The new wave sound that emerged in the early 1980s was something that enveloped pop music and changed its direction forever.
Gordon Deppe, lead vocalist and guitarist of the newly-reunited band Spoons, knows the cultural and instrumental explosion of that scene all too well.
Fraught with synthesizers, digital instruments and the ever-prominent drum machine, the music of the Burlington, Ont.-based band was earmarked with radio hits like “Nova Heart” and “Romantic Traffic.”
Not showing any signs of slowing down, Spoons will play Wild Bill’s on May 11 as part of a Western Canadian tour.
Having opened for the likes of The Police, Culture Club and Simple Minds, Deppe and his band attribute some of their successes to early musical experimentation.
“I played saxophone in the high school band and that’s how I met Sandy (Horne) – our bassist,” Deppe said.
“She played trumpet in the high school band and we were side by side in the high school orchestra. Definitely writing for guitar and pop music and all of that began for me because of that, but it wasn’t until I got my first guitar when I was probably 10 years old that I really started writing music.”
In the thick of the ’80s, the new wave sound keyed on heavy use of a brand new instrument; the TR-808 drum machine.
“It was all happening then. All of those things were new tools,” Deppe added.
“When we put out ‘Nova Heart,’ our first big single, it had the drum machine with the hand-claps and that was a brand new thing. The 808 drum machine had that sound, and it’s still in bands’ music now. It’s pretty legendary, now. But, we caught a lot of sounds and new developments just as they were happening, and a lot of that was thanks to the new producers.”
In the realm of production, Deppe and his band were lucky enough to cross paths with a young Daniel Lanois who added his signature, atmospheric touches to the record Stick Figure Neighbourhood.
“He was just starting out then,” he said.
“He was already working with Brian Eno, but I don’t think he had done anything with U2 yet, and he had a very specific style and sound and so that was a pretty amazing thing.”
Deppe sees the timing of the Spoons’ radio success as something that would be very difficult to accomplish in today’s overcrowded musical marketplace.
“We had a full fledged record deal – we were pretty lucky. In those days, the word spread about us pretty quick and we didn’t even send demo tapes out, which is something you would have done in those days.
“It was all pretty hands on back then. In those days, you’d still take your 45 or your album with you to the radio station and they’d play it for the first time. I remember getting great reaction from callers when people would hear it.
“But yeah – you would just hear it on the radio and on AM radio, which was really big, and I remember the first time I was sitting at a stoplight and I heard the song playing in the car next to me. That was a cool feeling.”
The sentimental sound of the Spoons and other major new wave artists encapsulated an era, and it was even prominent in major motion picture soundtracks.
“That was the nature of the sound back then,” Deppe said.
“It started way back with Kraftwerk and drum machines. They were really the granddaddies of that whole thing. It was actually a great time. I didn’t really appreciate it until years later, but there was always really good production and really slick recordings and experimenting, and then the ’90s came along with the grunge era, and everything became more raw and real and down and dirty – but that was cool. It was good for a change.”
Deppe believes that even though the digital ’80s sound has made a resurgence in popular music, the grunge phase of the ’90s was an important step forward in music history.
“I think it was just the natural progression of music. That whole thing was over when grunge came out and then there was a different new wave. They weren’t wearing spandex – they were wearing plaid shirts. The West Coast came up and suddenly the ’80s was a bad thing. It was all about shoegazing and loud guitar music, which is great. I’m a guitar player so I loved listening to all that stuff. But now, all these young bands sound like ’80s bands.”
Nile Rogers, a world famous producer who worked with and helped shape the early Spoons sound on their 1983 Talkback album, recently produced the hit song “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk.
“It’s pretty weird because that (‘Get Lucky’) song sounds so dated, right? It’s almost like Earth, Wind and Fire or something. But that song was produced by Nile and co-written and he did the same thing with one of our songs 30 years ago, and it’s amazing how similar the songs are.”
Having produced such world- renowned acts as Donna Summer, Madonna, Daft Punk and many more, Rogers has remained a friend to Deppe over the years and will be a part of an upcoming Spoons-based book.
“He’s a nice guy and he’s hopefully writing the foreword to our book. But he’s produced everybody. And now, his old band Chic is touring the world again. When we worked with him, he changed our direction a bit more. He gave us a funkier edge.”
After over 20 years of Spoons silence, Deppe and the band decided to fire up the synths and digi-beats for another go round and a full record.
“I didn’t think we’d ever do anything again – I didn’t,” Deppe said, laughing.
“As time passed, I thought the ’80s were going to be a short-lived phenomena, but it just kept going on and cycling back. So I just I had some new ideas and I showed them to the band and we decided to play a few shows. But with the reaction we got, we thought, okay – maybe it’s time to make a new album.”
In late 2012, Deppe even reunited the original 1980s band lineup and were joined by some special guests for a few live shows.
“We got all the original band members back and even Jian Ghomeshi came up and played with us. A lot of people were there. It was one of those magic moments.”
Coming out west for a few shows, Deppe is excited to revisit Western Canada.
“We haven’t been out west in about 20 years. But we finally got some tour support and got everything together to come back there. I mean, I love it out west because I was born in Vancouver and so I have a lot of good memories from that part of the country.”
