Canadian new wave icons the Spoons are serving a bright dose of inspiration and immense gratitude in this, their newest video for “Landing Lights”.
Watch/Listen on YouTube here:
Landing Lights by Spoons
“Landing Lights” is on the Top 20 Pick Hit Chart for May on www.cashboxradio.ca (available on App for free)
Members Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne’s sentiments stretch two ways, but first and foremost to medical professionals and their ongoing efforts in the face of COVID-19. “We wanted to create a video that reaches out to all of the healthcare workers during this scary time,” Deppe says. “We wanted to thank them, and let them know how grateful we — and the world is — for risking their lives every day for us.”
The dedication doesn’t stop there for the band; they’re quick to place importance on those also on the frontlines, albeit in a different way. “This video also goes out to those who are fighting for their lives, have lost their lives, and — of course — those ‘staying home’ to save many lives.
“We hope you find it an uplifting, encouraging video of faith, hope, and staying positive and strong during this time.”
The “Landing Lights” video is the newest off the Spoons’ most recent album, New Day New World — their first in over eight years. The release evokes the band’s long-time signature sound, while firmly transporting them into 2020; formed in 1980, Deppe and Horne soon made Spoons a different kind of household word. They would help define the sound of pop and new wave in the 80s with hits including “Nova Heart,” “Romantic Traffic,” “Old Emotions” and “Tell No Lies.” Their album Arias & Symphonies would go on to be named one of the ‘20 Most Influential Albums of The 80s’ by The Chart Magazine and their song “Nova Heart” was recently included in Bob Mersereau's book The Top 100 Canadian Singles.
New Day New World is the first album release by the Spoons in over eight years. Static In Transmission, from 2011, played on their earlier edgy electro-80s years. New Day New World evokes the fun, pop sounds of hits like Romantic Traffic and Tell No Lies, but transports them firmly into 2020.
It’s a New Day and a whole New World as the Spoons prepare to hit the road with their new album and, of course, all the hit songs they’re known for from almost forty years of making music. Nova Heart, Arias & Symphonies, Romantic Traffic, Tell No Lies, Old Emotions, When Time Turns Around...and so the story continues.
New Day New World was produced & mixed by Jeff Carter and the current touring members of Spoons are:
Gord Deppe - guitar & vocals
Sandy Horne - bass & vocals
Scott MacDonald - keyboards
Chris NcNeill - drums
The opening song "All The Wrong Things (In The Right Places)" is sure to become an anthem for fans, new and old. An on-line contest had listeners from across the country submit their chants for the song’s chorus to be included in the final mix. "Beautiful Trap", a song about all the things we can’t resist, no matter how hard we try, even brings back the doot-doots of Romantic Traffic. The band says it wasn’t intentional. Like the lyrics of the song insist, it was unavoidable. “It’s in our DNA!”
Formed in 1980, Gordon Deppe and Sandy Horne soon made Spoons a different kind of household word. They would help define the sound of pop and new wave in the 80s with hits including Nova Heart, Romantic Traffic, Old Emotions and Tell No Lies. Their album Arias & Symphonies would go on to be named one of the 20 Most Influential Albums of The 80s by The Chart Magazine and their song Nova Heart was recently included in Bob Mersereau's book The Top 100 Canadian Singles. Not bad for a bunch of kids from Burlington, Ontario.
Their first album Stick Figure Neighbourhood was recorded in 1981 at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, Ontario with an up and coming engineer named Daniel Lanois. The album garnered rave press reviews and reached #1 on college radio. But it wouldn’t be until the release of their song Nova Heart, produced by John Punter of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry fame, that the Spoons became a household name. The Arias & Symphonies album, recorded at George Martin’s Air Studios in London, England, solidified the Spoons’ presence on the new wave music front. With the commercial radio success that followed the band saw themselves opening for such acts as The Police, Culture Club and Simple Minds. A little TV show called MuchMusic had also just been launched and the young Spoons were tailor-made for a whole new video-driven generation. In fact, the very first episode of the show began with, "Welcome to MuchMusic. Coming up we have brand new videos by Duran Duran, Howard Jones and the Spoons." A new era was launched with those words.
