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Arts & Entertainment Arts & Entertainment Still raising a little hell
| Still raising a little hell |
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| Written by MAYAN FREEBORN |
| Tuesday, 08 June 2010 11:47 |
Canadian rockers Trooper celebrate their thirty-fifth anniversaryThey’re here for a good time, and for a long time too as it turns out. Celebrating their 35th anniversary, the Canadian rock band Trooper has stood the test of time and emerged as a mainstay on Canadian rock radio. Trooper’s big riffs and easy pop melodies make them an easily recognizable band you can dance to. 
Trooper in New York City, weeks after their debut album was released on Canada Day in 1975.
Photo courtesy of Trooper
Trooper has also released 10 studio albums, earning them numerous Canadian gold and platinum awards. The band received a Juno Award for Best Group in 1980 and has been nominated for several others, including Best Composer and Best Album. To this day, Trooper still gathers audiences that span generations, signifying the band isn’t just a niche, but a Canadian rock sensation bringing people together to party. In anticipation of the band’s upcoming show at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino on July 24, The Calgary Journal caught up with Ra McGuire to reminisce about the band’s heyday and how it feels to be legends in Canada. Calgary Journal: What was the musical background like in your family? Ra McGuire: My mom played accordion. My dad played mouth organ. When my mom was a teenager she teamed up with a drummer and played dances in Langley Prairie. That was the extent of her professional career. Growing up though, there were regular kitchen-party-style sing-a-longs in our home – with both mom and dad accompanying. CJ: What did you used to do before the formation of Trooper? RM: I’ve been a singer in a band since I was 12 years old. I’ve honestly never had a real job. CJ: Who are the band’s musical influences? RM: The Beatles were a big inspiration, but I think you’d be hard pressed to see their “influence” in the music we’ve made. It was mostly their fearlessness and their willingness to explore lots of different musical directions that we admired. 
Still going strong after 35 years, Trooper will be performing at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino July 24th.
Photo courtesy of Trooper
RM: “[The Boys in the Bright White] Sports Car” is my favorite Trooper hit. There used to be this breath mint commercial that began with two twin sisters playing tennis. Off in the distance a white Jag rounds the corner and the two jocks in the car (all dressed in white) start grinning and waving. “Here they come,” whispers one of the girls. “Give me another (breath mint)!” “Boy With a Beat” is about one of the players who toured with us in the nineties. He was very impressed, at first, to be playing in Trooper. Several months later however, he began complaining about the quality of the dressing room deli tray and seemed more than a little perturbed that women weren’t showing him the respect he deserved. He is no longer with the group. CJ: What are some of the underrated tunes/records the radios did not pick up on that the band would have liked to seen become hits? RM: “It Comes and It Goes” from the Money Talks CD is a song I wish more people had heard. CJ: What is it like being bona-fide CanCon rock stars? RM: It may be a Canadian thing or it may be just us, but thanks to our fame in Canada we’re treated like family wherever we go. I really like the fact that we don’t have to deal with the American version of fame. CJ: What are the band’s top rock star experiences? RM: Playing our sold-out hometown Coliseum was definitely one of them. Getting to play with the siren in a speeding police car was another. CJ: What’s a Trooper show like these days? RM: Our shows are pretty much a party these days. Once we take the stage every night is different. And every night is fun. CJ: When you play outside of Canada, how does the audience receive you? RM: Despite the fact that U.S. crowds don’t know our hits the way Canadians do, we always seem to knock them down with our musicianship, and stage performance. Any show we’ve done in Europe or overseas has been for a mostly Canadian audience, so it’s been hard to judge. CJ: Most memorable moment in Calgary? RM: Back in the day Trooper played The Corral in Calgary. It was a big, sweaty, sold-out party of a show that’s hard to forget. |
