relationship dated back to their late-'60s psychedelic combo Winter's Green, which later changed its name to Applejack. After catching the ear of Guess Who/Bachman-Turner Overdrive guitarist Randy Bachman (who offered the band their first record deal), the group rebranded itself a final time as Trooper. Early singles like "General Hand Grenade" and "Santa Maria" betrayed traces of their hippie roots with their easygoing, acoustic-driven melodies, but with their 1978 foot-stomping anthem "Raise a Little Hell" and the following year's dramatic, hard-charging "The Boys in the Bright White Sportscar," Trooper proved they could hold their own alongside the era's rowdiest rockers. (The band's hitmaking legacy was cemented with the essential 1979 compilation Hot Shots, which hit No. 2 on the Canadian album charts and went five times platinum.) The hit parade slowed in the ‘80s, and the band haven't released an album of new material since 1991, but Trooper has remained sporadically active as a touring outfit over the years, becoming firmly entrenched in the Canadian pop-cultural canon. In 2001, they were the beneficiaries of a punk-themed tribute album, Shot Spots, featuring hardcore legends like D.O.A. and SNFU, while a 35th-anniversary campaign in 2010 saw them performing at such high-profile events as the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup. Contrary to the mantra espoused by one of their most beloved sing-alongs, "We're Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)," Trooper are indeed here for both.
