Behind The Vinyl: "Raise a Little Hell" with Ra McGuire of Trooper

Ra McGuire, lead vocalist of the band Trooper, came into the studios to play "Raise A Little Hell" on vinyl! He discusses how the song was made, what Canadian Radio Stations thought of the song and more as Ra goes Behind The Vinyl!
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[@kurtzcol]

thanks RA for the great music and great times over the years

[@douglasr.swanson]

My first concert, fall of 1978 in Lethbridge!

[@dtjs61]

Love watching this man perform.

[@DavidMohr-d7z]

My first concert Fort St.John B.C 1978 they were playing the shit out of this song on the radio promoting the concert I swear you opened with it and blew everyone away there is nothing like the power of a concert when the kick makes your heart skip a beat as it should be :-)

[@hollowaang5284]

I first heard this on Ozzy's Boneyard on SiriusXM and haven't stopped listening to this song ever since.

[@charlotteknutsen7262]

Loved this song since that day back in the 1970's when I first heard it.

[@Author_Alyssa_Taylor]

Astonishing stories to how some of the most memorable music came about. Love this band and this song.

[@davidmohr1920]

No lie these guys were my first concert 1978 in Fort st John B.C they opened with this song it sounded amazing :-)

[@kathyjarvis8191]

They were my first concert in Lethbridge Alberta, 1979. They played at my brothers work where he was a bouncer in Lethbridge at The Place.

[@arcturiansweetie6517]

My friends know when I leave this planet they are to play this one for me. It is my favourite Trooper song, well one of them, and the lyrics are simply the best . Then and now. I love Trooper!

[@ZippyThePinhead]

I heard this eons ago on the KSHE Klassics show, and still one of my favorites.

[@russallert]

Ra is correct when he speculates that radio wouldn't play it before 6 PM because of the word "hell". I grew up in Kamloops, and one Sunday circa 1979-80 my friend called one of the local radio stations (either Radio NL or CFJC) and asked to hear Raise A Little Hell. He was told that the station couldn't play it on Sundays because of the lyrics.

[@koolkitties8552]

What about Highway to hell?

[@rejeandurette3471]

@@koolkitties8552 Highway To Hell was released as a single, but never made the Top 40. So there goes that theory.

[@bikeracer6045]

Canadian legends TROOPER!! So awesome! Seen them so many times over the years and still so good. Canadian icons.

[@northernlitez1]

LOVED this song back in the day....heard it on the radio the other day. Great memories

[@TheLenaweeTrekker]

There have been dark low points in my life, and when I was at my lowest, this song would come on and cheer me up so much. The chorus is so true. I love this song.

[@JenniferHill-ey2kt]

This is my theme song and pretty much how I try to live my life. Don't whine about what is wrong, just go ahead and change it. Raise a little hell! Love this song.

[@notapplicable8136]

This song was on the first album I ever bought. I was just a kid at the time. This was my favorite track and I knew it word for word. It really resonated with me and made so much sense. Those words have always stuck with me and have been the main reason I pulled myself back from many low parts of my life. I'm now even more grateful you guys recorded it the way it is. Can you believe that Hot Shots is still to this day on of my all time favorite albums?

[@songsabai3794]

Saw Trooper at the PeaceFest in Peace River ,of all places,backed up by Kim Mitchell. They were SO MUCH FUN! absolutely rocked. The cool thing was that all the young people we're totally into it. Brian Smith was NUTS! Great show,Great party band.

[@gillesjacques1022]

Heard this song live, every Canadian knows this song hopefully.

[@imannonymous7707]

Heres a canadian rockers anthem! say what u want about their sound but when this song was playing at the bar , at the lake, or at a game. People started rockin

[@100amps]

The home team PK anthem. I always loved Trooper.

