Listen to the City

Listen to the City is a 1984 Canadian drama film directed by Ron Mann.^[1][2] Normally a documentary filmmaker, this is Mann's only fictional feature.^[1] 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 Barrie Phillip Nichol and Barry Callaghan, politician Jack Layton, playwright Sky Gilbert, and radio broadcasters Pete Griffin and Geets Romo.^[3]

Listen to the City
Directed by	Ron Mann
Screenplay by	Bill Schroder Ron Mann
Produced by	Ron Mann
Starring	P.J. Soles Michael Glassbourg Sandy Horne Jim Carroll
Cinematography	Rene Ohashi
Edited by	Elaine Foreman
Music by	Gordon Deppe
Release date	1984 (1984)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

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 as Sophia
• Michael Glassbourg as Goodman
• Sandy Horne as Arete
• Jim Carroll as Hupar
• Barry Callaghan as Father
• Sky Gilbert as Shadow
• Pete Griffen as Mayor
• Geets Romo as Mayor’s assistant
• Peter Wintonick as Peter
• Bill Lord as Preston Sturrock
• Gigi Guthrie as Christie Hines
• Mary Hawkins as White
• Réal Andrews as Green
• Gary Augustynek as Black
• Jack Layton as patient
• Barrie Phillip Nichol as labour department head

Production

Bill Schroder and Ron Mann wrote the script in six days and filmed it in twelve days. The film cost $150,000. Scenes with Martin Sheen were shot, but he was edited out of the film.^[4]

Soundtrack

Listen to the City
Soundtrack album by Gordon Deppe; Spoons
Released	1984
Genre	Film score new wave synth-pop
Length	29:45
Label	Ready
Producer	Gordon Deppe Nile Rodgers
Spoons chronology
Talkback (1983) Listen to the City (1984) Bridges Over Borders (1986)

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.^[5] Rob Preuss, also of Spoons, assists on these two tracks.^[5]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Theme for a City (Opening Credits)"	Deppe	Gordon Deppe	2:46
2.	"Something Not Quite Right"	Deppe	Gordon Deppe	4:00
3.	"Sundown"	Deppe Horne	Gordon Deppe Sandy Horne	4:29
4.	"Then as Now"	Deppe	Gordon Deppe	1:16
5.	"A New World"	Deppe	Gordon Deppe	1:30
6.	"Take Me Walking"	Deppe Horne	Gordon Deppe Sandy Horne	3:44
7.	"Walk into the Wind"	Deppe	Gordon Deppe	2:08
8.	"Until Tomorrow (Closing Credits)"	Deppe	Gordon Deppe	2:07
9.	"Romantic Traffic"	Deppe Preuss	Spoons	3:34
10.	"Tell No Lies"	Deppe	Spoons	4:11
Total length:				29:45

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

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 — producer
• Jason Corsaro — engineer
• Recorded at the Power Station, New York City

Release

Spectrafilm, the film's distribution company, went out of business before its release. Listen to the City did not receive a theatrical release and Mann had $70,000 in debt due to its financial failure.^[6]