People City - The Original Video

This is the original People City video, used for station sign-on and sign-off in the 1970s and 1980s at Citytv, Toronto. Tommy Ambrose and Gary Gray were commissioned to co-write and produce the song for the station. There were two versions - the vocal one, used at sign-on, and the instrumental version, used at sign-off. Both are included in this KZbin video.
Posted as a tribute to Gary Gray, Tommy Ambrose, and Citytv, and as an acknowledgement of a part of our Toronto, from days gone by...no infringement intended.
(Apologies for the tape creases - this transfer is from an original 3/4" videotape used at the station.)

[@totalgamer1819]

My late Grandpa's brother is the singer. Tommy Ambrose. ❤

[@paulgreenberg429]

A much simpler time. Brought tears to my eyes. Stayed up late and heard it often. Toronto was and still is a great city.

[@giovannitidona658]

Me too then there was s the street car ride

[@PunchBuggyDreams]

it's 2024 now and I must beg to differ. T.O. is not that great anymore. Crime, high taxes, expensive, too much diversity and endless construction that never gets completed and most if not all of the heritage older buildings are taken down to build ugly condos. Glad I don't live there anymore. I ain't never going back.

[@dang48]

@@PunchBuggyDreams Sadly, I have to agree. While I'm not from Toronto, I used to work there from the late 80s through the 2010s and have seen it go downhill.

[@petclark1]

I look at this and can't help but feel more than a little sad. When this used to air, Toronto seemed to have such promise and a very positive vibe. Hell, we WERE the city that worked and we kept patting each other on the back when we'd read those articles about how we were the envy of all those run down, American cities. Well, I guess we took a hell of a lot for granted and stood too long on our laurels and if that was our peek, than I guess now we're in a sort of free-fall of decline

[@kevinfisher5492]

The 90's happened. It's been all downhill from there.

[@PunchBuggyDreams]

You said it best petclark. The city has become the Chicago North. I'm in Mississauga for 50 years now and and I get the heebie, jeebies whenever I drive down to that yucky city.

[@number7717]

Here after the Danforth Ave. shootings, trying to remember a happier, simpler, beautiful Toronto. This song and video is needed now more than ever.

[@wesp17]

I've been watching this video since I was 15 or 16...im gonna b 60 this year and still love Tommy ambrose..my dad wud stay up late to hear this song...but he was waiting for me to come home...great song...great memories

[@photographingtoronto2350]

How do we thank Moses Znaimer for all he has done for Toronto. It was Znaimer that commissioned this song that reminds me so much of the Toronto of the 70's. To me it is Toronto's song!

[@intercommerce]

Pre-pandemic, pre-gangster good old T.O., with Maple Leaf Gardens, Eaton's, Dominion, a vibrant Yonge St., way less traffic, could go on and on. Loved this weird new channel and great song...

[@bubsmeister]

I miss that Toronto

[@wlines]

I was so lucky to grow up in this place in the 70's.I'm gonna go cry now.

[@streetcarjay]

Ingold Inglorion I can't believe the Luck's homeburger restaurant on Queen Street east in the Beaches was demolished for condos.That pisses me off.

[@CelesteKTheNewWaveRevue]

I was a baby in September 1976 and I grew up in Toronto in the 1980s.

[@tarotbyamber7233]

It looks like New York are they actually similar in reality ? Toronto is so close to America, have you ever been to America before ?

[@thecerealguy7713]

Barnabas Collins CHECKOUT MY VIDEOS ALL FILMED IN TORONTO

[@thecerealguy7713]

Celeste K CHECKOUT MY VIDEOS ALL FILMED IN TORONTO

[@ivannovotny4552]

Nostalgia, thank you Moses Znaimer and many others who participated.

[@kevinth86]

watching this makes me feel all nostalgic for the past, the world seemed much more sane....

[@Ms325i]

WOW! I can't believe how clean the city looks and the Gardiner Expressway has virtually no traffic...It's hard to remember that that is the way things used to be here. Definitely not the same anymore.

