Mea Culpa: Spotlight on the spelling of a brand name

Questions of language and style in last week’s Independent, reviewed by John Rentoul

‘Tonight the super trouper beams are gonna blind me’: the Abba Voyage virtual concert (PA)

In a fine article about artists who have objected to their music being used by politicians, a disparaging reference was made to “Super Trouper”, the 1980 Abba song. That was what our author wrote but someone trying to be helpful changed it to “Trooper”. Thanks to reader John Schluter, it has now been changed back and the story can be told.

“Troop” and “troupe” were originally the same word, meaning a group of people, but were imported into English from French at different times. The earlier version, which had its spelling anglicised, is used mainly to refer to a military unit. The later one, which retained the French spelling, applied to a company of performers, actors or dancers.

Which is why, when Strong Lighting of Omaha, Nebraska, wanted a brand name for its powerful spotlight, used to follow performers in theatres and at outdoor concerts, it came up with the rhyming “Super Trouper” in 1956. Deep Purple were the first band to record a song with that title, in 1973. As with Abba, it was about the rigours of touring and the irony of being blinded by the light, a metaphor for the burden of fame.