Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Spoons Kick Out the Jams: Toronto Mike'd #961
Episode Date: December 7, 2021Mike chats with Sandy Horne and catches up with Gord Deppe before The Spoons kick out the jams....
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I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week to kick out the jams is Sandy Horn and Gord Depp of the Spoons.
Hi there.
Hi Sandy, how you doing?
Good, any sign of Gord yet?
No sign, but still a little bit early.
But just want to say hello.
It's a pleasure to finally meet you.
Yeah, you too.
This is awesome.
We're going to have a good time.
You're all set, though.
You're comfortable because these are not quick sprints here.
We got to... No, I'm good.
Awesome.
Nothing going on.
I shouldn't say that. I was just working in the to. No, I'm good. Awesome. Nothing going on. I shouldn't say that.
I was just working in the studio.
Right, right, right.
So whereabouts in the universe are you?
Like, are you in Toronto?
Where are you?
No, I'm in Guelph.
Oh, okay.
Cool.
My boy is not too far away.
He's in Waterloo.
Ah.
Is he at school there?
Yeah, he's going to Laurier.
Ah, what's he taking?
It started off of like business-y stuff
and then it sort of morphed into more of a general arts thing.
So I think he's just getting,
he's going to get his like honors BA general arts thing
and then figure out what the heck he's supposed to do in this world.
I hear that.
My two are graduated, so I'm done.
You're done. I'm done. You're done.
I'm done. I'm done. I've got a nurse and a industrial designer.
See, one day I want to look back and say, okay,
they all found something they dig and they all, they're all doing that.
Empty nester.
Okay. How is that? Because, okay. So I sort of messed myself up.
Like I would have had that as like a, like a goal in the future.
And then I went and got remarried and had two more kids.
So it's like, I don't know if I'll ever get to that point now.
But like, what's it like being an empty nester?
At first it was very quiet.
And then when even one of them comes back, I kind of go,
okay, you can go back to your home now.
There's no more things sprawled dropped in the
kitchen you know just coming you know backpacks on the floor shoes scattered coats hanging off
chairs there's none of that but you're happy uh sandy horn is a happy woman oh yes for sure yeah
no it's just it's just kind of funny when they come they They're adults now. They're mid-25 and 28.
And they just drop their stuff.
But they don't do it at their homes.
Their homes, they immediately take the coats off.
They put it in the closet.
And they put their boots away nicely or shoes or whatever.
And then they come here.
It's like plop, plop, plop, plop, plop.
And it's like, are you 10?
Hey, look who just showed up to ruin our Zoom party here.
Some guy named Gord.
Should I let him in?
Yeah, I guess so.
Gord.
I think Gord is the quintessential Canadian name.
Gord.
Gord.
Like, you got Gord in Lightfoot, Gord in Sinclair, you got Gord in, Gord Stellick, Gord Downie,
and you got Gord in Depth.
And Gord Sideways. Oh, there. Gord Sidewaysic, Gord Downie, and you got Gordon Depp. And Gord Sideways.
Oh, there, Gord Sideways.
There he is.
How you doing?
Hey, Gord, nice to see you again.
Good.
I remember the last time, I think it was near basement, right?
And I got a free beer glass or something.
Well, yeah, you had a free beer glass and beer.
That's right.
You had the, uh...
You know, Gord, I got to introduce you to somebody.
I don't know if you've met this young woman.
This is Sandy Horn.
Hi, Gord.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, we don't see each other that much anymore either.
It's crazy.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
No, it's good.
We should be playing more right now, but what can you do?
I'm trying to figure out where you are.
Actually, I'm at my mom's house.
Oh, okay. I'm going, I don't recognize this room.
I know. I had to
find a quiet spot at my mom's.
She lives in Burlington where we first got together.
Right. She still lives
in the same apartment building that we grew up in.
Wow. Hey, so
this is what we're going to do, Gord. We're going to literally
like we've already begun. We're going to just dive
in. You have a bit of time, right, Gord?
Sandy says she's cleared the next six hours for me.
How about you?
Well, the maximum I have is the hour.
The maximum.
An hour.
Okay, so we're going to rock and roll here, though, because...
Well, you can keep Sandy for six hours if you want.
I just got to leave it at three.
So here's what we're going to do.
I'm making these executive decisions on the fly.
We're going to do a little catch up here.
I got some questions from FOTMs.
Then we're going to do Gord Depp's five jams.
And then Gord's going to say goodbye.
And then we're going to spend some,
a little bit of time with Sandy doing her five jams.
And then we're going to sign off here.
So what's happening here is Sandy Horn,
I hope you're excited about this because you're actually making your Toronto Mike debut right now.
Have you been able to sleep?
How do you feel?
I went to bed early.
I got up early.
I've had two coffees and I'm ready to rock.
Coffee was a bad idea.
You need to chill when you do this show.
You got to be awake.
You just want to be awake. He's going to be awake.
And Gord, you, of course,
you're a veteran here.
I know we were introduced
by the great Pete Fowler.
Oh.
I believe Pete introduced me
to you way back when.
You visited,
for those who want to go back
and listen to like
a real A to Z
about the spoons
and Gord Depp
and Flock of Seagulls
and everything.
That's episode 116.
I'll just read the description really quickly.
Mike chats with the Spoons singer and songwriter Gord Depp.
And that episode was like 90 minutes.
So there's lots of Gord there.
Here's a fun fact for both of you before we dive in.
This is the 100th kick out the jam episode of Toronto Mike.
So congratulations on the milestone
Excellent
Come on I want some more
enthusiasm what's going on
Yes! Eureka!
As they would say in the old black and white movies
I've watched a lot of old movies
over the Christmas
What's an old movie?
You're so black and white that you're going that far back
Yeah not even,
well, this is the last one I watched
because I love those old
Sunday afternoon movies.
It was Journey to the Center of the Earth,
the original one.
Sure, wow.
With James Mason,
you know, the old,
and I may watch all those right now,
like, you know,
20,000 Days Under the Sea,
First Man on the Moon,
all that.
When the effects weren't CGI,
they were like rubber creatures
and lizards with fins that glued on their
backs,
but like dinosaurs.
And so it was great.
Practical effects.
I think we call those the,
or cheap.
Whatever gets the job done here.
Quick note from Michael Lang,
who is a great FOTM.
Michael Lang says,
I saw the spoons at an outdoor concert in Sabo beach about three months ago, and they were great as always.
So you have been doing some shows lately.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
I found some unique shows, especially during lockdown.
We played twice on an island where they could have 100 people on the island and the boats came in.
This time they let people on the other islands.
We went to barge between two islands.
We could double the numbers.
Very creative.
Driving theaters, waterfronts, parks, golf courses,
anywhere they would let us play.
And then we did the canal system.
We were on a boat and we went up through the, in Bobcage and we went through the canal system up there.
Rooftop of a building, you know, all that stuff.
It's like the Beatles.
Yeah, I was going to say, did you film that making of your rooftop?
We could kind of get an eight hour deep dive into the spoons, play the rooftop.
Yes, actually Peter Jackson is doing the documentary.
Yeah.
On that note, do you ever think like, oh, we should
have filmed more now that there's this
appetite to go behind the scenes?
Imagine the early 80s spoons,
just raw footage.
Do you wish you had more
recordings?
Of course we do. Now you've got everything, right?
You have your phone. Back then, it was like
a Super 8 camera, right? That's all you had, probably.
Right.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, once in a while, people have, like,
I got a video of you at the police picnic
in 1982, opening for the police.
Oh, great. It's like
10 seconds of some grainy
thing which is moving from
a mile away, right? But that's as good as it
gets, really.
There's aruder film.
The Zapruder film, like in the JFK conspiracy, you've got that grainy Zapruder video.
Right.
That's a trendy look probably now, right?
To get that look in your videos.
It's funny you mentioned that.
On my travels, I just went by that spot.
And when that happened, that shooting,
because I've been traveling in Flog of Seagulls.
Oh, in Dallas.
Yeah, we were going
on some highway, and the people with me
knew exactly where it was. It's right down there.
If you look off, it's right under
Overpass or whatever.
Pretty wild now.
Am I right that right now there's
Trumpers
there waiting for JFK Jr.
to show up or something because he's going to
put Trump back in the White House?
Did I dream that?
Was that a fever dream?
Probably not. The more I travel
America, I realize it's
a whole other kettle of fish than we are.
Every single state is like
a different country. The thinking, the mentality, it's outrageous, some of them.
So it's possible, for sure. I think that's actually happening.
Now, Sandy, this is a nice note I got when my friend FOTM
Perry Lefkoe heard you were coming on the show. Ah, Perry.
And I guess you know Perry's brother, Elliot, of course,
is a sponsor. He booked us back in the 80s.
