Canadian singer Lisa Lougheed’s first single, the new wave synth pop anthem ‘Run with us‘, may not have been a commercial chart hit in the UK but it’s a song that many retro kids’ TV show enthusiasts will know well, due to it being the best-known version of the theme tune to The Raccoons. Lougheed’s more euphoric interpretation of the song took over from Stephen Lunt’s in the second season of the cartoon and continued until the show’s fifth and final run in 1991 to become the definitive version. It’s also notoriously hard to get hold of on vinyl, with copies of Evergreen Nights, the album it’s taken from, proving even more elusive and fetching around £100 (sometimes more) on the rare occasions they do appear.
‘Run With us’ may not, on the face of it, seem like an obvious candidate for Song of the day on a feminist website but its rallying message of comradeship and freedom put it firmly into activist anthem territory as far as I’m concerned. And as arguably interrelated political causes go, a bunch of raccoons resisting the corporate plans of a greedy aardvark millionaire seems pretty apt to me. Go The Raccoons!
Static YouTube clip shot shows (left to right) Ralph, Bert and Melissa Raccoon from The Raccoons.
Click here for the original video featuring Lisa Lougheed.
Love The Raccoons :-). While I was working in promotions back in the 80’s Evergreen Raccoons Marketing sent me copies of the single and LP to promote. The single especially had the potential to be a huge hit because it was so catchy, and The Raccoons so well liked. The sticking point was the BBC who, although they were showing the series at the time, refused to give the song much promotion as it wasn’t on the BBC record label!