How Red Rider’s “Lunatic Fringe” Became an 80s Rock Staple Without Ever Hitting the Charts

For a lot of US listeners, today’s band is a well-kept Canadian secret. And that’s not a good thing, because these classic rockers have turned out a killer catalog that includes multiple Top 40 hits... just not on this side of the border. It’s Tom Cochrane’ and his band Red Rider. Their classic rock battle cry: Lunatic Fringe is continually cited as one of the best one hit wonder of the 80s only it was never a hit on the charts. It missed the top 40 completely thought it did go top 20 on the rock charts IN fact Red Rider never had a top 40 hit in America. Even so Lunatic Fringe has become a classic of rock radio.... It’s a haunting battle cry, burning with righteous indignation. A call to defend the downtrodden and stand against hate. Tom’s management actually tried to talk him out of even recording it and he nearly listened to them but a devastating tragedy motivated him to see it through.. This is the story of a singer who never gave up and found redemption in the chart later on because of it… his band barely missed the U.S. top 40 for almost 20 years but his first solo single Life Is A Highway hit the top 5 everywhere.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.