[@giovannitidona658]

I remember driving with my Dad on Gardiner when the old Monarch sylos where still standing

[@PunchBuggyDreams]

@@giovannitidona658 I too have many fond memories of being in the car with my dad driving down the Gardiner in the 70's. It was a different world back then.

[@giovannitidona658]

@2painful2watch yes my fine featherd friend it was simple and fun my father owned his own Pool Hall downtown toronto .you learned about life very fast lol thank you for sharing your memory of your drives along Gardiner

[@Keithvanderwees]

I remember listening to this back in the day when I would get home from work at night, the station was going off air and would listen to the vocal version as the sun came up and the station signed on . I still love this song, it always gives me a sense of community and belonging

[@74Voyeur]

Wow, I forgot that stations signed off each night. Now, it's infomercials until dawn. "57 channels and nothing on."

[@BillN6801]

thunderstick604 couldn't have said it any better. I, too, get all misty-eyed when I watch this now. I grew up in Toronto in the 1970's, have since moved to Scandinavia and this video sends me back to when I was carefree and had my whole life in front of me. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@BillN6801]

Funny, I haven't watched this sign-off video since the 70's, yet I can still "hear" the announcer's voice around 3:39, clear as a bell, saying "CityTV now concludes it's broadcasting day. We hope you have enjoyed the many and varied programs we have had to offer ...". Man, this sure stays with you. Again, thanks again Danalee1000 for sharing this priceless gem!

[@cinimodp.h897]

loved to watch this when they stopped broadcasting.on tv.so soothing relaxing.hope mamy more people find this gem.

[@highwaymant368]

I Live in Indianapolis and heard this great song on AM 740 ( Zoomer Radio) last night. Has a great 70s feel to it. Reminds a little of the sound from the WKRP in Cincinnati intro. AM 740 comes in loud and clear in the evenings and into the night. Glad to hear this wonderful song. I plan on visiting Toronto this summer.

[@RustyMuck]

Highway Man T Fitting as CITY-TV's co-founder Moses Znamier currently owns AM 740.

[@PoliticalWeekly]

did you visit Toronto?

[@OutOnTheTiles]

Did you come visit? We’ve been waiting. Times a tickin’ ✌️🇨🇦

[@realtan9026]

you should have visited in the 70s 80s lol ur a bit late

[@kimkochel8157]

I'm a Zoomermedia fan too. They play this song alot. I am very good friends with Frank Proctor. He is from my hometown of London Ontario. We talk often,he is a great man. I met him at George Jonescus Celebration of Life. His lady friend Shirley is a lovely woman too. A great couple. Keep listening to Zoomermedia it's the best. 📻🎶🎵

[@kwanab]

My...memories my early teen years living in TO...hot summer nights and staying up late watching City TV until the station went off the air. Nice to take a trip down memory lane ... triggered by this wonderful song and video. Thanks!

[@johnd2371]

I LOVE this song, it brings back so many nice memories. Though I now live in the suburbs, I still love my City and am very proud of it.

[@Introspectre1]

This is the Toronto I remember! seeing this again sent shivers down my spine in a good way. Thanks for posting!

[@stewhooey1294]

I'm happy to say this song has hypnotized me. Combining the vibe of the Mary Tyler Moore theme with Rainy Night in Georgia has put me under a sensual, somnambulent spell I don't wish to come out of. This is no small achievement given my heretofore tepid impression of TO. Great job Tommy!

[@DerUfo]

Thank you for sharing the memories - For those of us who remember - we smile and pop back into time were happiness does exist, even if it is but for a fleeting moment

[@Lightsngear]

The brief glimpses of the old streetcars and red subway (Gloucester) cars are great images to have preserved.

[@sovb]

The true Toronto Rocket!

[@leok9755]

Wish I could still live in People City :( Housing prices and skyrocketing rent drove me out of the GTA altogether. Miss my hometown every day.