And you alluded to the police picnic.
That was the Garys, right?
Yes.
It was two Garys who ran the Edge bar back in the day.
Not the radio station.
And they were kind of like our management at the beginning as well.
They actually did a lot for us.
Helped us get our first record deal, that sort of thing,
and onto the police picnic.
What I like about the Garys, I have so much respect for them
because they didn't book an act unless they thought they were damn good.
They never did anything for publicity reasons
or because they're in fashion right now.
They had to actually legitimately think you were a good act before
they book you well that's that's kind of you to say that yeah i hope so yeah they were right
yeah and they were so important to the music scene around the world actually and for canada
especially uh they were constantly bringing in the brand new artists that no one had heard of yet
and once they hit the gary's and the edge and whatever place they were going
to put them in,
they started to fly,
you know,
like bands.
Nobody knew about like the police and you too,
and stuff like that.
Yeah.
So it's nice to be in that company.
Well,
well deserved now back to Perry because he'll be mad if I don't remember to
come back.
He says that,
what does he say?
He says, Sandy Horn is Canada's new wave sweetheart.
How do you feel?
That's a good moniker for you.
Sandy's very humble.
She's going to give you crickets right now.
Well, that's very nice of you.
Thank you, Perry.
I guess because I was one of the only first major female artists out in the new wave era.
Now, I don't know if he's referring to the new wave now or the new wave back then.
Because it was called the new wave back then.
And now when people say new wave, they're thinking now.
We're like the old wave now.
Or we're called the old wave.
I've also heard some of them.
Don't say that.
I know.
That's what they say.
And I'm like, no, we were the original first wave.
I'm going to rush that. Rush term, like permanent waves. That's what they say. And I'm like, no, we were the original first wave. I'm going to rush that term, like permanent waves.
That's what we are.
Yeah, permanent waves.
The carver of waves.
And again, I'll burn through some of these FOTM notes
before we talk about some Spoons projects
and tribute albums, et cetera.
But Elephants and Stars, Manfred there is a FOTM,
and he says,
we played our first ever show with them at
The Rock. Sorry, The Rock
The Wave. There's
The Rock The Wave benefit.
She, that's you Sandy, and Gordon could not
have been nicer to us.
Oh, that's good.
We hear that quite a bit, and I don't mind saying that
because we always, we weren't trying
to be nice. We were just playing out kids, you know, straight out of high school.
And I hope that we didn't lose any of that still, you know.
We never took it that seriously that we, like, were full of ourselves.
It was like, I don't remember, Sandy, we did the police picnic.
I wrote about this in my book.
We kind of looked at each other like, what the hell is happening?
All these people are going crazy.
Like, we were just so dumbstruck by it all.
Yeah.
And sorry to interrupt, another thing is that this weekend, going crazy like we were just so dumbstruck by it all that um yeah yeah and he and i just i'm sorry
to interrupt saying another thing is that this weekend i'll say next week on the 18th i'm playing
new york city with black seagulls in the first place we paid played in the first time i played
new york city with culture club oh yeah back in 82 and talking about coming full circle and even
back then i remember doing that gig and now rogers and sting coming to our door after the show knocking and to tell us how much they loved the
band and and i had come to see culture club didn't like him that much but he asked to produce us
same thing at the time we're like a bunch of kids like oh okay sure you know like we were so
innocent and and i hope we haven't lost that after all these years. I still feel like that same stupid kid.
Is that not the same show where that guy got up on stage and was taking pictures of us and running around on the stage?
Yeah, yeah.
We're like, why is this guy on stage taking pictures of us?
It's like coming right up beside us and doing photos with us.
We're right in the middle of performing, and no security is doing anything.
We're going, what is this guy doing?
Walk him in here and say hi. We're right in the middle of performing and no security is doing anything. We're going, what is this guy doing? Welcome to New York City.
Yeah, it's going to be a trip being back.
I think it's been renovated a little bit since 1982.
Yeah, take pictures.
I will.
Yeah, unlike last time you were there, you now have a camera in your pocket at all times.
You've got everything in your pocket.
Yeah, it's a lot of things.
you've got everything in your pocket it's a lot of things
Nile Rodgers though we did
in Gord we went deep into this last time
so we won't dwell on it too long but
that's amazing when he taps you
on the shoulder and says he wants to produce your album
what a big deal
that's tremendous
yeah it is and we're still the only Canadian band he's ever done
we did two records with him
I keep in touch with him he He's in all kinds of things.
Yeah.
And Sheikah is busier than ever.
And he's opened, I think, a roller rink somewhere
and done Huntington Beach or something
or somewhere down in California.
I see him on roller skates.
You know, he's beaten cancer a few times.
And he's a new guy.
You know, he's not only busy musically,
but in all kinds of ventures and altruistic things.
I saw him auction off all his guitars, and I think some cars he accumulated
just toward charities and things like that.
I also heard something about the fact that he's running Abbey Road in England now.
That's right. He's the head of Abbey Road. That's pretty amazing.
Road in England now. That's right.
He's like the head of Abbey Road. That's pretty amazing.
Yeah.
Suddenly back in the news,
like a runaway freight train, Abbey Road.
All the kids are discovering. He's like one of the greats of our generation.
He's like the new Quincy Jones
kind of thing. I would say, yeah.
And you're the only Canadian
band he's produced. Yep.
Mind-blowing. Jerry the
Garbage Man has a question for Sandy. And again,
a lot of these questions are sort of for Sandy
because my first tweet
about this was that Sandy was making her
Toronto Mike debut.
So a lot of people thought maybe
it's Sandy's solo. And then, of course,
I had to, you know, disappoint
everybody by saying Gord would be here as well.
Just kidding. I'll be quiet. I'll stay in the background quietly.
No, no. Yeah, get the most you can
out of this, Ed.
Pepper in as you wish, but Jerry says,
please ask Sandy about
her memories of the Tell No Lies
video and the Maxell
cassette commercial.
Okay, I'm trying to remember the
commercial, but I know that
Maxwell Tate was very productive in helping us do our videos for both Romantic Traffic and Tell No Lies.
And actually, Maxwell Tate was involved with us even to get our first, to get John Punter on board because we did a commercial for them just after we had demoed Nova Heart.
And that's how we ended up getting John Hunter on board to do Nova Heart
and Arias and symphonies.
So totalized video was a lot of fun.
I mean, it was kind of like, you know,
we're somewhere in the jungle somewhere in a strange airport.
Customs.
Yeah.
In the Amazon or something.
So it's a lot of fun, a lot of props.
We pulled in a lot of people and a lot of friends and a few fans
to join in on the video and a lot of makeup.
It's great.
Tell them about Tell No Lies being used right now in a new Christmas movie.
Oh, yeah.
It's called 8 Bits of Christmas, and it's basically... Or 8-Bit Christmas,
like 8-Bit, like the Nintendo machine.
Yeah, the 8-Bit Christmas.
And have you seen it, Gord?
I saw the ads for it. It's got Patrick,
what's his name? Neil Patrick Harris.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And a couple other people.
And they
asked to use
Town of Lies in that movie,
and it's in the roller rink scene.
But it's a throwback to the 80s about the Nintendo game.
Okay, so I was on a...
The first Nintendos.
This past summer, I'm on a bike ride on the Waterfront Trail.
So we're near, I don't know, not too far from like
where you go to Hyde Park or Ellis there.
And they're filming a movie.
I see a crowd and they're filming a movie.
So I get off my bike.
A crowd draws a crowd. I gotta know what's
going on here. And it was like a station
wagon and Neil Patrick Harris
or Steve Zahn. I think Steve
Zahn actually.
Anyway, long story short is
they said, oh, we're filming a movie called
8-Bit Christmas. And
now I find out that it's got
some spoons on the soundtrack.
So I got to check this out.
Yeah, you do.
Yeah, the scene that we are in is at a roller rink.
Yep.
It's a roller rink at the bottom of South Down Road
and Lake Shore down in Mississauga.
That's where my kids used to roller skate.
Oh, is it?
Yeah.
And the song's in there for about two minutes, which is awesome.
Okay, that's awesome.
And here's the second part of the question from Jerry,
the garbage man for you, Sandy,
did you ever previously play the standup bass like you did in that video?
Not then. No, I do now, but it's a standup electric.
Cause those bases are, if you know, the bodies are quite big,
they're a bit wide and I'm not a tall person.
So I playing the standup base was a bit bulky and heavy for me. Um, but now I do have an electric
standup, um, Steinberger base. Yeah. Amazing. DJ dream doctor. Uh, again, your, your question's
coming up next Gord, but this one's for Sandy. Go for it. The movie Listen to the City.
Do you think the plot of that movie is still relevant today?