[@edwardbliss8931]

Who knew he'd write an anthem for sporting events

[@timlamb9428]

love this song. haven't heard it in ages. first heard it when i was 16 back in 83 from a cassette tape my older brother had with songs recorded off of wllz and wrif out of detroit. a hard rock classic that just cut through bs and jammed and had angst and fustration that a lot of young people or well even old farts like me have that unfortunately didn't get the exposure it should've had.

[@kathywright9647]

words to live by...

[@larrybethune3909]

"So Frank didn't get his modulation"... too funny!

[@ckulai83able]

OMG IM SO PROUD FOR MY UNCLE AND YES HE IS MY UNCLE

[@roxxanedtroyt1744]

this is a great song you should be!!

[@bradfry1144]

Great song Great Band Great Man!! you should be so proud of your uncle.

[@HowestheHike]

He and the band are a Canadian treasure. So much a part of many of our lives

[@billybandyk0720]

Congrats, Chelsea K.; BIG FAN OF TROOPER & UR UNCLE RA!!!!!!

[@penzman]

Dialed in Boom 97.3 a bit earlier today and this was playing. :D

[@boom973Toronto]

Thanks, where are you from!

[@SuperStrik9]

Great song.

[@ILikeStyx]

Trooper is playing Canada Day at the University of Waterloo this year (2016) woo!

[@bradmcewen]

Interesting story. Sooooo glad it's "Raise a little hell". Sometimes in life you need some theme motivation.

[@richardspikman7116]

One of my favorite albums... not just because of the bullet holes.

[@tom080955]

ah the APPLE JACK days...awesome band!

[@adamkelloway3325]

Awesome And Amazing Band 🤘🤘

[@frankludwig314]

OK..about time I clarified, notwithstanding the passage of time..wanted us to TRY the song with the verses up a 4th so that when the chorus/hook came in it had that humoungous impact of landing on the tonic (I)...not a modulation..as someone mentioned, there is one which was part of what Ra & Brian had created from the get go..works like a bridge to give the song a little more interest...very glad for the succes the song had, but believe that with the slight change I was proposing, that it might have made it out of Canada..my biggest complaint is the idea that they'd always done it that way and it worked, so no willingness to try something...if you remember that Here for a Good Time was presented as a country tune, the process of openness to trying things paid off..just sayin'. Hi Ra

[@frankludwig314]

p.s. when I retired from teaching I performed Raise a Little Hell with just acoustic guitar as part of a medley I put together...kids hadn't heard me perform in all those years of teaching cuz I thought it should be about them, not me...so they kind of went nuts...I like the lyric message..quite timeless..especially relevant today

[@simonbone]

For the non-musicians among us, could you give us a demonstration?

[@ytnsanw]

Actually, there is a modulation, in that the body of the song is in A Major and the middle eight *modulates* into the key of C, so not really sure what he means there...

[@vassa1972]

Cool

[@peterklutinoty244]

"Good ol' General Hand Grenade...!"

[@Wizardley]

Cool story. Hey ra. Hope all is well

[@jhonhall928]

Raise a little howl raise a little howl raise a little howl.

[@blayneaugust]

Were here for a good time...

[@guitarman3968]

McGuire is great. Just ask him.

[@robertbishop5357]

Head East had a similar song.

[@wk1810]

Raze a little Hell.

[@victimology7761]

but leave the big one alone. :)

[@wk1810]

@@victimology7761 Oh, right, that one is gonna last forever!

[@imannonymous7707]

Lol , raise a little howl? Wow i love bachmans riffs but things i hear about his personality irk me at times. Is it just me? Oh well he seems to be kind anyway, it aint about him ,is it

[@zombiesir]

Raise a little Elf.

[@sega62s]

Frank didnt get his modulation,mhahahahahaah, so funny. Perfect song for a hit

[@chrisirving8390]

I would never recognize him now

[@chrisfoster9080]

Trooper after dark, seems a little naive now.

[@bradgilker3429]

Here to Rant. This is the WORST song EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all LOL

[@GarryJiry]

Yet Rolling Stone Magazine ranks it as the #7 best Sports Anthem of all time.