[@EdMcCornhole]

I grew up in toronto, my childhood memories in the 70's, met my immigrant wife in toronto, she too was raised here. I took my kids to the same parks I played at , drive past the old house i lived in, going to the zoo, ontario place, the EX, . Good nostalgic song. Memories. Forever in my heart.

[@roblabow9702]

Great video that captures the real Toronto from those years.

[@carlvis1]

It's been years since I've heard this song but I've always loved it and sometimes found myself singing it threw the years. Nice to actually hear it again.

[@rockybudgeboa]

Born and raised in Toronto. Nowadays, it is a Nightmare to behold.

[@jourellelane1686]

Im born and bred in canada 1964 I love Toronto big time miss the snow fall love canada i call it home the city of my life Toronto

[@jonathanruiz3597]

Awesome

[@user-hu2vs2kv6q]

Agree. I'm in Mexico now....but Toronto is home. Regardless of how it has kinda gone to shit.

[@MasterofWindowsXP]

The true anthem of Toronto

[@GuitarLessonsBobbyCrispy]

This would come on right before Rocket Robin Hood in the mornings in the 70's.

[@user-to1yw8vv2k]

Truly a time when Toronto was the greatest big city in the world. Remember when CITY tv first aired . If we could only stopped time . Dave from Hamilton 0:28

[@jkent6526]

What a great city. Well it used to be...

[@EricLehner]

A positive era!

[@nomadicdude50]

Brings back memories of a time and a much nicer Toronto. Toronto certainly has changed for the worse since those days.

[@lilka1serofficial980]

shut the fuck up people are allowed to have preferences

[@lilka1serofficial980]

In fact I understand him

[@kimkochel8157]

@@SgtHawk13 Nice talk pal,I think that you are the one living under the rock, after you were run over by the turnip truck. Shame on you,as my Mom drilled into me from such a young age"If you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!!!" She is a proud Torontoian. 👎👎👎👎👎😧😧😧😧😧😖😖

[@realtan9026]

ya people that weren't here in the 70s and 80s have no comprehension of what it was like you missed out

[@AdamAbramsVancouver]

I've haven't seen this in 25 years... and wondered off and on over at least the last 10 if it was out there somewhere - even made a few attempts to track it down but no luck. I can't tell you how happy I am to see it again. Takes me back to the Beaches, late 70's, listening to CFNY, art classes at the AGO... lotsa memories. Amazing that some of the images are still familiar - the tabogganers especially, for some reason. Thank you thank you thank you!

[@wesleypearce3448]

I remember...awesome memories...mark daily signing off...my dad staying up just to hear this song then rite off to bed he went...fantastic memories

[@LAGLORIAERESTU]

1979 THE YEAR WHEN I MIGRATED TO CANADA!!!! WOW, IT SINCE LIKE YESTERDAY. NOSTALGIA

[@FireflyLightningBug]

The early 1980s were the best, even up to 1990! Incomparable! "Protoronto"

[@streetcarjay]

Congratulations Citytv for 50 unforgettable years. Here's to 50 more of being.......EVERYWHERE!

[@rockybudgeboa]

Toronto used to be so Beautiful.

[@Retrontario]

THANK YOU so MUCH! This elusive video is GOLD! Thanks again!

[@marslife01]

brings back a lot of very fond memories of watching T.V. early in the morning & late at night in the early 70's, thanks for this.

[@kanukster]

Kinda makes ya glad your Canadian listening to this!

[@streetcarjay]

Congrats to Citytv. Not just they're 40 and fab, but 40 years of being of course.......EVERYWHERE!

[@btoexport2]

I lived there as an exchange student in 1978. What a great place. I still love it, but it looks very different these days.

