The Last Pogo Jumps Again

The Scenics, photo by Rodney Bowes

Diodes, photo by Ralph Alfonso

Viletones

Courtesy of Aldo Erdic

Today The Last Pogo Jumps Again co-director Kire Paputts (with wing-man Richard Fiander handling second camera) hangs out in Grange Park with some of The Diodes, and An Awesome Friend Of The Project tries to get us a few moments with Godfather Iggy Fucking Pop on Friday, ’cause we need to hear his thoughts on all things punk, and find out what specific type of acid everyone was on when Iggy And The Stooges played the Victory Burlesque back in 1974.

Thanks to either Molten Core or Aldo;  shit, can’t remember.

Make sure to join ten thousand other people at Dundas Square this Saturday to watch still-thriving Iggy play a set in Times Square Jr.  Before you do that, you can catch The Diodes and The New York Fucking Dolls out in Burlington — we’re hoping for a word with Mr. Johansen at that one.

Gary Topp, ’73 or so, courtesy of Gary.

On Thursday, Kire heads out and visits the legendary Gary Fucking Topp for session number three.  We’ll be pouring through Topper’s archive of stuff, and putting a few more pieces of the puzzle together.  The New York Dolls in ’73, Iggy in ’74, Gary Topp at the same time — they are some of the major seeds that were planted and then sprouted into what we now call the Punk Era in Toronto’s history.  You won’t find this stuff out at the Toronto Archives, ladies and germs.

Aldo Erdic by Eddie Smith, copyright etc

That afternoon at 3:00 The Last Pogo Jumps Again second unit director Aldo Erdic is showing off his half-hour film Circa 1977:  The Diodes at the NFB Theatre as part of NXNE.  This premiere screening will be followed by a rare showing of Amos Poe’s 1975 Blank Generation, the film that, in part, inspired Gary Topp to starting bringing NYC bands to Toronto.  It’s all connected, man.

Singer John Paul Young of The Cardboard Brains;  photo copyright Vince Carlucci.

On Sunday Oz Studios, continuing to show ex-Cardboard Brains’ Vince Carlucci‘s awesome collection of photos — Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell (named after a song by one James Osterberg) is going to have a rare screening of the original 16mm print of The Last Pogo.  DVDS will be on sale:  one for $12.00, two for $20, and 619 for $4333.   Hey-o!

Cardboard Brains;  photo by Vince Carlucci

Former Cardboard Brains guitar-slinger Vince Carlucci‘s got stuff in a gallery!  “Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell” is a collection of pretty pics he took from 1977 to 1980.   Artists include Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Deborah Harry, Patti Smith, John Cale, The Viletones, Teenage Head, The Ugly, Cardboard Brains, The Ramones, Frank Zappa, and The Diodes.  Opening night is Thursday, June 10, from seven ’til eleven, and it runs to June 24.  Oz Studios, 134 Ossington, curated by photographer Joe Fuda.

Classic!

Once you’ve taken a look at some of Vince’s pics, you should not miss Andy (Adny) Shernoff, ex-Dictator and ex-cellent songwriter as he spins tales and plays acoustic guitar at Mitzi’s Sister in Toronto, starts at ten.   Teenage Head’s Gord Lewis opens.  If you can’t catch Adny in Toronto, he’s also doing “When Giants Walked The Earth — A Musical Memoir By Andy Shernoff” at Call the Office in London on June 11th, and  This Ain’t Hollywood in Hamilton on June 12.  Were The Dictators one of the best bands to come out of the U.S. of A?  Absolutely.  Did their roadie turned lead singer name himself after the province and/or state that most resembled a penis?  Sure did.  (Sorry, Florida, you just don’t cut it next to studly Manitoba.)  And did Andy write some of the funniest lyrics ever?  You bet:

“Oh Weekend
Bobby is a local punk
Cuttin’ school and getting drunk
Eating at Mcdonald’s for lunch

Oh Weekend
Soon he threw up in the store
But if he does it anymore
I’ll make him eat it off the floor.

The Horseshoe Tavern, June 1978.  So far we’re batting .500 on interviews from this poster.

We’re trying to work out an interview, and dying to ask the question that has been on many a Dictators’ fan’s mind:  Just wtf is a two tub man?  Check out The Andy Shernoff Appreciation Society on Facebook for dates in the States.

Meanwhile, while you’re all out there looking at pictures and listening to stories about growing up with Johnny Thunders and stuff, we’re working people!  Tomorrow night co-director Kire Paputts tracks down The Diodes.  News at eleven.

Cover of the book by Maria Raha

“Cinderella punks” is the phrase The Existers’ George Higton used to describe  the recent resurgence of first-wave punks.   We can only report what’s been going on in Toronto the past couple of years — new material by The Scenics and The Existers;  rereleases by Simply Saucer and The Mods;  old material redux by Teenage Head;  live recordings from 1977 by The Viletones and shows and mini-tours galore. And there’s an international thing happening too.  The Sex Pistols last year, The Vibrators, The Buzzcocks et al — and New York City is not letting us down and are doing it right:  the latest release from The New York Dolls got terrific reviews, and Iggy is still Iggy (except that he’s recently learned that it’s not so cool to dive into the audience anymore;  “Nobody was there to catch me!”)   Are the original first-wavers finally getting some respect?  Maybe so.  Probably not.

