[3] The entire band was influenced by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who inspired a greater keyboard presence in the Spoons' sound.

[4] Gary Numan, Talking Heads, Simple Minds, and John Foxx's Ultravox were also influential on the band's musical evolution.

The album was popular on the Canadian University charts, and allowed the group to eventually tour Ontario and Quebec with bands like Martha and the Muffins.

[5] Around this time, Spoons' higher profile allowed them to become the opening act for bands such as Culture Club, Simple Minds, and the Police.

The Talkback album included the hit "Old Emotions", but was not issued outside of Canada – a disappointment for the band after working with a producer of Rodgers' international stature.

The upbeat "Tell No Lies" featured a more mainstream pop sound than was customary for Spoons; the song won a CASBY Award for best single.

However, Listen to the City was not a Spoons album, as it consisted largely of instrumental music and was credited solely to Gordon Deppe.

Muir believed that the deal with Thrifty's may have damaged the credibility of the band due to the commercial sponsorship "shifting the public's emphasis from their music to their consumer image".

[13] The album featured the band's final hit singles, the rollicking "When Time Turns Around" and "Waterline" (1989), a languid, introspective ballad.

In 2007 the band released Unexpected Guest at a Cancelled Party, a collection of previously unreleased material recorded between 1982 and 1985 by the Deppe, Horne, Preuss and Ross line-up.

In 2010 at the Woodbine Park Summerfest for Vinyl 95.3, the band released its first new studio work in over 20 years - the double A-Side "Imperfekt/Breaking In" which was limited to 100 copies.

In the Spring of 2010, a Spoons line-up of Deppe and Horne, with producer Jeff Carter, began recording their sixth studio album, Static in Transmission.

This was followed by the band playing a series of shows with Rob Preuss and Derrick Ross, temporarily reuniting the classic 1980s line-up.

An online contest was held for the release of the second single, "All the Wrong Things (In the Right Places)", where fans could submit recordings of themselves singing a part of the song's chorus to be included in the final mix.