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, we're kind of sitting in it again now.
I don't know why we don't get out of our rut,
but I mean, this has been centuries and centuries of people in this position
where you have the factories closed down and the big wiggies want to get bigger
and leave the ants on the bottom, you know,
and the struggle for life and society and families,
it's terrible that we can't find a better balance
with one another.
And now, Gord, you can now re-enter the fray
because this question is for both of you here.
Let me get it out here. Mike from Kdub
says, which Spoons
album was underappreciated
and can you explain why it
was Bridges Over Borders?
That's from Mike and Kdub.
So he's answering his own question.
See, I wouldn't think that was underrated.
The things to make him
put him at ease, that album was much bigger in America than Canada.
It was our one album, so he was correct in that fact.
It was Ray Daniels and Rush's management and record company.
Tim Tramuth.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it was Rush's people and management that kind of pushed us
to become more American, more rock and roll.
We had more guitar in it, more rock and roll. We had more guitar
in it, more drums, and we had a second guitar
player on the road with us, Colin Cripps, who is now with
Blue Rodeo, a great guitar player.
And we kind of just embraced
the whole American thing, right? But because
of that, our Canadian fans were a little
like, oh, what are you doing?
Whereas in America, it was perfect, right?
So I wouldn't say it's underrated.
Maybe here, because we strayed a little bit from our regular sound,
but in America, it sure wasn't underrated.
Yeah.
And what do you think, Sandy?
Most underrated Spoons album?
Or underappreciated, he says.
Underappreciated.
I guess it would probably be Bridges,
but then Vertigo Tango.
I would have liked to see more happen with that.
I had a lot more fun making the Vertigo Tango album than I did the Bridges album,
to be honest with you.
Probably the setting, because Bridges was basically done out of Toronto,
a place we were always, but Vertigo Tango was recorded in Monmouth, Wales,
at Rockfield Studios, the same place that Queen did their Bohemian Rhapsody and so forth.
So it had a lot of history and a lot of fun behind it.
And, you know, that was our last album for a long time, too.
So it would have been nice to have a little more life out of it,
but it's come around again, so it's all good.
Yeah.
Gord, this is from Andrew Ward.
He wants to know, how are your French lessons going?
French lessons?
I guess last time you were on, Gord, I think...
We must do some backstory here.
Yeah, I think last time you were on Toronto Mic,
you mentioned you were taking French lessons.
I don't think so.
No?
There must be an in-joke here or something.
I'm not kidding.
No, I thought that you must have dropped a hint
that you were going to learn French or something
when you were on my show.
No, maybe Italian because I've been going to Italy a lot.
That would make more sense.
Italian, not French.
Okay, well, Andrew Ward's got some explaining to do here.
Yeah. It's okay. explaining to do here. Yeah.
It's okay.
It's another language, whatever.
It's always good to learn another language.
Let me just find out here.
Okay.
So let's catch up on some of the Spoons thing.
And then I just need a very little, a little like Gordon Sandy,
like linear history here.
But I'll kind of extract that from you.
But can we talk about some of the new Spoons CDs?
Well, CDs, you know, I guess, are they CDs anymore?
They probably are.
But tell me, like, everything.
Because I understand there's a Greatest Hits,
but then there's also a Tribute album.
So can you guys explain exactly what's going on
with Repeatable and Echoes and these albums.
Well, Sandy, why don't you tell them about Repeatable and I'll tell them about Echoes.
Okay, but I'm just going to step back to add another one to this.
In 2019, we put out a brand new album called New Day, New World, which is all brand new material.
So since 2019 till now, we've put out three collective recordings, call it albums, call it CDs, whatever.
So, yeah, we've been rather busy.
So, repeatable.
Can I put it up on the screen?
Yeah, please.
Yeah, absolutely.
Okay.
So, repeatable.
I don't know if it's very glary.
This is 40 years of our music. It's a compilation of everything starting from
1980 to 2020,
which would have completed New Day, New World.
Some of it's
our hits and some of it's songs
that a lot of our fans really liked
as well. It also came out on
double vinyl.
Every fan's dream is to have double vinyl
because it opens up too.
When you're a kid, I used to buy double vinyl
because it looked cool. I didn't even care what
the music was.
Can you open it up too?
Yeah, I can.
I'll be back in two seconds.
What I miss the most, what I like the least
about the digital era is that
we lost having that
tangible piece of media, like that cover
art.
Because even when,
even when the,
because cassettes weren't that good
because they were so small,
but CDs were still pretty good.
Like,
they weren't as good as the albums
and the vinyl.
But CDs still had that great space
for some artwork.
But it's pretty much gone
with the streaming.
Yeah.
Oh, here we go.
I'm going to do Vanna White here,
okay?
Okay, let's do it. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da hits like Nova Heart or Romantic Traffic or Old Emotions. They're not on there. Those aren't on there.
You're going to confuse everybody.
And people will say, well, why did it take so long?
Well, we were waiting for the long, we did put out our collectibles,
I think in mid-1995 of the stuff that was the early 80s,
but we didn't have Bridges Over Borders and Vertigo Tango.
We finally got the release from Anthem.
So that's how we were able to put this together.
So they were holding the Masters.
Was they being held hostage or what was the deal there?
I don't know that it was necessarily hostage.
I think it was more Anthem was selling their publishing
and a whole bunch of things were going on
because the label isn't quite the label as it was before
and trying to get a hold of the right person that could release it so uh last summer like a year ago this past
summer we met up with i did with peggy giacone who was in charge of publishing and so forth and
she was the one that was able to go in and say okay guys let's do this they're like they need
to do this now so okay amazing now so okay to be clear here this is uh
repeatable we're gonna get to echoes in a minute because echo sounds amazing too but
this is repeatable and this is an opportunity for me to just quickly get the timelines because i
actually a couple of weeks ago i had my uh first conversation with rob pruse and very interesting
lots of spoons chatter in that one.
But of course, he's not a founding member. So like the original spoons in Burlington,
tell us who are the original spoons?
And I'm just personally curious,
like where in the history,
like are you two a couple at this time?
Like maybe filming and all that.
Yeah, we met in high school um gourd played
sax i played trumpet and we kind of met that way and uh the band gourd was in at that time called
impulse um didn't have a bass player and during a trip to umprior ontario to play for another high
school there was two acoustic guitars and he said here play these root notes and I started playing the bass on the acoustic guitar and they he said we don't have a
bass player in our band do you want to play and it was like yeah you were 15 right you were 15 at
the time I was 15 at the time and uh so the first band was called Impulse it was a cover band and
then Gordon and I split off from um the cover band band Impulse to form Trist,
which was kind of like a proggy, what do you want to say?
Yeah, prog rock band.
Yeah, prog rock, you know, multi-changing chords, changing time signatures,
kind of a basement band because we were so self-indulged,
and we took the best of those bits with the keyboard player at that time brett wickens who was with us and uh formed spoons and with derrick ross out of high
school because all four of us were at eldershot high school then just as we got our record deal
with ready records to do stick figure neighborhood brett decided he wanted to go off to england and
be an artist and started designing art covers for albums
Rob Proust came on board
and it's funny you mentioned
maybe Rob was the original
in the recordings
okay in the recordings guys so he's on
all those big early hits but it's interesting
Sandy that you know when Gord
mentioned you were only 15 because Rob
was only 15 when he
joins you guys in flight like he's still he's very young at that point when Gord mentioned you were only 15 because Rob was only 15 when he joins
you guys in flight. Like he's still, he's very young at that point.
Like, uh,
Yeah. He saw us perform as, uh,
early spoons with Brett Wickens at the library, I think in Burlington.
And he was like, Oh man, I love this band, blah, blah, blah.
So we put a, when Brett was leaving,
we put a little newspaper clipping to, um,
in the newspaper and Rob called us.
And we, at first we were like, oh, he's only 15. Cause at that time, you know, we're like 18, 19, 20, right? He's so young now that's nothing. But no, it worked out great. You know,
he came out, he had all the parts, he had all these great sounds he was already accomplished
as a player. Cause he'd been taking piano lessons.
I don't know, he was in grade 12 piano or something.
Right. Yeah.
Yeah, unbelievable.
I pulled a clip of some CBC show where they were talking about this, you know, 15-year-old prodigy that was playing for the Spoons.
And it was very interesting stuff, for sure.
For sure.
Hey, okay, so before we get to Echoes, a moment to tell you guys that I think you're awesome.
Like every time I see,
and I've seen you guys quite a bit live the last decade.
And every time, I think there's some, you know,
ongoing jokes in the performance that it's, you know,
it's like a time machine back to the 80s.
And I'm just here to tell you, I love it.
Like, I think the songs hold up.
