Formed in 1980, an intrepid young band from Burlington Ontario would soon make “Spoons” a different kind of household word. Together with Derrick Ross and Rob Preuss, Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne would help define the sound of pop and New Wave in the 80’s, 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 80’s by “the Chart” Magazine, and their song “Nova Heart” was recently included in Bob Mersereau’s book “the Top 100 Canadian Singles of All Time”. 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 a then unknown engineer by the name of Daniel Lanois. The album garnered rave press reviews and reached the #1 slot 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 famous 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.
A special 30th Anniversary edition of the “Arias and 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, after twenty-six years, of the original band line-up, for an incredible sold-out release party in Toronto.
In 2019, Spoons Released a bold new album, “New Day New World”, the first studio project to be released by the Spoons in over eight years, once again Produced by Jeff Carter. Their new album plays on the band’s earlier edgy electro-80s sound and evokes the fun, pop sounds of their biggest hits while transporting them firmly into 2019. Four video singles have been released so far: For the First & Last Time, All the Wrong Things (In the Right Places), Landing Lights, and the title track, New Day New World. Three of these videos have been directed by Peter Sacco, winning multiple awards worldwide.
The retro 80s movement, now almost a decade old, shows no signs of slowing down. Not one bit. And as far as Sandy, Gord, and a lot of fans are concerned, that is a very good thing indeed.
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