Trooper: Still super

The Canadian band Trooper in their first promotional photo in 1975.

Source: https://amplify.nmc.ca/trooper-here-for-a-good-time-and-a-long-time/

(May be subject to copyright)

They were such a part of the soundtrack of Canadian music in the 1970s and 1980s, that I honestly cannot remember exactly when I first heard Trooper.

However, I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing the last time I heard them live.

Yet “Raise a Little Hell”, “We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)”, “The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car”, and so much more just echo in my mind when I think of Trooper.

And I was thinking of them recently when they were one of 13 music acts inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

The preceding years
Trooper broke on to the charts in 1975. The fist song I recall is “General Hand Grenade” which went to number 14 in Canada.

The following years, 1976, “Two for the Show” went to number 32, and “Santa Maria”peaked at number 35 in Canada.

They kept charting in 1977, with “We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)” going to number 43, and “Oh Pretty Lady” going to number 42 in Canada.

Their signature song, “Raise a Little Hell” peaked at number 27 in 1978, and was the only single they ever charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, going to number 59. “Round, Round We Go,” also charted in 1978, peaking at number 22.

In 1979, “The Moment That it Takes”, peaked at number 14. That year, they also released “Hot Shots”, a greatest hits and concert album. It yielded the hit “The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car” which went to number 25 in Canada. They released another studio album, “Flying Colors” in 1979, charting “3 Dressed Up as a 9” which peaked at number 24 in Canada.

This is pretty much the catalogue of Trooper that I heard growing up.

Yet, they still had some more to give as the ‘80s began.

Success on several fronts
Trooper had their biggest chart hit in 1980, when “Janine”, also off “Flying Colors”, went all the way to number seven in Canada. Surprisingly, it was their only top 10 hit.

In April of 1980, Trooper won the Juno for Group of the Year, and both “Hot Shots” and “Flying Colors” were nominated for Junos in 1980 for Album of the Year.

They also released an untitled album in 1980 that went nowhere, releasing three singles that did not chart. I never heard of any of them either.

Trooper released the album “Money Talks” in 1982, yielding the chart hit “Only a Fool”, which peaked at number 44 in Canada. They released three other singles, including the title track “Money Talks”, but none charted.

They closed out the decade, releasing the album “The Last of the Gypsies” in 1989. The first single, “Boy with a Beat” went to number 33. A single I really liked, “Thin White Line”, was also released that year but did not chart.

They would release one more album in 1991, “Ten”, yielding the single “The American Dream” that peaked at number 26 in Canada.

Through it all, they keep on touring.

Money Talks
The last summer I spent in Brooks was 1986. My cousin Fred was really into music, and an influence on me. By then, he was pretty busy so I did not see him that much.

When I did, we talked music, and Fred asked me if I ever saw “Money Talks” to buy it.

I never gave it much thought, at least not until that Fall.

Dropping in to visit my friend David Perlich’s, he was on his way out. He was taking his youngest sister back to Coaldale. Our old school, St. Joseph’s School was having their annual penny carnival. He had to go, but invited me along if I was interested. I sure was.

Not surprisingly, the penny carnival had changed since we went to school there. Much to my surprise, it now had kind of a flea market, garage sale type of thing.

There, staring me in the face were three tapes that I bought – “Foreigner Four” by Foreigner; “Run for Cover“ by Straight Lines; and – “Money Talks” by Trooper.

I immediately scooped it up, but like so many things I never finished back then, never passed it on to Fred. Mind you, I didn’t see him for a few years after that last summer in Brooks.

When I listened to “Money Talks” something interesting happened.

The song “Only a Fool” really struck a chord with me. I was already contemplating writing a sequel to a play I was just finishing up. My vision was to use a lot of pop music in video sequences in the production.

I thought “Only a Fool” might be a good song for a second soundtrack.

Alas, I haven’t written that sequel to date, but never say never.

Parting thoughts
Trooper kept on performing pretty much to this day, in venues both big and small.

When I started my second year of journalism school at Lethbridge Community College, I ended up getting assigned to cover a concert, my first ever, at what used to be the old York Hotel on 13th Street North.

It was Trooper.

I ended up talking to the organizers, and was able to take pictures during their first two songs but that was it. I didn’t have my act together enough to contact them earlier because, if I had, I could have interviewed them. I guess it was all part of the learning process.

Nevertheless, going to that concert pretty much summed up my experience with Trooper. They played every song I could have asked for, and more, including old standbys such as “Raise a Little Hell”, “Two for the Show”, and “We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)”, but also more recent songs such as “Boy with the Beat” and “Thin White Line”.

I remember lead singer Ra McGuire saying part way through, “We’re blasting through this set”.

They were, and it was so good.

It just showed how great a band they still were, and why they are being inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

By the way, the headline for my story in the college paper was, “Trooper is still super”.

And they still are.