I think you guys are still great like you guys look
great but you sound great like
I just want to say thank you for all the music
man just so many great jams from
The Spoons
I think that's really
one of the best compliments people say now
you know we go see you guys it's not like late
in the 80s it's sort of
just music for any time you know
maybe it's because when Novahart came out,
it was really kind of wrong for its time too.
It was charting with Led Zeppelin, Queen, and ACDC
and that kind of stuff.
What is this weird song doing in the middle of all this?
And for that reason, it's endured.
It just still is kind of quirky, timeless, I guess, you know.
So that was my love letter to you.
Now, tell me about Echoes,
because Echoes is essentially a love letter
by artists for you guys.
And here's the cover.
Here's the cover, just real quick.
I've got it upside down.
There's the cover.
All the way with different doors leading to different possibilities.
Love it.
I think this is one of our proudest achievements.
It's all these different artists, mostly 80s bands from around the world,
mainly England, the U.S.
There's one from Australia.
Of course, lots of Canadians doing our songs their own way.
And the variety is unbelievable.
Like Galen doing ours, if he stripped down just piano.
And by the end of it, symphony with timpanis and strings.
To somebody from Marilyn Manson and the Prodigy doing Bridges Over Borders,
like scream all heavy metal rock.
Wow.
The variety is unbelievable.
We have Wedding in Rome, you know, did The Promise,
doing Romantic Traffic.
We brought some bands out of the woodwork, like Strangers bands,
who haven't done anything for a long time,
but they just came out with their own album doing one of our songs.
We have everybody in there, Glass glass tiger you know um a couple young
bands that i think we did allow two young bands on there because they understand and love the 80s
so much it's a band from la called felix in the foreshadow it did old emotions and it sounds more
80s than our original it sounds like house beats joy division and then a band from canada called
416 who did a song off Vertigo Tango record,
which we kind of forgot about.
It wasn't a big release or anything,
and it kind of makes us want to do the song again because they did it so well.
It's not called I've Been Here Before.
So yeah, I think there's 14 tracks on there,
and what we decided to do, which made it very, you know,
everybody was on board immediately,
is just say, you know, there's no way to pay all these people.
We put out all the profits to the Unison Fund, which
is supporting the Canadian
music industry during COVID. Right down to
crews, young bands, whatever,
wherever the money is needed.
Amazing. And because, Gord,
because you got a jet and I need some
private time with Sandy, we're going to kick out
another half an hour. Don't rush me.
I know, but we're going to be kicking out these five jams.
And I'm not,
like,
it's not like we just talk about these jams.
I'm going to play them.
So I don't know if you've heard of kick out the jam.
This is the 100th.
So you have 99 to catch up on you.
Okay,
Gord.
But maybe you can go listen to the Pete Fowler at some point.
The,
I start the jam.
I might let it go 40 to 60 seconds
depending on my mood, I guess.
I'll bring it down and then we
hear from you why you chose the jam.
We have a little back and forth. Maybe
Sandy wants to chime in.
Sounds cool.
I noticed, for example, there is
a band you're going to kick out, a song you're going to
kick out that you mentioned during your
description of the
tribute album that's out now. We'll also out a song you're going to kick out that you you mentioned during your uh description of the uh
the tribute album that that's out now uh so we'll also kind of revisit some of that and it's just
going to be a good good time here so okay and then you know if there's time left over you can
stick around for some of the sandy jams which uh absolutely so here's the big question for you gourd are you ready to kick out the jams i am ready let's do it The guitar solo
Happiness, more or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
On my mind
Happiness, coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever grow
And I know just where I am
But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn?
All the love I have is in my mind
But I'm a lucky man
With fire in my hands
Happening, something in my own place
Lucky man.
The Verve.
Talk to me, Gord.
Oh, man, I am a lucky man.
That's why I put this at the top of the list.
I mean, for so many reasons.
And when the 80s were over,
and I didn't just crawl into a hole.
I embraced a lot of the stuff that was happening in the 90s,
especially in Manchester Sound, you know,
the British stuff that was coming out.
And bands like The Verve, you know, were right up my alley.
I loved the way they structured songs,
and live, they taught me a lot.
I mean, watching Richard Ashcroft,
the way, even the beginning of the song
kind of took a long time to get going, right?
But we've done that to some of our smooth songs,
where we kind of did The Verve approach,
where we stretch things out and groove in certain parts
and build the momentum up and up and up.
Yeah, plus, I mean, I happened, and we just said it on the screen, I'm sorry, momentum up and up and up and um yeah plus i mean i happened to get married again in 2019
just before everything shut down congrats man congratulations that was in florence italy
talking about bitmeyer like italy and on the rooftop of overlooking the duomo in the city
of florence that was our main song
Lucky Man by The Verb
and it was such a beautiful moment
that's a beautiful city man
I was lucky enough
to get there for my honeymoon
going back I don't know
eight years or something
and that is like you know
you do your trip
your Italy trip
and you got these spots
and then it's like
Florence hits you
like smacks you in the head
you don't realize
how damn gorgeous
Florence is going to be every year now it's like it hits you, like smacks you in the head. You don't realize how damn gorgeous Florence is going to be.
Every year now, it's like,
it's one of the cultural centers of the world,
especially back in the Renaissance.
But even now, it's like, you know,
where we stay there in this little apartment
on the Arno River,
right beside it is a church,
this Santo, what's it called?
Santo Croce.
There's like the bones of Dante
and Michelangelo.
What the heck? It's's like the bones of dante and marco angelo what the heck you look in the
middle of of this and the museums and every corner is so full of history and a wonderful wonderful
place yeah so that song has a lot of you know like i say it's kind of i feel i associate myself
to him in that role you know like i'm such a lucky guy and musically how we've been able to endure
and still like 40 something years later people still care and doing
podcasts with us you know when we were younger going I don't think what about
you saying I don't think we thought we'd be doing this past the age of maybe 30
that was that was over the hill right exactly and and when when things kind of
dropped down in you know the 90s and music changed
and we were trying to figure other ways and avenues through music,
I thought, oh, well, it's going to be what it is.
And then there's this whole brand new surgence and a rebirth and a regrowth
that's been amazing to keep us going again and give new light to the music.
It's awesome.
Awesome first selection, Gord, and I love the
story. And one more thing about
Italy is that, in my humble opinion,
they make the best food.
Yes. If I had to eat one food
for the rest of my life, I've had that conversation.
I'm with you, man.
What's your favorite Italian dish?
Oh, man, I'm a big lasagna
guy, but you can't...
You're like me.
I'm happy with a good plate of spaghetti I don't even think it's fancy
maybe spaghetti and meatballs
when you're walking in Italy
I still remember
oh let's go get a gelato
let's go get a
margherita pizza or whatever
it's all good man
I could just live on that food
yeah well maybe we'll meet on the streets one time there we'll just have a pizza together
i am so there i am so there okay we got more jams this has been
a great start here let's kick out your second jam Hey kid, did you know today's 16 years ago it was you and I for the last time?
You and Gertie said with a smoke ring round your head you would see me on the other side
Come on and all you want more
Come on and open your door
After it all you'll find out
You were always one of us
Act like you don't remember
You said we'd live forever
Who do you think you're kidding?
You are only one of us inside You said we'd live forever Who do you think you're kidding?
You are only one of us inside When you come to mind
Disappear a thousand times
Keep me hanging on to the
One of Us by Liam Gallagher
I had to get one of the Gallagher brothers in there.
I was a huge Oasis fan.
Talk about bands that centered me, you know,
when the 80s I thought were over.
Great songwriters, you know, big presence.
They were bigger than life.
They liked to argue.
They were, you know,
I heard that they actually put an album out
that was a bestseller in England,
just their arguments on stage.
I love it.
It's so rock and roll.
That song kind of, it's Liam's song really about his brother leaving the band
and hoping that they would get back together.
And I learned something through this.
I always got the impression that Liam was the hooligan, you know,
the Manchester United soccer hooligan kind of thing.
Yeah.
And Noel was the, you know, the victim.
But as I've learned over time, it was really the other way around.
Liam was actually kind of, come on, let's get back together.
You know, let's make up.
I'm with you.
I'm with you that Noel's the holdout, but I do think Liam was the bully.
Well, yeah, I think he regrets it.
But, you know, another thing I learned, I used to think Noel was the musical genius.
He still is,
but I really learned
to respect Liam's stuff.
There's another song
called,
I don't know,
anyways,
I sort of forgot him
for a while
because I assumed
Noel was the superstar,
but Liam's got a lot
to offer
and more of a voice.
And the thing I,
another reason I picked
this song too
is it's,
especially doing
all these 80s tours,
or doing the Flock of Seagulls, nobody gets along anymore.
