''Listen to the City'' is a 1984 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958), credited professionally as Ron Mann, is a Canadian documentary film director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Further'' ( ...

. Normally a documentary filmmaker, this is Mann's only fictional feature. The film stars

P.J. Soles Pamela Jayne Soles (née Hardon; born July 17, 1950) is a German-born American actress. She made her film debut in 1976 as Norma Watson in Brian De Palma's ''Carrie (1976 film), Carrie'' (1976) before portraying List of Halloween (franchise) char ...

Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of ...

, Sandy Horne, and Michael Glassbourg. Featured in small or cameo roles are such notable Canadian counter-culture figures as poets Barrie Phillip Nichol and

Barry Callaghan Barry Morley Joseph Callaghan (born July 5, 1937) is a Canadians, Canadian author, poet and anthologist. He is currently the editor-in-chief of ''Exile'' Quarterly. Born in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, he is the son of late Canadian novelist and ...

, politician

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

, playwright

Sky Gilbert Schuyler Lee (Sky) Gilbert Jr. (born December 20, 1952) is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and at the University of Toronto, before be ...

, and radio broadcasters Pete Griffin and Geets Romo.

Plot

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

Cast

P. J. Soles Pamela Jayne Soles (née Hardon; born July 17, 1950) is a German-born American actress. She made her film debut in 1976 as Norma Watson in Brian De Palma's '' Carrie'' (1976) before portraying Lynda van der Klok in John Carpenter's ''Halloween'' ...

as Sophia * Michael Glassbourg as Goodman * Sandy Horne as Arete *

as Hupar * Barry Callaghan as Father *

as Shadow * Pete Griffen as Mayor * Geets Romo as Mayor’s assistant *

Peter Wintonick Peter Kenneth Wintonick (June 10, 1953 – November 18, 2013) was a Canadian independent documentary filmmaker based in Montreal. A winner of the 2006 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, former Thinker in Residence for the Premier ...

as Peter * Bill Lord as Preston Sturrock * Gigi Guthrie as Christie Hines * Mary Hawkins as White *

Réal Andrews Réal Andrews (born Réal Johnson; January 31, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Chance Walker in the first season of the syndicated action drama series ''Soldier of Fortune, Inc.'', and for playing Marcus Taggert on the ABC day ...

as Green * Gary Augustynek as Black *

as patient * Barrie Phillip 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 Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos'' ...

. 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 "Romantic Traffic" is a 1984 single by Canadian new wave band Spoons. It is from the soundtrack album ''Listen to the City'' from the movie of the same name. It was released in both 7" and 12" formats: on the former, it was the A-side (with "Them ...

", were both issued as singles in Canada; both charted and are among the band's most well-known hits in that country.

Track listing

Personnel

Tracks 1-8

* Gordon Deppe — all instruments, except * Sandy Horne — vocals, bass guitar on 3 and 6 * Rob Preuss — keyboards and rhythm machine on 3 and 6

=Production personnel, tracks 1-8

= *Produced by Gordon Deppe *Engineered by Rick Lightheart and Brian Hewson *Recorded and mixed at Sound Path Studios,

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

Tracks 9-10

* Gordon Deppe — vocals, guitar * Sandy Horne — bass, vocals * Rob Preuss — electronic keyboards and piano * Derrick Ross — drums

=Production personnel, tracks 9-10

= *

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

— producer * Jason Corsaro — engineer * Recorded at the

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

, New York City

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0087628 1984 films English-language Canadian films Films shot in Toronto Films directed by Ron Mann Canadian drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films