Does anyone remember The Spoons video “Romantic Traffic”? It was filmed at Bloor and Sheppard stations. Check out the old red rockets and the un-renovated Bloor platform. The start of the video takes place at Sheppard with those cool seats around the support beams (before it was renovated for the Sheppard line extension). They still have ’em at York Mills and Lawrence stations. It’s also neat to see them pass over the Don Valley on the Bloor Viaduct.
Just click on the video and it should play.
29 comments
From 1984.
Doot doot doot doot doot doot. Crap like this is why i wanted to move to Toronto since I was a kid.
I was WAY too young (probably not even born) to see any sort of old station designs like that. It’s cool to see a sort of “time capsule” captured in a… questionable music video.
Like the song though, it’s very “New Wave” 80’s style.
Hate to be a HP nerd here but … Gryffindor trains!
Oh wow — thank you for the trip down memory lane. I was 11 when that video came out, and two years later I was *obsessed* with Canadian music, and adored the Spoons (along with Honeymoon Suite and Platinum Blonde!).
Im a bit of an ad geek too, so I really enjoyed seeing TD’s poster for their brand new service, “The Green Machine”.
Did you notice right at the end that we get a glimpse of the Silver Gloucester cars (made from aluminium)?
Insert railfan drool here.
A trip in the waaaaay back machine. (P.S. I see you got the video embedded – good stuff!)
Wow…now that was a flashback. I dont miss those styles, but man i miss the red rocket…thanks for sharing!
THANK YOU! I saw this video on Much a few years ago, and I was so blown away by the shots of old Bloor, Sheppard and the Red cars that I forgot to write down the song or group name.
I think that there have been enough music videos filmed on the TTC over the years that you could put together a decent sized DVD of material. Would be an interesting TTC promo, although the music quality would really vary.
haha i saw my school!
What happened… did you have to pull the video?
’cause it’s not on the page now and I’m totally intrigued by the posted comments.
(By the way I am old enough to remember the subway in 1984!)
The transit nerd -and- the music nerd in me are very happy. Time capsule indeed!
I have fond memories of seeing the Spoons play at the Laurentian University pub, circa 1984. Gotta love the 80s!!
Great video clip…I remember meeting the Spoons at Mohawk College in Hamilton when they first released this song….
Hope there will be more video clips featuring the TTC can be posted….
Cheers
Richard
If you see closely in the video, there’s a few H-series trains in a few scenes (I don’t know if they which ones are exact, but there are somewhere between H-1 and H-4 series).
Also, you can also see the TTC guy in the subway car with his whistle. Back then (before the automated door chime and light came into place), he/she has the whistle saying that the doors are about to close (correct me if i’m wrong). Nowdays, you can’t seem to see that in this modern day.
Oh, the good ‘ol days. I wasn’t born yet at the time that video released but quite intrigued in the video
Yea yo, is that Bloor Station that the train runs into at the start of the video? It’s so difficult to read the name engraved on the right cuz of 1980’s advanced video technology. And unfortunately, i haven’t been to “old-bloor” station enough before 1992 to recognize it. I’m arguing they used Bloor or Jane to start off the video. Cuz it shows WHITE with a black stripe at the start… prolly cuz of a bad tint/colour setting. But at other times it’s a banana yellow with green stripe in other parts.
And don’t forget they used Lawrence Station in some of the parts where it has the blue tiles. Withthe dude running into the one pillar.
Sandy Horne was cute, still… Any gents agree? I wonder what she looks like now. Anyone knows her age at ’84?
And anyone agree that they miss the old days, when we had trains that had character, colour and the system was -yes- clean as your dinner plate?
BTW, Rosedale Heights Sucks ass. It was probably something back in 1984. In 2006? I beg to differ.
Either way, even though as they riding the B-D Subway, really exhausted in the near-end of the video… it looks like they had fun with the making of the video.
Correction!
Okay i take what i said about Lawrence Station… (Mezz Level). I didn’t see the fencing when the dudeman’s running into the pillar lol. And that Sheppard Station (Not Shappard-Yonge at the time) needed transfers between abus and subway back in the day, totally slipped my mind.