All the bands are broken up, they hate each other, they have a passion.
Sometimes they're still in the same band and don't talk, but a lot of times there's only one guy left
because the other person in the band, they couldn't stand each other.
And what a shame, you know? And you look at us with The Spoons,
Sandy and I have stuck through thick and thin since, you know, 1980. there's been ups and downs but we got through it right it's a shame
that some of these guys can't just you know just stick together yeah i mean yeah go ahead sandy
because i'm gonna ask if there was ever a moment like when you guys were like i can't i need a break from this other
individual in my life since i was a teenager like this guy um you know to me the whole time with the
spoons it's kind of like we're married to the band it's it's kind of like an ongoing relationship
and i don't understand when bands start arguing about publishing and they don't get along with each other and they have all these tips. It's like everyone has their
personality and it's the personality that made the band what it was. So why, you know, I don't know.
I don't understand it, to be honest, just like Gord. I don't understand it because if you love
something and you're passionate about it and it's working, why not keep it going?
Find a way.
Find a balance.
And with your band, there's only two essential members.
Is that fair to say?
As long as there's a Gord and a Sandy, there's a Spoons?
Yeah, I would say so.
Wouldn't you, Gord?
Yeah, I think so.
I guess nothing disrespectful because I like all the people that we have and I love the band we have now.
But I also know Rob and Derek.
That was magical.
We never recreate that again.
And with Steve and Scott McDonald, who's now back in the band again,
which is great to have that opportunity.
All the people that we've had through the years, they're all great.
It's just, as long as there's a core that sticks together, you know,
and you can't even get that these days, you know.
I see all these bands and, all these bands on these 80s tours
like, where's the other important person?
Sometimes even the main singer isn't there.
Gord, you can see
the Beach Boys and it's just Mike Love
and a bunch of guys.
You know what I mean?
I think there's a couple of bands
out there that have no original members.
Like Chicago, right?
Chicago has a Canadian guy now singing.
Saterra's gone.
I don't care how great the singer is.
If the lead singer isn't there, then what?
Or the Guess Who.
Go see the Guess Who and you'll be like,
I'm trying to guess who these people are.
That's a good way of wrapping that one up.
Yeah.
All right. Let's kick out
your third jam. One, two, one, two, three
Hey, hey, hey, hey Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Wake up kids, we got the dreamers disease
The age of 14, they got you down on your knees
Sobs, a lie, we're busy still saying please
Bread, no meat, but when you're down, ain't you afraid?
Every night, a smash of Mercedes Benz
First we run, and then we laugh till we cry
But when the night is falling
You cannot find the light
You feel your dreams are dying
Hold tight
You got the music in you
Don't let go
You got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through Don't give up You got a reason to live New Radicals, you get what you give.
Oh, man. New Radicals, you get what you give. the early spinnaker step is very complex it takes on like our symphonies i think it has like 12 chords in it or something it's like an opera right and i was so impressed by bands like the verb as well you can just stretch it out and make so much get so much emotion out of just very little
musically but push it to the limit right um so this is one of those bands is this a 90s i think
i'm not sure i believe this is 90s yes yeah i kind of saved the day for me there's life after a new wave
I don't know what else I can say about this thing
every time I hear it
there's this energy and positivity about it
and this sort of like taking the old Beatles
message you know you get what you give
what's the line from the Beatles song
the love you make
is equal to the love you take
the end?
Yeah, it's the same.
It's the same pretty well.
Yeah, it's kind of like...
And, yeah, I don't know.
I just...
This song is one of those
simple songs
like an anthem
for the 90s for me.
Now, Sandy,
big question I asked Gord
when he was on
a few years ago
is I asked him,
is it Spoons
or The Spoons?
And I know
I won't reveal Gord's answer, but what is your answer to that question?
Well, it is spoons, but in the context of speaking, I'm going to go see spoons.
It doesn't sound quite, people do it now, but back in the day, proper English, I'm going to go see the spoons.
And it was, we got, came up with a name around the same time of thinking of, like,
the doors, the stones, you know, that kind of thing.
So there was da-da there.
But we decided, well, let's not put the da there.
But to avid fans, they'll jump all over you when you say The Spoons.
To me, I was never that upset about it, you know.
The da was always small in comparison to spoons what about
you gourd i i don't know i said uh last time we talked it was is the same as sandy i was gonna say
it's actually dust spoons dust yes oh like dust boot yeah exactly dust spoons in germany yeah
so your answer last time gourd was that you seem to not care. You were completely indifferent to spoons or the spoons.
But if I'm going to be like...
It's funny you mention that because we have the same argument with Black Seagulls.
When they forget what a Black Seagulls, sometimes people get upset.
What is it?
One little...
And now they joke it should be a, like A-E-H, like a Canadian.
Fun story.
A Black Seagulls.
A Black Seagulls.
At some point, I guess I tweeted
or I can't remember if it was a podcast
or a tweet, but I called a
certain Canadian band from Kingston, Ontario.
I called them Tragically Hip,
I think, and I got a note from
manager Jay Gold
that it's always
the Tragically Hip.
And, you know, so...
I understand your trepidation, man.
Yes.
Yeah, so it's not Tragically Hip.
There's no lawsuits coming, don't worry.
It is the, you never know.
You never know.
But love that new Radicals jam.
I haven't heard it in a while.
It took me right back.
And before I kick out your fourth jam, Gord,
I just want to, it's kind of a funny little thing,
is that we did bring up
perry lefkoe because he's a he's a huge spoons fan uh with a particular admiration for sandy horn
but when i had perry here because perry's big in the horse racing world and i produce a horse
racing podcast for peter growth gross called down the stretch so perry came over we chatted about
this and that and i played this song for perry for perry lefkoe and perry lefkoe was openly weeping here at the studio table because of this song and how it
affects him so which song my next jam the one that's coming up next so because i know perry
will listen because you know sandy's on the program uh perry just get a tissue or something
before you listen to the fourth jam here from Gord Depp. If you need a friend
Don't look to a stranger
You know in the end
I'll always be there
And when you're in doubt
And when you're in danger
Take a look all around
And I'll be there
I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the ride
I know they don't of the ride I promise
I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be
But if you wait around a while
I'll make you fall for me
I promise
I promise you I will
When your day is through
You know what they say, when in Rome
My only 80s choice on this whole list, which probably people are surprised about
Absolutely, now tell us, as if we need an explanation, why The Promise?
A bunch of things, first of all, I think it's one of the best
80s songs written.
Also,
doing the last 80s tour
of the Flag of Seagulls,
I get to know all these people.
And Clive and Andrew
of Wine and Rome
became some of my best friends
on those tours.
And I would tell them
every night,
you know,
I like Space Age,
love song,
and I rap,
but I say,
that's like the best song
of the whole concert.
We have like 15 bands.
There's something about that song, it's an epic,
beautiful song and you know, it really got its second life because of Napoleon Dynamite.
It was in that movie and it's funny when now we talk about it, it's just
supposed to show you how these people that were like, you know, people that I
looked up to, like idols, like oh, in Rome, that song, which is so beautiful.
And now we're all like friends backstage at these concerts.
And now coming up to Toronto, Sandy's got the No Clive as well.
They're like our friends and peers now.
We know we're in constant contact working on projects.
And he's a big new fan of Spoons.
He's helping get the word out about us down there and A-Land. And he actually, I think
he put a note on the
Echoes, because he does a version of Magic Traffic, and he
said, I never knew about these guys back
in the 80s. You know, I was so busy
in my own world, and now I know, and
I want everybody to know about them.
And it's kind of another
full, comfortable, circle moment,
you know, when that happens all this good later,
that you're hanging out
with these people
that you looked up to
and
is Perry
crying yet?
Oh for sure
Perry
Anybody who meets
Clive
he's such a wonderful guy
so is Andrew
but he's over in England
right now
but we had our
40th anniversary show
a couple weeks ago
at the Amo Combo
and for the release
of Echoes and stuff Clive came and joined us on stage for Tell No Lies.
I mean, for Romantic Tropic.
And they also did a new song of ours from the New Day album called Landing Lights.
So they had two songs on this CD.
And they actually added that song to their set list live because they say this is pure when in Rome.
So it's pretty cool.
Very cool.
Now, I got a question.
When you're doing this with a flock of seagulls
and you're doing this 80s collective tour thing,
is there any chance you would ever be able to perform a spoon song?
I don't think so.
What about up here?
What about if you go
north of the 49th parallel or
whatever? We've done some shows together.
We did a little mini tour with Flock, Spoons
and Men Without Hats.
Of course, we do them there. There are more coming.
It just keeps getting postponed because of
COVID. We're supposed to have been back
at the casinos this fall. It didn't happen.
Again, the second time it was postponed.
