Listen to the City

Listen To The City is a 1984 dramatic film directed by Ron Mann. Normally a documentary filmmaker, this is Mann's only fictional feature. The film stars P.J. Soles, Jim Carroll, Sandy Horne and Michael Glassbourg. Featured in small or cameo roles are such notable Canadian counter-culture figures as poets bp nichol and Barry Callaghan, politician Jack Layton, playwright Sky Gilbert and radio broadcasters Pete Griffin and Geets Romo.

The movie's score was by Gordon Deppe, who also has a small role in the film. Both Deppe and the film's co-star Sandy Horne were members of the Canadian band Spoons, who had placed several songs on the Canadian pop charts prior to this film's release. Two Spoons songs included on the film's soundtrack -- "Tell No Lies" and "Romantic Traffic" — would become substantial hits in Canada.

Plot

Hupar (Jim Carroll) wakes up from a 20-year coma. Disoriented, he soon meets Arete, a young poet (Sandy Horne) and Sophis, a TV newswoman (P.J. Soles). Together, the three team up to expose corporate crime in a crumbling cityscape of the very near future.

Cast

• P.J. Soles as Sophia
• Jim Carroll as Hupar
• Sandy Horne as Arete
• Michael Glassbourg as Goodman
• Sky Gilbert as Shadow
• Jack Layton as patient
• bp nichol as labour department head

Soundtrack

The Listen To The City soundtrack album consists of the primarily instrumental score for the film, and was written, produced and performed by Gordon Deppe of the band Spoons. On two tracks, Deppe is joined by Sandy Horne as co-performer and co-composer; Horne co-starred in the film and was also a member of Spoons. Rob Preuss, also of Spoons, assists on these two tracks.

The album's final two tracks are actually performed by (and credited to) the Spoons as a whole. These songs, "Tell No Lies" and "Romantic Traffic", were both issued as singles in Canada. Both charted and are among the band's most well-known hits in that country.

The Listen To The City soundtrack was issued only on LP and cassette and has never been reissued in any format. However, the two Spoons tracks from this album were made available on various "best of" albums, as well as being included as bonus tracks on a CD reissue of the band's 1983 album Talkback. Later, a 2014 digital "30th anniversary" release of "Romantic Traffic"/"Tell No Lies" also included the two Deppe/Horne collaborative tracks as bonus material.

References

External links

• Listen to the City on IMDb