The Last Pogo Jumps Again

The Last Pogo Mobile unit motored down to the Beaches apartment of Barry Farrell, ex of The Toys and The Existers for a uncensored two-hour show ‘n’ tell (salty language! lurid anecdotes! sex and drugs and rock and roll!), with tales of punk rock druggery and thuggery and playing for fun and clutches of moments with the likes of Mr. Shit and George Higton and The Dead Boys and Mike Dent and Dr. Borque and Mike Nightmare and Steven Leckie — and Stephen “Babyoil” Hall, Barry’s oldest pal, the big-dicked singer who rolled on glass, sprayed a Shock Theatre audience with a fire-extinguisher, went to the psyche ward in Whitby, finally pulled it all together — and then o.d.’d on heroin in the late nineties.

Like many — hey, most — of the people we’ve shot, Barry was the consummate host, drinks at the ready and a collection of handbills and ticket stubs and e.p.’s spread across the floor and the kitchen table. Locked ‘n’ loaded and ready for war. And he told us how Zoltan “Johnny Garbagecan” Lugosi got his punk rock moniker. And he gave Pogo Research & Development a nice pile of handbills to take to the lab for analysis. And promised to help get us in touch with a few more goats from the past.

Synchronicity: a 1977 ad for The Existers in George Higton’s Shades Magazine, with an big ad below for former Poles manager, man about town, hairstylist Bruce Appelby — who’s scheduled to cut off Last Pogo crew member Ollie Brunton’s shoulder-length locks over the March break. And when Ollie’s father Colin was 15, he was just starting to work with Last Pogo promoter Gary Topp of the fabled The Garys at the Original 99 Cent Roxy. Which lead on to the New Yorker, then the Horseshoe, then the movie The Last Pogo — and the rest is history, and the coincidences keep piling up. On another hand-made poster Barry showed us, there was a drawing of ’80’s Ace Tone rocker Dave Howard of the Dave Howard Singers, who oddly enough, had connected with director Brunton on Myspace only a few days before for the first time in … ever. When we left the building we ran into actor Kevin Bacon.

Barry’s history with the Last Pogo goes back to the Original 99 Cent Roxy Theatre, where he was one of the stoned regulars. Ex-Raving Mojo frontman (and The Last Pogo Jumps Again guest director) Blair Richard Martin — who’s making is own film about the Toronto punk rock scene, — pointed out that the bad seeds of punk and a peculiar sensibility for music & film were planted in the early ’70’s by Topp at the Roxy (and late the New Yorker, and the Horseshoe). And it’s way too much to get into in a blog. Wait for the movie, lol.

Apart from that: a nice note from Vic in England who didn’t get his Last Pogo t-shirt (those dastardly Canada Post thieves!), but who’ll get one next week, hot off the presses. Got a note from camera-operator Frank Polyak who used to venture from Scarberian to watch punk rocks shows in the late seventies, who sent us a photo of him in front of a voo-doo temple in Haiti. If you’d like to ogle Frank, or lust after the snazzy t-shirt he’s wearing in the shot, or even click on the picture and find out about voo-doo, then just hit this screen right about…here. Got a great handbill from Steve Travis — the front page of an issue of Johnny Garbagecan’s Torrana Punks — and a great beer-buying story about him and Leckie and Tank. Touched base with Nora Currie, got another lead from Paul Richmond, and everyday, watching the Homer Simpson count-down clock with that old sinking feeling. Again, if anyone’s got any leads on peeps, show ‘em our way, or they’ll have to wait until 2038, when we shoot the final film in the trilogy.

If you wanna check in on Dave Howard, then you just press the magic button, and a signal will be sent to a satellite in outer-space, which will bounce back to your internet server, and voila — all the news on Dave and his musical musings. Like, right here.