So yeah, there's still more of those in the works. But I don't know
if there were enough locks that went to do that.
I don't think so. But it's funny
because of this and people
getting to know about us in America
I get people quite often now
doing a flock show and somebody goes
Spoons! Play Nova Heart!
Right, I can imagine.
And my sister looks at me quietly.
It wouldn't be out of place like if they were to do Nova
Heart like it would fit right in here with these
other big you know I Ran and
The Promise and everything
they actually came out within months of each other
those two songs I Ran and
Nova Heart and it's funny
Mike is very
quiet very judgmental
very jaded he's not seen it all
and he doesn't really get
impressed by anything and i remember near the beginning of touring with him he's got this
headphones on and he takes them off in front of everybody in the bus goes that's that gobar song
that's a really good song and he looked and he pointed at me in front of everybody's just and i
know who wrote it that's a big deal right it's like, right? And he doesn't get impressed
by anything, really.
Let's put it this way.
When Lawrence Gowan is singing for
Styx and you catch him on tour,
there's a Gowan
song or two in the mix, right?
Yeah, you're right. But he's the lead singer
in the band. He's got a bit more pull.
I'm just the guitar player.
If I ever take over Mike's part, I would definitely sing Spoon's song.
Gotcha.
So you mentioned that's the only 80s jam
you're kicking out here today. There's one
more jam to go and it's
pretty damn recent for a guy who
you know, whenever I see
Well, I just throw a surprise in there.
Well, let's
hear it We couldn't turn around
Till we were upside down
I'll be the bad guy now
But no, I ain't too proud
I couldn't be there
Even without time
You don't believe it
We do this every time
Seasons change and our love went cold
Feed the flag cause we can't let it go
Run away but we're running in circles
Run away, run away
I dare you to do something
I'm waiting on you Awesome. Some Post Malone circles.
I'm surprised at some people, you know, but good jam.
And the thing is, I never thought I was surprised at myself that I would like something by somebody like Post Malone.
But he's gotten a bit more mainstream in the meantime.
But again, guess where I heard this song?
In Florence.
Florence.
Yes, the year that we got married.
That kind of became our song of being there.
Imagine walking at night in Florence with that sort of song in your head.
It was just the lights and the wine and the people and the music.
It was just a really good groove.
Circles can be taken different ways.
I'm looking at coming full circle.
We've said that a few times in this podcast.
Yeah, I was just surprised
I would like something of that.
In the meantime, I've learned that
from other people. There's so many great artists
that, look at the
weekend. It's so damn 80s now,
it's unbelievable, right?
At the beginning,
I wasn't that really drawn
to his old stuff, you know?
So it's great to find newer things
that are really popular
in the mainstream,
which as a spoon,
we always kind of avoid it.
We always try to be different
and, you know,
we started with prog rock.
I mean, how out there can you be?
So it's kind of fun to
be drawn in by some of those things and really yeah i mean it's just it's just a good pop song
it's a great great pop song and and for me it was the theme of that year 2019 before it all
crashed to hell really music i'm never it never ceases to impress on me
that how and when a song hits you
determines so much of how you carry that song
for the rest of your life.
If a song hits you at the right time,
I don't know, maybe you're a teenager
or you're in Florence and you're walking the streets
and you hear a song,
just the way it hits you, you carry that.
And then forever when you hear the song,
you're back in a time machine at that moment and place in your your life very true very
true actually that song in the the first one we played on the second one the one by liam gallagher
were the two songs there they're playing on the italian music channel that all over and over and
interspersed with local stuff right and both And both of those songs, even the Liam one,
was different than I ever expected from him, you know?
So there was a song by somebody I knew,
but hit me left field for an artist that I never liked before, really,
or paid attention to, grabbing my attention, going,
wow, he's got a whole other side to him.
So I should be less closed-minded about artists
that maybe I don't think I like, you know?
Right.
I will say I did have the pleasure of kicking out the jams
of Andy Kim
and he also
threw that Post Malone curveball at me
there was a not that jam but a different
Post Malone song was on his 10 jams
and I don't think there's a lot of people who think
Andy Kim is out there listening to Post Malone
but no I thought it was going to be 5
spoon songs.
Was it Hollywood is Bleeding or something like that?
He kicked out ten
by the way because you guys split your ten.
Five each but normally people
get ten. So Gord, here's what we're going to do.
You can linger as long as you want, man.
You're Gord Depp of Spoon.
I've got a few minutes.
How do I leave gracefully? I don't look just sort of...
Here, let me turn off the bell here.
That's a good point. I'm going to turn off the bell,
which means when you leave,
I won't hear it. You'll just be gone, and
we'll start talking trash about
you. Okay.
Gosh, I have to leave in three minutes anyway,
so I might as well probably say goodbye
now. Farewell to you, my friend. This has been a lot of fun.
Later, Hosen. Later, Hosen.
Later, Hosen.
Yeah, I'll watch the rest of the show.
I think I may know what some of Sandy's jams are.
I know her musical history.
Lucky for you, I'm...
I'm sure there's some surprises in there.
Lucky for you, I'm recording everything,
so you can catch it later.
Okay, Gordon, thanks for this, buddy.
You were awesome.
Thank you, Mike.
Peace and love.
Take care.
Talk soon.
Bye.
See ya.
I was waiting for the ghost so i can tell you he ran
he ran so far away love it okay sandy finally we got rid of that guy we're all alone this is
well i wanted to do the promise as well oh and i saw his list go through the email and i went
ah you dog he took it from you okay too. Too bad too. And I just want to,
you know, I'm playing bass for him for, um, uh, uh,
Clive and Andrew when they come through town as Farrington and man in May.
No, tell, go. Yeah, no, tell me this is, I'm here to be educated. Uh,
yeah. Um, yeah.
So when Clive was here at our release party at the Al Macombo and he did Romantic Traffic, his version, I played bass for it.
And then he did a show the next day.
It was kind of like a small intimate show just to collect a few more funds
because they're coming across the border and everything.
And he said, well, do you want to play bass for us when we come back in May?
So I'm going to be applying bass for them.
That's super damn cool.
If Gord can do flock, I can do Farrington to man.
For sure.
For sure.
Absolutely.
And quick note to young Mike.
This is sometimes I'll speak to future Mike,
which is like Mike in several years.
But right now I'm going to speak to young Mike.
I just want young Mike to know that he's currently having
a one-on-one conversation with Sandy Horn. I think that would blow young Mike's mind. mike i just want young mike to know that he's currently having a one-on-one conversation with sandy horn i think that would blow young mike's mind so i just want to
so it's happening now young mike it is happening right now okay so sandy yeah quick before we get
to your first jam and i can't wait to hear you talk about these five songs uh i want to let you
know that when i do eventually uh meet you in person and get you over to the studio,
and hopefully this happens sooner rather than later, I will have some gifts for you.
So I'm going to quickly just tell you some of the items that you will get and then an item that you will still get.
Even though you're in Guelph, you're going to get an item here.
But I want to let you know when you're here in person, I have fresh craft beer for you from Great Lakes Brewery.
Awesome.
in person, I have fresh craft beer for you from Great Lakes Brewery.
Awesome!
And, because we talked so much about
Italian food today, you're
going to get a delicious lasagna,
frozen lasagna from Palma
Pasta. You're
going to love it. And they're in Mississauga and Oakville.
So, Great Lakes, you can get them at LCBOs
and you can get the retail store
here in Southern Etobicoke. You can get
go to palmapasta.com.
They're in Mississauga. And of course, they're in Oakville as well. I have a sticker you sticker
courtesy. Well, it's a Toronto Mike sticker courtesy of sticker you. It's just a great
quality sticker. I'll have and I don't know if I'll still have this when you visit. But
if you were here today, I would have a wireless speaker for you,
a Moneris branded speaker. So you could listen to the Yes, We Are Open podcast, which is hosted by FOTM Al Grego. This is really inspiring for like small business owners and entrepreneurs like
myself. If you go to yesweareopenpodcast.com, you can see some subscription links there and you can see some subscription list links there and you can check it out and get inspired by Al
and the good people at Mineris Ridley Funeral Home much love to them they've been great supporters
of the program they've been pillars of this community since 1921 here in New Toronto so
shout out to Brad and the good people there and And what do I have? I actually do have this for you.
So I'm going to send you an email, Sandy,
where you have a $75 digital gift card that you can use at ChefDrop.
So if you go to ChefDrop.ca,
there's all these amazing restaurants and chefs.
And then you get these pre-prepared meal kits shipped directly to your door.
So they will deliver to Guelph because you're Southern Ontario.
So 75 bucks to enjoy.
And listeners can save $50 right now at chefdrop.ca
when they use the promo code FOTM50.