I saw this video on Retro Boogie Dance Party several years ago. I fell in love…it was such a cool video and the song was amazing. However, I didn’t catch the name of the song or who it was by. I had an inkling of a feeling it was Spoons judging by the fact that the band was Canadian…and sounded sort of Nova Heartish. Three years later, I hear it on the radio…the DJ doesn’t announce any Spoons songs being played. Today…after blog reading, someone links to this video…and I am found.
I JUST saw them perform last week at the Toronto Wildlife Centre’s gala… the Wild Ball… I got to hang out with them after the show!!
I had no clue who they were, then I heard this song while I was serving hors d’oeuvres and had to set my tray down and join the crowd by the stage! I used to LOVE this song. And they are so much better now than back then, since they are using actual instruments and not just an electric keyboard.
And Gordon has only gotten hotter. 😀
Geez – I didn’t FEEL old til you babies on here kept saying “I wasn’t born yet”…the first station is broadview I believe. Bloor is still yellow below like it was on top. But although they looked cool the red rocket trains scared the heck outta me, esp. since the windows could open and they would scream through the tunnel and the lights would go off every so often.
Thanks for posting this – another video to search for might be “Rise Up” by the Parachute Club – not likely any TTC content, but it was filmed on the streets of Toronto back in the early 80s – I can’t believe I’ve lived here for almost 28 years !
Could be broadview… but remember… in the start… the train is rushing through an X-type crossover before entering the station. Broadview on the other hand, has curves coming into the station, both directions. And from chester to broadview, is a three-track secion first divided by wyes, then the middle track splits into both main lines.
Good suggestion though.
You can check out http://www.thespoons.ca for Spoons videos and music.
Everyone B.S.’s about being places when stuff happens. Let me assure you I am not one of them. I was in my early 20’s heading down to a dentist app. when I happen to come across the making of the vid. Everytime I see the vid or hear the song..it brings back great care free days gone by.
I’m in my 40’s now and I sure miss those days.
Simple and uncomplicated…. wow do I sound like the old foggies of my youth now ( lol )
The First Station is OSSINGTON. There is a double crossover between Christie and Ossinton Stations.
The Trains you see are H1’s , H2 (or H4) H5 (There is one shot of a Mixed H1 and H5 train in there somewhere)
And of course the Gloucesters. And yes the Aluminum G2 class Gloucesters.
Bloor Station was renovated in 1991. I was fortunate enough to have caught a glimpse of the old Bloor Station (Original Primrose and Black Glass Vitrolite panels) back in 1990 when I was 7. The remaining red Gloucesters on the property were scrapped that very same year.
The H1’s were retired in 1999.
The H2’s in 2001.
The majority of H4’s Were done away with in 2001 but few remain in rush hour service on the BD.
P.S. I’m a HUGE Spoons fan. They did a free concert at Woodbine Beach in ’01 but I missed it. The Go Go’s were there too.
EDIT: Not a double crossover but a storage track between Christie and Ossington.
This is a great counter song for the Shuffle Demons’ song “The Spadina Bus” where in one of the lines they say that “The Yonge Street train is a real pain!” Well I say that thanks to this song, I no longer think so. I consider the subway system in Toronto the same way The Spoons do. “Romantic Traffic!” I think that I always have considered it to be this way.
Neat video. I was 13 when Romantic Traffic came out. Tell No Lies and this video are fun to watch – so upbeat and happy! I like The Spoons videos better nowadays because at the time those two videos came out I was Duran Duran crazed. I see both the Sheppard and Bloor stations everyday and I often look for signs of the original structure. Not related to the video…. I got a chance recently to see LOWER Bay station when the trains were being rerouted due to track repairs. That freaked me out! You get a chance to see Lower Bay at “Doors Open Toronto” on Saturday May 26th, 2007 from 12-3pm. Check it out!
It’s nice to read everyone’s comments. Love The Spoons!
http://www.youtube.com/SpoonsFan
Hi All
I made a video collection for The Spoons on youtube feel free to come by and take a look!!
Very old video,seems that they have good music way back.