Red Rider, later known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band popular in the 1980s. While they achieved significant success in Canada, the band never had a song in the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, although "

Lunatic Fringe Lunatic fringe is a term used to characterize members of a political or social movement as extremists with eccentric or fanatical views. Theodore Roosevelt is widely credited with having popularized the term, which he used with gusto: "There is ap ...

" from their second album, 1981's ''

As Far as Siam ''As Far as Siam'' is the second studio album by the Canadian rock music, rock band Red Rider. The majority of the album was recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles and produced by Richard Landis; two tracks were produced ...

'', became popular on US

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

radio. They also charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with "White Hot" from their debut album '' Don't Fight It'' (1979) and "

Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me) "Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me)" is a song by the band Red Rider, released in 1984 as a single and climbing to No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 13 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and No. 44 in Canada. The song Written by band leader Tom Co ...

" from ''

Breaking Curfew ''Breaking Curfew'' is the fourth studio album by the Canadian rock band Red Rider, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). The album was recorded and mixed at ''Metalworks Studios'' and ''E.S.P. Studio'' in Toronto, Ontario and ''Startling Studio ...

'' (1984), and charted comparably to "Lunatic Fringe" on Mainstream Rock ( AOR) with "

Big League ''Big League'' was the official magazine of the National Rugby League. Its predecessor, ''The Rugby League News'', was first published in 1920; in 1974 it was rebranded as ''Big League''. In 2020, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in ...

", "Human Race", and "Power", the latter two tracks off 1983's '' Neruda''.

Band history

As Red Rider

Red Rider was formed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1975 when Peter Boynton (keyboards, synthesizers, vocals),

Ken Greer Kenneth William Greer (born 25 July 1954) is a Canadian guitarist and keyboardist. He is one of the founding members of the Canadian rock band Red Rider. Biography Greer is the youngest of seven children born into a musical family in Toronto, ...

(guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) and Rob Baker (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) joined up with Arvo Lepp (guitar) and Jon Checkowski (bass) and began playing around Toronto, performing both original and cover music. In 1978, their manager at that time was contacted by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

about adding singer/guitarist/composer

Tom Cochrane Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music ...

to the group. Cochrane was invited to one of the band's gigs in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

to rehearse with them. Boynton, Greer and Baker were impressed with his playing and songwriting but Lepp and Checkowski were not as enthused and decided to leave the band. Jeff Jones (formerly with

Ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

and who briefly played for

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

) was then brought in on bass, and it was the lineup of Cochrane, Boynton, Greer, Baker and Jones that were signed to Capitol and released their first album '' Don't Fight It'' in October 1979. With the singles "White Hot" and "Don't Fight It", the album quickly reached gold status. Their second album, ''

'', was released in June 1981 and featured the hit "Lunatic Fringe", which featured steel guitarist Greer. The song was used in the 1985 movie ''

Vision Quest A vision quest is a rite of passage in some Native American cultures. It is usually only undertaken by young males entering adulthood. Individual Indigenous cultures have their own names for their rites of passage. "Vision quest" is an English- ...

'', appeared in the ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'' episode "Smuggler's Blues" and saw high rotation on the United States cable network

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. It is now a mainstay on American

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

radio. Peter Boynton was replaced by keyboardist

Steve Sexton Steve Sexton is a Canadian composer, arranger, musical director, producer and keyboardist. He served as Canadian singer Anne Murray's Musical Director for 25 years with responsibilities as her pianist, conductor, arranger, and on occasion her p ...

on Red Rider's third album '' Neruda'', released in March 1983, and the track "Napoleon Sheds His Skin" would become one of the more popular songs from the album, while "Human Race" picked up considerable FM radio airplay in the US, becoming their second best known song there after "Lunatic Fringe". Moreover, the song "Can't Turn Back" was used in the ''Miami Vice'' episode "Tale of the Goat". For their next release, ''

'' (September 1984),

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

(formerly with Canadian soft rockers

Stonebolt Stonebolt is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Vancouver. Their sound also included elements of Pop music, pop and Country music, country. History The band first formed in 1969 under the name Perth Amboy.

) replaced Sexton on keyboards. The album did not sell as well as ''Neruda'' and a dispute with Bruce Allen, the band's manager, over the future direction of the band resulted in Red Rider's departure from the Bruce Allen camp and a change in band members, as Jeff Jones and Rob Baker left. The album did contain the band's top-charting single in the US, "

", which reached number 71 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

As Tom Cochrane & Red Rider

In what became a strong signal regarding the future of the band, they officially became known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider. The line-up consisted of Cochrane, Greer and Webster with new member Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve on bass. For the first album under this revised name (their fifth overall), the group issued the self-titled ''

Tom Cochrane and Red Rider ''Tom Cochrane and Red Rider'' is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock band Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, released in 1986 The album earned Cochrane two Juno Awards for Composer of the Year and Group of the Year. A remastered version was rel ...