Sandy Horn, are you ready to kick out the jams?
Sure.
Sounds like a plan. Yeah.
There ain't no gold in this river
That I've been washing my hands in forever.
I know there is hope in these waters.
But I can't bring myself to swim when I am drowning in this silence, baby.
Let me in.
Go easy on me, baby.
I was still a child.
Didn't get the chance to Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me
Woo!
Oh. Adele's Easy On Me.
From her new album, 30.
Wow, this song feels like it's everywhere,
but it's still not one of those,
you're not sick of hearing it.
It's just, what vocals from this woman.
Holy moly.
Oh, yeah.
And the story behind her. She's just, she's velvet to me. You know, holy moly. Oh, yeah, and the story behind her.
She's just, she's velvet to me.
You know, she really is.
And her story, her life story, her accomplishments.
I mean, she came from low to middle class family,
struggling all the way.
And just, you know, she's recently gone through some hard times herself,
and that's what this
album came out of.
I don't know if you recently saw her live performance.
That's currently on Crave,
I believe with Oprah Winfrey.
I saw it.
I saw it because I was just taken away at the,
just where she was.
Like she sounds great because she's got the best vocals in the world,
but just that scene, you know, the Hollywood sign and vocals in the world, but, uh, just that scene,
you know,
the Hollywood sign and everything in the background,
it was just beautiful.
Yeah.
I can't say enough about the woman.
She's brilliant.
And she's only 30.
It's like,
well,
where did you come from?
Yeah.
Well,
where did she come from?
Like,
like,
you know,
we've been listening to,
you know,
you know,
there's great vocalists out there,
you know,
from,
you know,
Aretha Franklin to, uh, you name it, Celine Dion, whatever. There's been great vocalists, you know, there's great vocalists out there, you know, from Aretha Franklin to you name it, Celine Dion, whatever.
There's been great vocalists, Whitney Houston, but no one sounds like this.
This is such a unique, special voice that Adele was gifted with.
And I think it's because she sings from her heart.
Like there is not a time where one note doesn't come that it's not from her heart.
Well, I sing from my heart
sandy i don't sound like this i sing from my heart too but she's like got a depth that i don't know
we haven't been able to reach yet i'm still working on it oh my goodness and you know my
daughter's a singer as well and she can do this adele like there's no tomorrow like i go what really yeah i should put
her in front of it yeah she she hasn't done much original material she's a nurse right now but uh
you know she does music on the side and it's like come on let's let's get you in the studio let's do
she's like yeah i've watched your roller coaster ride and i don't know if i really want to get on
it you know but it's like well well, you've got the talent.
And I mean, yeah, she saw the rollercoaster ride,
but the highs on that rollercoaster make the lows well worth it, right?
Like that's sort of the.
Well, yeah, I know that,
but she doesn't know that because she didn't live those in the eighties,
right? She wasn't around.
She wasn't around for the, uh, the stitches ads.
No. Yeah.
Blue notes.
Right. Oh my God.
Thrifties. Was it thrifties? Maxwell tape okay yeah okay well i'm yeah it all blurs together for me i i just remember uh you guys for a while there you
guys were everywhere it was the uh the look because you had that combination of these great
like new wave jams but uh aesthetically pleasing uh leads there you go you and gourd were a good
looking duo you know it all came together here you still are i'm not suggesting anything else but uh
wow okay so no i'm gonna say no wonder niles uh wants to produce you guys okay
so let's kick out jam number two. Stranger Strange lies and strange love
Stranger
That's how my love goes
Stranger
Will you give it to me?
Will you take the pain?
I will give to you
Again and again
Will you return it? We'll be right back. I give in to sin
Because you had to make this life livable
But when you think I'm bad enough
From a sea of love
I'll take more than another river full
Yes, and I'll you get on the fire
I'll make your heart smile
Stranger, stranger
Stranger, stranger
That's how my love goes
Stranger, you give it to me
When you take the pain
Sorry, I'm lost in this great jam here, Strange Love.
You gotta love the post-mode, right?
Yeah.
I mean, they don't go wrong really anywhere.
I mean, I just kind of picked one of my favorites, to be honest with you,
because, I mean, they kind of staple the 80s to me.
I mean, we're part of the 80s as well,
but they're still magic today.
They still know how to pull it all together.
They've been doing what we've been doing
and the appreciation for their music.
And their keyboard lines are amazing.
You know, so strong.
Just love these guys.
Sandy, what was your relationship like
with the CFNY 102.1,
the radio station that would have been playing the most spoons,
I suppose, back in the 80s there?
Well, it was Dave Marsden, actually, that was our big follower.
And the thing was, we met Dave Marsden before the spoons when
Gordon and I were in impulse and he was judging the Battle of the Bands and we
were just brand new I mean I was I don't only been playing bass for eight weeks
when we won the Battle of the Bands and he came up to us and said you know this
this band's really unique I'm gonna be watching for you guys. And sure enough, when
Stick Figure Neighborhood came out,
they were the first ones to play it.
And so that's a strange love we had with CFNY.
I mean, and Dave Marzen, though,
he's not with CFNY anymore.
You know, he's still got his own thing going on
and is still a big, huge supporter of us.
And whythespirit..com we got to shout it
out because yeah exactly he's an innovator i i got you know he's an fotm as well but he's a like
yourself now but he's an innovator and i've got so much time for david marsden i just think he's
tremendous and mars bar that's how we used to call him absolutely and you know him doing like him
judging like the battle the bands he's kind of channeling the old, the Dave Mickey, right?
He's Dave Mickey from the old 590 show.
But yeah.
And he came to see us catch our tour bus at Cell Towers,
right by where Gord lives.
And on our way to Culture Club, he was there.
He saw our Bon Voyage and was there and and you know uh video
not videotaping but taping it on radio for the station and you gotta be right in the scene right
gotta be right there it's funny gordon mentioned you guys were in like a prog rock band before uh
yeah so it's what was the name again of the prog rock band? Trist. Trist. Okay. Because Marsden gets credit,
of course,
from a little,
another little Toronto band known as Rush.
Because he was breaking them on Chum,
on 104.5 there,
Chum FM.
Marsden was playing them.
And of course,
then the song Spirit of Radio is sort of an homage to,
to David Marsden.
Exactly.
It's awesome.
Love it.
Okay, are there any other jocks you remember chatting with
at 102.1 back in the day besides Mars Bar?
Oh, well, there's May Potts.
There's, oh, God,
Liberl Jive, Beverly Hills.
We're still really good friends with them.
Oh, wasn't the guys from Humble and Fred? Earl Jive, Beverly Hills. And we're still really good friends with them. Oh.
Wasn't the guys from Humble and Fred?
Weren't they also part of it?
So they started in 89, so post-Marsden.
But they were still part of it.
Oh, sure.
Yeah, sure.
Fred, of course, was part of the Pete and Geet show.
That's it.
Yeah.
So he was doing sports for Pete and Geet.
So he was there throughout the 80s,
but Howard showed up in 89.
In fact, a little birdie tells me,
that's code for I'm the guy who booked it.
I produce Humble and Fred,
so you're on next week.
I know.
So get ready.
Plug, little plug.
Yeah. So, yeah.
Do you know what day next week? 14 14th that sounds about right i'm gonna pop over to my little i have a little booking
calendar we share me and the guys i dropped names in there you are actually on the fourth
yeah the 14th that's right tuesday morning you'll be on humble and fred so uh there you
go that'll be like the the sequel to this one here okay okay here's your
third jam My love is like footsteps in the snow, baby
I follow you everywhere you go baby the palest light has come to wake you but you will
never realize that i inspire the dreams that guide you, baby. I follow the winds that bring the cold, baby. A light of fire in your
soul, baby. The light is touch, I feel this falling falling My love may be invisible
But I inspire the dreams that guide you
Baby
You're half a world away
But in my mind I whisper every single word you say
And before you sleep on my wing
You'll pray to me, you're a lucky star
You're singing satellite You're singing satellite
You're singing satellite
You're satellite
You're singing satellite
You're half a world away
So pretty.
I'm ashamed to say I'm not familiar.
Please tell me what is this great jam?
Oh, this is Above and Beyond.
This is a band to me that if we were back in the day,
I would have wished Gordon and I could have done this
because some of their other tracks,
I don't know them that well personally,
but the male vocalist will come in
and he will do harmonizing and they're back and forth.
And that was kind of how I had hoped and pictured eventually our music would go, but it hasn't.
So whatever, I'll do my own thing.
This is the way they put it all together.
And they're more electronic stuff.
You can see why the acoustic and the um they just put out an of course
acoustic album with the whole orchestra which with all their material it's just like amazing
what's that light yeah sounds so what's the name of the song satellite satellite stealing time
stealing time okay yeah very nice from the album called Acoustic by Above and Beyond. Okay, amazing.