[@MegaTmarshall]

Wow! Thank you so much for posting this! Now this is the Toronto that I used to know and love when I was a kid growing up in the 1970's. Americans used to say that we had a lot to be proud of in those days. No guns or knives and people generally felt safe in the streets at almost any hour of the day. I'm not so sure if we can boast about public safety in Toronto in 2010 now though. However, I do like to look back at a better time that held so much promise for the future.

[@chuglyone]

still makes me tear up - days of yore and all - so many I've loved and lost over the years from Toronto

[@thatgrrlca]

Nice to hear it again. I'd forgotten all about it but after hearing it online a few days ago it has stuck in my head, playing on auto during the day.

[@briansokoloski776]

A true Toronto Family song very relaxing every major city across Canada should have a similar song

[@musiclinkscanadainc]

Thanks Dana, knowing a lot of the CITY crew, I remember this song fondly and it was the station I grew up on as a kid in the 70's in Toronto.

[@ashleywills8761]

I remember hearing this song like around after 3 or 4 in the morning

[@rockerdriver]

I’m an American and have been to Toronto twice and loved it! I’ve only been to Ontario thus far and no other part of Canada. I definitely can feel the sentimentality this song exudes and why you’d get emotional over it. At the same time,it makes me feel like I’m at the mall back in the day 😂 Sorry. Had to throw that in.

[@GreigStott]

Comforting song and images, I never knew this Toronto, though I feel connected with the city in so many ways, including going back to scenes and images like this one. Toronto is still a great city that I want to embrace many more times in the coming months and years xx

[@tealandturquoise565]

Loving my city in July 2022.

[@jimpaxton1804]

Who remembers buying a UHF converter to watch the BABY BLUE MOVIES ? ...LOL

[@simonlendon6047]

....This and the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Where has the time gone?

[@jrfoster.532]

Aaaaaah, the good old days.

[@brocklinehan]

Oh, Toronto--what's happened to you? It's fast becoming the opposite of what People City was all about. So much violence and fear on the TTC and the streets these days. Toronto, has lost its way. Here's hoping that sooner than later it can find its way back. God Bless Gary Gray, Tommy Ambrose, and Moses Znaimer.

[@JustaGroovyGuy]

Oh My Goodness ! Watching this takes me back to my days in west end Toronto ... walking to Bloor Collegiate High School from my Emerson Avenue home - History class with Mr. Hoffman, falling in love with Sandy Duncan (Star Spangled Girl), too young to realize that classmate Susan Prochiuk was in love with me .... and ohhh, those baby blue movies ... I actually saw a woman's breasts on CityTV at the age of 15 ! Such innocent times gone forever but relived with this great video memory ... thanks !

[@jdodd170]

Good grief! Red Subway trains and the old President's style streetcars! WOW!

[@jaykaye7025]

I so want to visit Toronto one day

[@lukewarmwater5320]

I watch these to get my head out of the tangled, olive-drab quagmire we're in now...

[@dmytrobryushkov]

Nice city! I used to live in Toronto, but now I live across the street from Toronto. Resembles one Russian joke:- Do you remember Isaac, who live across the prison? Now he lives across his home! -What does he have in prison? -Cold water and bread. -Silly man. Why he did not it at home before?

[@greatunz67]

Toronto in the good old days, these days it's a cesspool of gun crime and violence gone rampant.

[@stephencrean1616]

I had to share this on facebook. thank you for this trip down memory lane.

[@jackiescanlon]

Love the Cinesphere at Ontario place. Saw so many great, classic films there.

[@turtleson9190]

i have a 45 of this song....brings back my childhood memories of staying up late in the summer.....

[@kchappelle]

How many people woke to this playing after watching a late night move on city tv? You know you really had too much to drink or smoke if you heard this playing in your dream mode and you finally woke to a test pattern on the tv screen and a droning monotone.

[@Transcendfinejewelleryonline]

I think my husband is in this video, I have to keep looking at that kid just to make sure. 🥰😍😘

[@rinotidona5065]

awww yes i remember this well played at end of broadcast chanel 79 i belive such a great memory love this song

[@streetcarjay]

This is Citytv Channel 79. Cable 7.