In 1983, Ready Records brought on Nile Rodgers (Chic, David Bowie, Madonna, and most recently Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”) to produce their follow-up album Talkback. More radio hits emerged, including Romantic Traffic, Old Emotions and Tell No Lies. The Spoons continued to build their fan base around the world. The video for Romantic Traffic, shot in the subways of Toronto, remains as one of the most iconic Canadian videos of all time.
A soundtrack for Ron Mann’s movie Listen To The City and two more studio albums followed. Under the wing of Rush’s manager Ray Danniels, the Spoons recorded the Bridges Over Borders and Vertigo Tango albums on Anthem Records. The resulting singles Bridges Over Borders, Be Alone Tonight, Rodeo, When Time Turns Around and Waterline kept the band making videos and touring until the end of the 80s. But the decade was winding down as a new wave of music called Grunge was taking the world by storm. A lot of people believed that this would mark the end for all things 80s. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Something that would soon be known as Retro 80s was looming just around the corner.
The greatest hits package Collectible Spoons was released in 1994 on MCA/Universal Music and led to one of the band’s most successful tours ever. The old fans were hungry for the music they grew up on and new ones were eager to give the 80s a second listen. Spoons songs were being played more frequently as many radio stations featured all-80s shows. A new offshoot of MuchMusic called MuchMoreMusic revived all the old 80s videos. The unthinkable was happening. The 80s were back.
When the retro phenomenon showed no signs of stopping, a new album seemed like the next logical step. In 2010, Gordon and Sandy released Static In Transmission, produced by Jeff Carter; their first collection of new songs in over two decades. Although still undeniably Spoons, the single You Light Up proved that the band remained inexplicably current. In fact, John Sakamoto of the Toronto Star included it in his prestigious Anti-Hit List the week of its release, usually reserved for up and coming new artists. Not bad for a band that’d been around for thirty years.
In 2012 Sparks Music and Ready Records celebrated the 30th anniversary of one of the band’s most successful releases with a special Nova Heart Anniversary EP. The package contains the quintessential 1982 album cut and dance club extended mix, as well as the electronica/dub step Singularity remix, which has become the high point of their live shows and new favourite for fans new and old alike. A special 30th Anniversary edition of the Arias & Symphonies album followed, released by Sparks/Ready Records/Universal Music, complete with extensive liner notes, historical photos and live tracks. It also saw the reunion, for the first after twenty-six years, of the original band line-up for an incredible sold-out release party in Toronto.
In 2013 the Spoons won the Music Express Magazine “Back In The Spotlight” Award. A remastered version of their debut album Stick Figure Neighbourhood was released on vinyl, followed in 2014 by the 30th Anniversary CD commemorating their smash hits Romantic Traffic and Tell No Lies. The anniversary show, complete with the original line-up of Rob Preuss, Derrick Ross, Sandy and Gord was filmed for a concert DVD/documentary available this March, 2015. Gord Deppe’s autobiography SpoonFed, released through Manor House Publishing, is available through Chapters and Indigo stores and quickly became a #1 Best Seller in its genre on Amazon.
The Retro 80s movement shows no signs of slowing down. Not one bit. The band is currently recording new material, working on more remixes of their classic hits and will be touring Canada this summer. And as far as Sandy and Gord and a lot of fans are concerned, that is a very good thing indeed.
It’s a New Day and a whole New World as the Spoons prepare to tour with their new album and, of course, all the hit songs from almost forty years of making music. Nova Heart, Arias & Symphonies, Romantic Traffic, Tell No Lies, Old Emotions and their Singularity remix of Nova Heart that has brought a whole new legion of fans along for the ride. New Day New World is sure to do the same and open another chapter in the Spoons’ remarkable story.
Gord and Sandy can’t wait for you to hear the new songs. “It’s a new day and a new world, and we start again...”
For more on Spoons visit:
spoonsmusic.com/
facebook.com/thespoons.ca
instagram.com/spoonscanada/
twitter.com/thespoons
music.apple.com/us/album/new-day-new-world/1457935670
open.spotify.com/artist/4CcK0osWoMqaT4GkQZrr13?si=s5y-D90XSeSl2yLV0yemew