Okay, now when you're in, with you and Gord through all the years,
you know, you've been, you know, a band together.
What is that like when one of you wants to kind of go one way
and the other wants to stay going this way?
Like, what are the creative differences like?
Is it just one of those things you you iron out for the sake of you
know longevity or like because it sounds i would i would say so because i mean i have my own ideas
and then of course like well you have your own studio then go do your that's what you want to do
but i don't hear it that way i hear it this way so i guess that's where your bands split up and they
go their own way and do their own thing and you don't hear from them anymore or you find a way to work together.
So Gordon and I work together and I'm currently working on my own project on
the side.
So gotcha.
And I'm hoping to have it released in the spring.
Okay.
Well maybe that's the excuse we make to get you,
get you over here is when that album's coming out.
Okay.
Done deal.
And then you get your lasagna and your beer and everything like that.
So.
Okay.
It's incentive to get it finished.
In fact,
I was,
I was working in the studio just before this interview and my husband's
currently working on the track right now that we're working on.
And I said,
well,
I'll be back in an hour or so or two or three or four or five.
We'll see how it goes.
That's funny.
All right.
Well, we're actually in the homestretch here because your penultimate jam,
and it's not very long, your penultimate jam is coming up.
Here we go.
Here we go.
Fly me to the moon.
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words
Hold my hand
In other words
Baby kiss me
Fill my heart with song
And let me sing forevermore
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore.
In other words, please be true.
In other words, I love you.
The chairman of the board.
Exactly.
I mean, really.
I go back with Frank for a reason because of my father.
You know, my dad was a big fan of many artists of that day.
And, you know, Frank Sinatra.
And in my early childhood, I remember my dad used to have a record player. And he'd stack like five records and they Sinatra. And in my early childhood, I remember my dad used to have
a record player and he'd stack like five records
and they keep dropping.
And I could hear them from my room when they were dropping
and they were in a certain order
and then he'd pick them up and flip them.
So that's where you learn how albums all flow together.
So you'd know what every single song next was coming.
And I'd always know when this was coming
and it was usually after I had gone to bed and I'm supposed to be sleeping and
I get out of bed and I danced around my room to that song.
And I chose that song not only because it's a great song,
but my father recently passed away.
I'm sorry.
In February.
And it's a tribute to him.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I wonder now if there are kids,
no, I guess they'd be adults now.
Adults are kicking out jams,
like, you know, that old emotion or something.
And they're saying, this reminds me of my dad
because he was a huge Spoons fan.
So that's where we're at now.
So that's beautiful.
And that's another thing about music.
We talked earlier with Gord, like, about how music takes you back to that moment because it hits you at the
right time in the right place and it's a great way to remember somebody who's no longer with you
you'll every time you hear old blue eyes you'll think of your dad exactly exactly all right are
you ready for your final jam sandy yeah it's not really a jam but it's kind of a dark song but it's
a beautiful song okay not a jam maybe you're right maybe this is more of a beverage here let's get it
going yeah i lost myself on a cool damp night gave myself in that misty light Was hypnotized by strange delight
Under a lilac tree
I made wine from the lilac tree
Put my heart in its recipe
It makes me see what I want to see
Be what I want to be
When I think more than I want to think
Do things I never should do
I drink much more than I
ought to drink
because
it brings me
back you
you
lilac wine is sweet and heady like my love
Lilac wine
I feel unsteady
Like my love
Listen to me
I cannot see clearly
Isn't that he coming to me
Nearly here
Wow.
Yeah.
Isn't she amazing?
Have you seen the documentary
Whatever Happened to Nina Simone?
No, I haven't.
Where did you find that?
Somewhere.
It was easy to find. I
feel like it was either, either Netflix or Crave. I get them confused. But one of those ones I have,
let's put it that way. But yeah, oh my gosh, seek it out. It's amazing. But this is a, this is lilac
wine from Nina Simone. Wow. Yeah. And it's again, it's the purity of the
voice and
the angst and the pain.
I know
it speaks of all of the
turmoil
that was going on for the Black
Nation of people that
was going on. But it's just
the feeling and then when the
pulsation and when the stand-up bass
comes in it's like a heartbeat and you can hear the pedal pulsing with it in the background because
the recording as brilliant as it is it wouldn't be done that way today you wouldn't hear all those
imperfections that makes it so beautiful and the piano you know it's probably got a lower end style
a mic on it so it's not getting the full essence of the piano.
It reminds me of something from, I don't know, gramophone days or something, you know, where the piano is just what it is.
And there might be slightly out of key.
It might be slightly out of tune.
But it's just got that sustain of eeriness and beauty.
And she just sings like, oh, I would love to do.
I've actually been trying to find a way to do my own version of this song.
But every time I get to a point, I'm like, no, still not.
I'm still not getting it.
So I can't do it till I reach it.
If I don't ever reach it, then I'm not supposed to do it.
Absolutely.
Beautiful choice there.
I'm not supposed to do it.
Absolutely.
Beautiful choice there.
If you look back at the catalog,
the entire Spoons catalog from 1980 to 2020 there,
what would you deem, like, what is the most, in your opinion,
what is the most important song Spoons ever recorded?
Oh, gosh.
Put you on the spot there.
Yeah, big time on the spot.
I know. On the way out, I thought I'd make it at least a, big time on the spot. I know.
On the way out, I thought I'd make it at least a little.
It was too easy.
I thought I'd make it at least a little awkward before I said goodbye.
I mean, you know, Nova Heart stands for so much too. I mean, what comes around goes around in the sense that Nova Heart,
as far as the lyrics go, stand up for today as they did 40 years ago.
You know know architects of
the world um you can read your books and live in your towns you know um but ultimately everything
comes from the heart right and then we did a remake of nova heart um called singularity and
it's more of a dubstep version that gave it new life, and it picked up a whole new era of people.
But just the lyrics of how that all puts together still sounds the same,
that life just keeps on going,
and we just won't let the big corporates always have us.
We'll always have our hearts.
They can take everything else from us,
but they can't take our heart, and they can't take our spirit, right?
And then with the new album, New Day, New World, I love the track, New Day, New World, just the way it builds.
If you ever get a chance, I don't know if you had a chance to listen to New Day, New World, the actual song, not the whole album.
It's just, it's a new day and it's a new world.
And then at the very end, it's, and we start again.
You know?
So I'd say those two to me hit a chord for me.
Now the greatest hits album, which is a covering 1980 to 2020, it's called a repeatable that's available.
So if somebody right now listening is like,
I got to get my mitts on that. How would you like,
like how would you Sandy Horn like them to buy it?
Well,
if you're not a download,
uh,
iTunes,
Spotify,
and you want a physical copy,
if you want the vinyl or the CD and you'd like it signed,
cause that's what Gordon and I can do for you.
Right.
If you go to,
uh,
through our website,
which is,
uh,
spoons,
music.com.
Uh,
you can purchase it
through there, and anybody purchasing can get
that and Echoes and a lot of our other
product as well.
And we will sign it.
That sounds cool, so go to spoonsmusic.com
to hook that up. Sounds amazing.
Support your artists that you
love. Not everybody's got the
streaming numbers of
The Weeknd or Drake, so let's...
Yeah. And Echoes,
of course, that's the tribute album,
if you will, the Spoons music
recreated by artists
the world over. Sandy,
I love this thoroughly, and I
can't wait till your next Toronto Mic'd
appearance. Thanks so much for doing this.
Thank you.
And that... That brings us to the end of our 961st show.
You can follow me on Twitter.
I'm at Toronto Mike.
I know the spoons are at, I know that there is the, is in the handle.
So it's the spoons.
That ends the argument right there.
The spoons is how you follow The Spoons on Twitter.
But Sandy, are you personally on social media?
Yeah, I'm just on Facebook right now.
I'm working on a whole bunch of other platforms.
I know, I'm really bad.
That's okay.
Yeah, I know.
That's cool.
Okay, so you can find Sandy Horn on Facebook though.
Yeah, and Spoons on Facebook, Instagram, iTunes, Twitter, the whole nine yards.
Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're at
Great Lakes Beer. Chef Drop is at
Get Chef Drop.
Moneris is at Moneris.
McKay's CEO Forums, they're at McKay's
CEO Forums. They have a great podcast
called the CEO Edge Podcast
and I put the most recent
episode every week on TorontoMike.com.
Palma Pasta is at
Palma Pasta. Sticker pasta is at Palma pasta.
Sticker.
You is that sticker?
You Ridley funeral home.
They're at Ridley FH.
Uh,
and I will see you all Thursday when Mark wise blood of 1236 makes his monthly appearance. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone.
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