[@streetcarjay]

This is Citytv, Channel 79 cable 7. EVERYWHERE!!!!

[@user-to1yw8vv2k]

One of the greatest civic anthems in the world! It was so fitting at the time when it was written 2:31

[@mangdannyboy]

i was new to TO two years ago...great to see that clips like these here on youtube help me learn not just about a part of the city's past, but also about toronto's TV landscape back in the day...for one thing, citytv has become my favorite station, even if the citytv i know is waaaay different know from the citytv long-time torontonians knew... maybe city can play this again, for posterity's sake? :)

[@OtakuUpNorth]

Wow, so much cynicism in the comments. Toronto is still a beautiful and wonderful place to be! It's not without its problems, and the cost of living is atrocious, but the heart is still there.

[@naserdeen8210]

nop, it's not worth it. people are mean and disconnected over there. this song is awsome though

[@WatchingTrainsGoBy-PassingTime]

The only people that don't wish they were kids or teens in the 80s are people that were kids or teens in the 50's. But it is their second choice.

[@kevinth86]

Thanks for posting this

[@JoseTwitterFan]

*ALL RISE FOR THE TORONTO NATIONAL ANTHEM*

[@PunchBuggyDreams]

I miss Mark Dailey, he died way too young. Even though he was originally from Youngstown, Ohio, he was the voice of Toronto.

[@CelesteK]

What a long strange trip it's been for them. :)

[@rockybudgeboa]

The Way Toronto used to be. The City of Good and Beauty and that is sad, since it is now Toronto the Condo crazy and you can actually see the shadow of the CN Tower in this video.

[@ethel1690cardew]

The Gardiner is never that quiet during daylight hours

[@daviddavenport1485]

You're watching City TV, channel 79, cable 7...the station that is EVERYWHERE!

[@LeylandNational01]

Thank you!

[@teresamacleod8701]

I Just Love This Tune. Where Could I Get A Copy Of This Song. That,s Peoples City.

[@michaelbaker8412]

I'm not sure you would call what happened to me was crying...but I did feel a lump in my throat and a single tear on my cheek! In addition, I had just got a promotion to the USA and they also ran videos of a car driving through the city early in the dark AM hours. I remember video taping those for nights in a row.... to carry with me to remember my home town! Now many years later, hoping to move back...(if I can afford it?)

[@bluntsafety]

I remember CityTV from it's earliest days and there was a show taped at 99 Queen St E called "Greed" that had a zany host. Yet, I can find nothing on it. I thought it was low budget, sure, but wild, way beyond what others were producing. Do you have any of that? Thanks for posting this. I'll sleep now.

[@italman66]

Different times.

[@jeffreybaker8997]

If I ain't mistaken the current owner of AM 740 Toronto Moses Znaimer was involved in getting this song commissioned for City TV?

[@streetcarjay]

My grandmother met Gord Martineau back in 1992. She was subject of a feature report of my uncle serving a tour of duty with the Canadian Armed Forces somewhere in the world.

[@maxvideodrome4215]

Very, very, very nice - 2:20 😂

[@712Liberal]

Toronto that's people city.

[@leafyutube]

That some great romantic shit.

[@ClintScottFischer]

Lounge lizard genius! Sign o the times. Great song. Great lyrics.

[@jameschio756]

Toronto's anthem.

[@alicemalina]

@searaydrivingguy If you look outside of the downtown core, you will fine many beautiful parks and nature trails. There's lots of scenery, you just have to know where to look.

[@Spratt1737]

This is wildly depressing

[@Em1n3mComment]

yay, the ORIGINAL videos without the voiceover!!!!

[@atifthescooper]

iam actually crying now

[@thecerealguy7713]

atifthescooper CHECK OUT MY VIDEOS ALL FILMED IN TORONTO

[@usetheforceluke12]

great posting! :)