The Last Pogo Jumps Again

Last week the Pogomobile tooled over and visited with The Existers’ George Higton, who was also the founding publisher/editor of the late seventies local fanzine Shades.  Prior to that, George wrote for the seminal NYC paper The New York Rocker.  And once we upload the tape (into our third terrabyte of footage for all you geeks out there) we’ll let you know what was going on in George’s head.

Handbill from the collection of Gail Wetton.  Eight days at the Horsehoe Tavern in 1978.

“The Courier” from Magical Mystery Tour.

A steady rain and overcast sky seemed somehow fitting for a tour of punk/new-wave/alternate sites in Hamilton today, lead by original Forgotten Rebels’ Chris Houston and Mickey DeSadist.  We met up with them at Picks and Sticks, where Chris (along with Teenage Head’s Gordie Lewis) teaches Heartbreakers, Viletones, and Ramones tunes to fresh-faced ten-year-olds;  Teenage Head drummer Jack Pedlar was fiddling with a drum set before starting his lesson with an eager young Hamiltonian, who we’re sure will grow up to say that he learned how to play from Jack Fuckin’ Pedlar, dude! (or whatever kids will be saying in the future.)   While Mickey DeSadist, still recovering from his bicycle accident, sat around the front of the store, Chris showed us his workspace, plastered with posters and guitars, and in a half-hour told us enough stories for, well, his own half-hour film.   More later…

Today we talked with one half of Rough Trade, guitarist/writer Kevan Staples.  Kevan is one of many from the punk/new-wave scene in Toronto who ended up with careers in film and TV, currently a partner at Toronto post-sound house Rhythm Division, and composing scores for films and TV series.  In April we catch up with the Auntie Diva herself, Carole Pope.   (Yea, yea, yea, we know –  Rough Trade weren’t punks or new-wave, but they were a thread of the fabric of the new mood in the air back then, and they were good.  Carole’s lyrics, Kevin’s licks, the image, their audience…    And if we only stuck to what people perceive as punk, it’d be a slim sampling.  There’s a reason our film’s currently running 300 minutes, long story.)    The Last Pogo Jumps Again:  A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock, New Wave and Alternate Music Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978.

Two weeks at the Horseshoe Tavern, October 1978.

Rough Trade played in the send off concert the night after The Last Pogo, The Last Bound Up, on December 2, 1978.   They were the last band The Garys presented at The Horseshoe Tavern on a bill that also featured Drastic Measures, The Everglades, and The Ishan Band.   When The Garys brought John Cale to Toronto for the first time, in February 1977, Cale’s camp insisted that the only band they wanted opening for them was Rough Trade.  Respect, yo.

Last Pogo director Colin Brunton would’ve shot The Last Bound-Up that evening as well as The Last Pogo the night before , but when he went around getting permission from he bands, he was turned down by Carole Pope of Rough Trade and figured if he couldn’t get all the bands, he may as well only shoot The Last Pogo.

Wayne Brown of The Fits and Paul Ecknes of The Wads, 2008.  (Damn, we didn’t make a note who took this photo!  Please forgive.)  We interviewed Paul yesterday who, for the occasion, dressed in his late seventies finery and regaled us with tales of drunkeness and cruelty.  (Actually, he didn’t speak of much cruelty, but a Kinks song was playing in Pogo H.Q. as we wrote this, so we just slipped it in.)

And speaking of finery, Wayne Brown has put together a DVD of his old band The Fits and others from 1977 – 2007, featuring tons of stills and rare footage.  What Makes Ya Think You’re So Amazing, Baby? was cobbled together by Henry Martinuk.  Available at HITS AND MISSES RECORDS on Bloor Street and ROTATE THIS on Queen Street