For Spoons, ‘Old Emotions’ are new again

Burlington band that had a string of hits in the 1980s, is releasing a new album and taking on a new musical sound.

By Jenna Yeomans and Stephen Metelsky 

Nov. 1, 2025. The bottom of the 11th inning of the World Series at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The Jays trailed 5-4 against the LA Dodgers. With one out, Alejandro Kirk hit a ground ball that was turned into a double play.

Seconds earlier, the Jays had been within reach of baseball’s prized title. Had they won, fans across Canada and beyond, were moments away from hearing “Old Emotions” being played. 

The Blue Jays had licensed the Spoons hit song as their theme, a nod to the club’s back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.

But those “old emotions” are new again anyway. Loyal fans – and a younger generation discovering the band – are turning up at Spoons shows as the group continues performing and releasing new music.

The name of the band occurred by accident when they were all eating alphabet soup brainstorming possible names in 1979, when in unison they all stared at their utensils – and Spoons was born. 

Spoons still conjure plenty of nostalgia with their hit songs from the 1980s. While they have long enjoyed a loyal following from those early days, the band has seen a resurgence of younger fans at live shows, often accompanied by parents who first discovered their music decades ago.

“I originally thought the parents were forcing their kids to come to our shows. It turns out the kids are fans of ours and like our music,” said lead singer and guitarist Gordon Deppe.

He joined fellow founding member, bassist Sandy Horne, for an interview with HAMILTON CITY Magazine at a Hamilton café. Rounding out the band are Chris McNeill on drums and Rob Preuss on keyboards, who rejoined the band in 2018 after leaving in the mid-80s. 

The band formed in 1979 while the pair were students at Aldershot High School in Burlington. Encouraged by a music teacher to pursue their talent, Spoons began performing at their school and quickly built a following that has endured for decades. 

While Burlington was home in the literal sense, Hamilton became central to their musical lives. The city’s gritty creative energy helped shape them as artists and provided the backdrop for their early development.

“We weren’t Toronto kids. Hamilton was the big city,” said Deppe.

“I have a really soft spot for this place,” Horne added.

Both musicians recalled how Hamilton is still a “hip scene” for remarkable musical talent. They also credit Hamilton punk legends Teenage Head as a major influence. 

“I bought my first guitar in Hamilton. I bought my records in Jackson Square,” Deppe said, reflecting on how the city’s music culture shaped the band. “There was something different about Hamilton,” he said, recalling when bands were creating what he described as a “really neat music scene.”

Their connection to Hamilton deepened in 1981 when their album Stick Figure Neighbourhood was produced by renowned Hamilton musician Daniel Lanois and recorded at Grant Avenue Studio.

Deppe and Horne, graduates of McMaster University and Mohawk College respectively, were also influenced by the emerging “new wave” movement that became mainstream in the 1980s. British bands in particular helped shape the synthesizer-driven sound that would become synonymous with Spoons.

“I remember going to see OMD in 1982 in Hamilton. The next day I wrote ‘Nova Heart,’” Deppe recalled.

The song would become one of the band’s most recognizable hits.

“I never get tired of playing ‘Nova Heart,’” said Horne.

Between 1982 and 1984, the band released a string of successful songs including “Arias & Symphonies,” “Tell No Lies,” “Romantic Traffic” and “Old Emotions.” Their popularity expanded, propelling them onto stages in bars, clubs, and high schools across Toronto and southern Ontario.

Those early performances often took place in school gyms, intimate settings where the band connected directly with young fans. Spoons’ growing success eventually led to larger venues and opportunities to open for recognized acts such as The Police.

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Susan O’Keefe, 55, of Hamilton, has been a Spoons fan since the 1980s. 

“The Spoons played at Loyola in Mississauga in 1983. Whenever I hear ‘Nova Heart,' it brings me right back to my 13-year-old braces-wearing self dancing in that gym. I fell in love with music in that gym.”

Today, many of the younger fans attending Spoons concerts are children of those teenagers who packed those gymnasiums. For many families, the band’s music has become a shared cultural touchstone. 

Although Deppe and Horne remain grateful for the success they experienced during the 1980s, they are determined to evolve creatively - “always looking to move forward and not let their music get stuck in the ’80s,” Deppe and Horne jointly concurred. 

Part of that forward momentum came in 2018 when Hamilton’s Rob Preuss – the Spoons’ original keyboard player who left the band in the mid-1980s – returned to the lineup. The band regularly tours with fellow ’80s Canadian bands Men Without Hats, Honeymoon Suite, and The Box. 

This February, Spoons played a pop-up show in Mississauga, performing their classic hits alongside several new songs from their upcoming album.

With Preuss back in the fold, the band’s new music blends its signature 1980s synth sound with a sharper rock edge, creating a vibrant and refreshed sonic identity. 

And that licensing deal with the Blue Jays? It’s in place for the 2026 season. With a new Spoons album slated for release in 2026, those old emotions may soon feel new again.