I want confirmation on my information bout my transportation from Spadina sta - wait, what IS that?

February 6, 2010 4:26 PM

What is this piece of lost Toronto Chinatown seen in the Shuffle Demons' 'Spadina Bus'?

Every good Torontonian knows about 'Spadina Bus', a 1986 song by the Shuffle Demons, a gonzo jazz group who still play to this day. It's about a bus that used to run down Spadina, through the city's downtown Chinatown - the 77B, on the TTC. (The 77A is also acceptable.)

The video is almost as famous as the song itself. Legend has it that the Toronto Transportation Commission - an organization that never tires of finding ways to shoot itself in the foot - refused the Demons' request to shoot the video on the bus itself. So instead, they filmed a fantastic romp down Spadina itself on a blue summer's day.

But Toronto has changed over the years. My question: Starting at 1:58, one of the Demons is seen dancing up and down a kind of brightly-painted boardwalk structure, somewhat resembling a Chinese gate. What was this thing, and where exactly was it?

All I know is that it's not there anymore (and I kind of wish it was!).

posted by bicyclefish to Travel & Transportation around Toronto, ON (5 answers total)

I don't know much about exactly what it was, other than a mall that ran down the west side, south of Dundas that was demolished to make from for a new mall (Chinatown Centre). I read that it was a car dealership parking lot and at some point and I guess the bridges and stuff were put in as landscaping decoration.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:52 PM on February 6, 2010

...just so you don't feel too wistful about it, my early 20-something opinion was that on first glance it looked a lot more interesting than it actually was.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:59 PM on February 6, 2010

!thanks for reminding me of this lost earworm, now I will spend my commute on Monday with 'Get on the Bus....'
posted by Mahogne at 6:04 PM on February 6, 2010

This is where that particular scene was shot... look at the buildings in the background at the 02:01 mark.
posted by kaudio at 6:33 PM on February 6, 2010

kaudio's definitely right - if you look at 1:52, they're standing in front of the Sullivan St bus stop, which is in front of the boardwalk thing.

I've never even thought about how awful that shopping mall is at ground level along Spadina. It's like Spadina's very own Eaton Centre!
posted by pcameron at 4:05 PM on February 7, 2010