'' LP in May 1986. Sessioneer

Graham Broad Graham Broad (born 10 March 1957) is an English drummer who has been playing professionally since the age of fifteen, after attending the Royal College of Music in 1970. He is a former pupil of drumming educator Lloyd Ryan, who also taught Ph ...

( Go West and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

' band) played drums on the album, recorded in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

and

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's ' ...

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

over the early months of 1985, produced by Patrick Moran. After the release of the album, Randall Coryell was added to the official lineup for live dates, as was guitarist Peter Mueller; this six-piece version of the band would last through early 1990. In 1987 Capitol released a compilation CD titled '' Over 60 Minutes with Red Rider'', covering the band's first four albums. Also in 1987, the band, who had been nominated 11 times for

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

, finally was awarded one for Group of the Year. In the fall of 1988, the band (now a sextet) released their sixth album, ''

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

'', which contained the track "Big League", about the death of a young hockey player. The young man's father approached Cochrane on the day of a concert, mentioning that his son was a big fan of Red Rider's song "Boy Inside The Man". Cochrane asked the man if his son was going to be attending the concert and the man responded that his son had recently died in a car accident.MelodicRock.com interview with Tom Cochrane.
Accessed September 27, 2008. Cochrane wrote the song as a memorial, and it became a big hit in Canada (reaching #4), as well as a top 10 hit on US rock radio. Red Rider's final album, '' The Symphony Sessions'', which was recorded on March 17 and 18, 1989, and released in December 1989, saw the band performing with the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

, as

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

had done seventeen years before. The band broke up in early 1990, shortly after the album was released. Cochrane embarked on a successful solo career, employing Webster and Sinnaeve as part of his backing band. The three- CD

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

''Ashes to Diamonds'', which includes material by both Red Rider and Cochrane as a solo artist, was released in 1993.

Reformation (2002-present)

Cochrane, Greer, and Jones reunited as Red Rider in 2002 to play a benefit show after their 1980s guitar tech, John Garrish, was mugged and stabbed to death in the Yorkville section of Toronto. Since that time, Tom Cochrane and Red Rider have continued to tour annually, with Cochrane, Greer, and Jones being the mainstays of this revived version of the group. Keyboardist Webster was involved for a time between 2003 and 2006; current members Davide Direnzo (drums) and Bill Bell (guitar) both joined in 2006, though Bell dropped out for several years (2012-2016) before rejoining.

Professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...

used an instrumental version of "Lunatic Fringe" as his entrance music in TNA. UFC fighter and former Pride Champion Dan "Hendo" Henderson also uses "Lunatic Fringe" as his intro song.

Members

Current members *

– guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (1975–1990, 2002–present) *

– vocals, guitar (1978–1990, 2002–present) * Jeff Jones – bass, backing vocals (1978–1985, 2002–present) * Davide Direnzo – drums (2006–present) * Bill Bell – guitar (2006-2011, 2017–present) Former members * Rob Baker – drums (1975–1985) * Peter Boynton – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals (1975–1983) * Jon Checkowski – bass (1975–1978) * Arvo Lepp – guitar (1975–1978) *

- keyboards, synthesizers (1983-1984) *

– keyboards, synthesizers (1984–1989, 2003–2006) * Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve – bass (1985–1990) * Randall Coryell – drums (1986–1990) * Peter Mueller – guitar (1988–1989) * Jamie Oakes – guitar (2002–2006) * Randall "Mongo" Stoll – drums (1998-2019) * Troy Feener – drums (2002–2006; 2009 – fill in for Direnzo) * Gary Craig – drums (2007 and 2009 – fill in for Direnzo) Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

As Red Rider

* '' Don't Fight It'' (1979)- Platinum in Canada * ''

'' (1981)- Platinum in Canada * '' Neruda'' (1983) Platinum in Canada * ''

'' (1984)

Tom Cochrane & Red Rider

* ''

'' (1986) Platinum in Canada * ''

'' (1988) Platinum in Canada * '' The Symphony Sessions'' (1989) Platinum in Canada

Compilation albums

* '' Over 60 Minutes with Red Rider'' (1987) * ''Ashes to Diamonds'' (1993) * ''Trapeze: The Collection'' (2002)

Singles

References

External links

CanConRox bio
* *
Official Ken Greer website

Official Jeff Jones website

Original Keyboardist Peter Boynton's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Rider Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups reestablished in 2002 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian country rock groups Canadian progressive rock groups 1979 establishments in Ontario 1989 disestablishments in Ontario 2002 establishments in Ontario Capitol Records artists RCA Records artists Juno Award for Group of the Year winners