Artist · chart history
Red Rider
Band Toronto Canada Active 1978–1989
Red Rider formed in 1978 in Toronto, Canada and was active until 1989. Red Rider has 74 chart appearances on 74 radio countdowns from 27 stations on RockLists, spanning 1981–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Lunatic Fringe”, which appears on 74 lists with a best position of #20. The station that charted Red Rider most often is 100.7 WZLX (Boston, MA), with 10 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1981.
Red Rider were a Toronto rock band, fronted by Tom Cochrane and later billed as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, who became a big deal at home even though they never cracked the American top 40. Their debut, Don't Fight It, in 1979, got "White Hot" onto the Hot 100, but it was the second album, As Far as Siam, in 1981, that gave them their calling card.
"Lunatic Fringe" is a slow, menacing, atmospheric creeper, all brooding guitar and simmering dread, and album-rock radio in the States grabbed onto it. It's the record's dark heart and the song that has kept their name alive.
Neruda followed in 1983 with "Human Race" and "Power", and Breaking Curfew in 1984 gave them another Hot 100 entry with "Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me)".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Red Rider on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lunatic Fringe | 74 | #20 | – | 1981 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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