They began on the West Coast as a duo called WINTER GREENS, doing the night club circuit and living in a van. The year was 1965 and what Ra McGuire and Brian Smith DIDNT know was they were embarking on a musical oddessy that would span more than 40 years.

They went through numerous variations before finally adding drummer Tommy Stewart and bassist Harry Kalinsky and settled on the name APPLEJACK in '72.

While the members stayed the same the name eventually hit the road and their new moniker seemed to be the missing link....in September 1974 Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman (of The Guess Who and B.T.O. fame) asked the band to play at a dance at the Mormon Church where he was a youth co-ordinator. He was impressed by their sound and signed them to his Legend Label, distributed by MCA.

A year later they released their first single, BABY WONCHA PLEASE COME HOME and the "HOT SHOTS" hit the big time!

They followed that up with the pop hit GENERAL HAND GERNADE and their straight ahead approach was soon hot on the fingers of radio DJ's nationwide!

TWO FOR THE SHOW hit the shelves in '76 and it proved these boys WERENT a flash in the pan; it spawned three hits including READY and SANTA MARIA along with the TITLE TRACK. Strangly enough it also contained the tune THE BOYS IN THE BRIGHT WHITE SPORTS CAR which would become one of the bands greatest hits when it was included on their "best of" album, HOT SHOTS, released 3 years later.

1977 saw the release of KNOCK 'EM DEAD KID. producing three singles including their biggest ever, the ballad OH PRETTY LADY That was quickly followed up by LONG TIME and one of my personal favorites..... but more on that later.

By now they were fast becoming one of Canada's favourite bands, gaining loyal followings nationwide.

Their biggest selling record to date came in the form of THICK AS THIEVES in late'78. Backed by the song RAISE A LITTLE HELL, the epitome of teen rebellion, it also contained two other hits; ROUND ROUND WE GO and MOMENT THAT IT TAKES. But not all was rosy; conflicts with Bachman dissolved their relationship and for all intents and purposes, they were now self-managed.


Then came the aformentioned HOT SHOTS, their first and only compilation album to date, one that an unofficial poll conducted in 2000 revealed that 1 out of every 30 Canadians between the ages of 25 & 45 owned a copy!



[align=center]It is the Canadian equvilant to FRAMPTON COME ALIVE.....[/align]


In '79 rawer, harder releases came out on "FLYING COLOURS"....immediate gold was the reward for 3 DRESSED UP AS A NINE, the first single as well as a smoking cover of the Kinks ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT. JANINE and QUIET DESPERATION were throwbacks to their ballad roots.

Time had taken its toll tho and the band went into seclusion....

They re-emerged in '89 on Warner Records with THE LAST OF THE GYPSIES. Despite BOY WITH THE BEAT becoming an instant staple on both the radio and in rock bars that summer, they got trapped in between changing musical trends, along with many other truly class acts during the same period. The album also contained another one of my favorites, THIN WHITE LINE, a track about the toll of drugs on the 'rock & roll lifestyle'.


[align=center]Fruedian Perhaps?[/align]


The year 2000 marked the band's 25th anniversary as top performers in the Canadian music industry. With a packed house at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom, they reunited original group members with the group of today for one incredible and memorable night of celebration.

[align=center]They are....

TROOPER


And of my favorites was released waaaaaaaaaay back in '77...... a SONG and words to live by....


We're Here For A Good Time (Not A Long Time)

Click HERE to download this song and sing along)


A very good friend of mine
Told me something the other day
I'd like to pass it in to you
Cause I believe what he said to be true
He said

We're here for a good time
Not a long time (not a long time)
So have a good time
The sun can't shine every day

And the sun is shinin'
In this rainy city
And the sun is shinin'
Oooooh, isn't it a pity
And every year, has it's share of tears
And every now and then it's gotta rain

We're here for a good time
Not a long time
So have a good time
The sun can't shine every day

And the sun is shinin'
In this rainy city
And the sun is shinin'
Oooooh, isn't it a pity
That every year, has it's share of tears
Every now and then it's gotta rain

We're here for a good time
Not a long time
So have a good time
The sun can't shine every day



Hope you enjoyed this weeks edition of TUNESDAY.....


if not?

Go ahead and sue me



Wil[/align]