"Run With Us" was a song created for The Raccoons, a highly successful and popular Canadian cartoon that ran on various networks (CBC, Disney Channel, etc.) from 1985 to 1992. It was originally performed by songwriter Steve Lunt, and later covered by Lisa Lougheed, but Lunt's extended studio version has not resurfaced.
Production[]
Steve Lunt originally wrote and performed "Run With Us" in late 1985. It played in parts of the first episode of The Raccoons series, and as the original ending theme for the series. The song was also produced by Jon Stroll and the series' creator Kevin Gillis.
During the second season, it was covered by Lisa Lougheed, who provided other incidental songs for the series, and the voice of Lisa Raccoon. This version of "Run With Us" was released as a single in 1987 and as part of Lougheed's "Evergreen Nights" album, was used during the credits for the remainder of the series, and even received a music video.
Availability[]
A fanmade reconstruction of Lunt's version
Unlike Lougheed's more popular version, Lunt's original version was not released to home media, and does not exist outside its original use in The Raccoons episodes. It has been claimed that Lunt's version appears on "Run With Us" singles from the UK, listed as a remix on the labels, but this has never been confirmed.[1] There is a Canadian release from 1987 that lists two versions of "Run With Us", with the A-side being assumed to be Lougheed's version, and the B-side being a track of the exact same length, which is also approximately as long as Lunt's version.[2] The single is extremely rare, and digital rips of it do not exist at this current time.
There have been many fanmade attempts to put together a full-length track of Lunt's original, but these include sound effects and character voices, and no third verse, if Lunt's version has one like Lougheed's. A full-length copy (without any noise) of the original "Run With Us" has yet to resurface.
In September 2020, series creator Kevin Gillis stated in an interview with Nerd Culture that Lunt's original version of "Run With Us" is going to be released on an upcoming remastered Raccoons soundtrack album,[3] though a release date has yet to be announced. As of March 2021, the remastered soundtrack is confirmed by series composer Jon Stroll to still be in the works.[4]