Tom Cochrane & Red Rider

“The good times we had
Wouldn't worry about tomorrow
'Cause tonight was all we had”

I can remember a lot of good times when Red Rider was playing in the background. Front man Tom Cochrane was singing them all. I’ve been to four concerts and I would go again. The first being my first ever concert for the As Far As I Am tour. The band already had a great album out with Don’t Fight It, including the title track and White Hot. Another good song was Avenue “A”. The As Far As I Am album’s best songs include Lunatic Fringe, Cowboys in Hong Kong, Thru The Curtain, and What Have You Got (To Get Off Tonight).

I didn’t really like the Neruda album when it first came out but looking back it has a lot of good material and the songs from this album sound good in concert. My favorite songs from it are Crack the Sky (Breakaway), and Power (Strength in Numbers). The next album, Breaking Curfew wasn’t very good with only Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me) that interested me. The next work called Tom Cochrane And Red Rider had two great radio hits with Boy Inside The Man and The Untouchable One.
I still remember sitting in my car in the garage listening to Victory Day when it came out and thinking “this is awesome”. Songs like Big League, Good Times, and Victory Day were the main hits, but I liked most of it.



Just when it looked like singer Tom Cochrane would never crack the American Market in a big way, his solo album came out with a USA number one hit. Previously the biggest hit had been Lunatic Fringe which you can still hear on American radio. The album Mad Mad World contained the song Life Is A Highway which became a smash hit worldwide and later was covered by the band Rascal Flatts. I remember hosting a party one time when some kid came up to me and said “this Tom Cochrane tape is awesome, he just came out of nowhere.” I just laughed to myself knowing about all the other great hits Tom had with Red Rider. Other good songs on the album are Mad Mad World, Sinking Like A Sunset, No Regrets, Washed Away, and Bigger Man.



When Ragged Ass Road first came out I didn’t buy it right away although I did notice some substantial airplay on the radio of the songs I Wish You Well, and Wildest Dreams. When I finally did get it I was surprised to find two other good songs that didn’t get much airplay: Just Scream, and Paper Tigers.
Other albums exist but these are my favorite.
I’d like to acknowledge Tom Cochrane’s efforts in Africa as a spokesman for World Vision which raises money for kids.



“Life is a highway
I want to ride it all night long”