J. Osterberg;  photo from the ‘net, photographer unknown.

When celebrity-of-the-minute George Clooney‘s latest squeeze meanly states that Jennifer Aniston is starting to look a  lot like Iggy Pop, well, uh…we’re actually not sure how to take that.   Four-year-old kids wear Ramones T-shirts, and you can’t go to a major sporting event without hearing The Ramones screaming “Hey, ho — let’s go,” (competing with the unfathomable overuse of the theme song from The Adamms Family — what is that all about?) – shit you would just not have had a chance of hearing at any gathering of more than 75 people thirty years ago.   And you might even get beaten up for it.   (Btw — can the American Federation of Musicians get off their lazy asses and maybe fight for some royalties for these people?)

What the fuck?

So where do we start, Cinderalla Punk fanboys and fangirls?   The Diodes continue the mini-tour that kicked off in Rome, and play with The New York Dolls in beautiful Burlington July 16;  same night, Iggy and the Stooges play a free show at Dundas Square (a.k.a. garish Times Square Junior) — try and give up that standard Saturday afternoon nap, people! Grampa’s gonna rock out with his cock out!  Cheetah Chrome and Sylvain Sylvains‘ new project, The Batusis, with Toronto’s own Cynthia Ross and her New York Junk playing that old vaudeville house on Queen East, what’s it called, The Opera House!  In July sometime, more news later, presented by Gary Topp.

After almost four years of shooting for The Last Pogo Jumps Again, here’s a list of all the local bands from the specific era September 24 1976 to December 1 1978 that we’ve represented in the film:    The Androids,  Arson, The Battered Wives, The B-Girls, The Cads, Cardboard Brains, Crash Kills Five, The Curse, The Dents, The Demics, The Diodes, Drastic Measures, The Existers, The Fits, Forgotten Rebels, The Government, Johnny & The G-Rays, Lance Charles Syndrome, Martha & The Muffins, The Mods, Nash the Slash, Oh Those Pants!, Rough Trade, The Scenics, The Secrets, Simply Saucer, The Skulls, Swollen Members, Teenage Head, The Toys, Tyranna, The Ugly, and The Viletones.   We’re still trying to interview someone from The Dishes, The Poles, The Everglades and a few others.  Who have we forgotten?

In addition to those local bands, we’ve also spoken to members of The Police, The Dead Boys, Goddo, The Heartbreakers, Fucked Up, The Ramones, and The Stranglers and several dozen fans, critics, photographers, managers, hangers-on etc.  We’ve dug up rare, and in some cases “never before seen” footage of Teenage Head, Viletones, Ugly, Mods, Government, Secrets, Scenics, Cardboard Brains, Johnny & The G-Rays;  the Original 99 Cent Roxy Theatre, the New Yorker Theatre, Yonge Street in the mid-seventies, and more.

We’re trying to nail down the very last of the interviews in the next few weeks so we can meet our deadline of having this sucker packaged up and ready to ship out by the end of the summer this year.  So if you can think of anyone we’ve missed, dissed or pissed off, please let us know.

The B-movie Caged Heat was shown often at Gary Topp’s The Original 99 Cent Roxy Theatre in Toronto in the mid-seventies.  Written and directed by Jonathon Demme, with an original score by John Cale.   Demme would go on to direct (among many films), The Talking Heads‘ concert film Stop Making Sense.

John Cale would play the New Yorker (Gary Topp‘s new venue) theatre in February of 1977, fanning the flames that the Ramones had sparked four months earlier when they kick-started the “punk” scene in Toronto on September 24, 1976 on the very same stage.   Cale was (and still is) a living legend, and did not disappoint.   He ended his blistering set on his hands and knees, gathering up mike and amp chords in his mouth, crawling off the stage, hundreds of pounds of amps and mikes falling and trailing behind him, pure anarchic and hilarious theatrics, feedback humming and screeching, until finally hiding behind the curtain stage right.   The Wizard of Fucking Oz.    And the packed house might have collectively thought:  “Whoa.  We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.”

The first encore was Cable Hogue, and then This Heart of Mine.   The Ballad of Cable Hogue was a 1970 movie directed by bad-ass genius Sam Peckinpah that was also shown often at The Original 99 Cent Roxy.   Cale would later write Honi Soit (qui mal y pense), which could be translated, more or less, as “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,”  the cut-line of the movie.  Or more accurately, “Evil be to him who thinks Evil.”

The Talking Heads would play their first gig in Toronto at A Space, artistic home of agit-prop theatrical group The Hummer Sisters and soon-to-be band The Government, fronted by the enigmatic talent Andrew Paterson.  Their second gig was at OCA, home of emerging bands like The Cads, Oh Those Pants, The Dishes, The Doncasters, The Eels (soon to evolve into The Diodes) the seeds of Johnny & The G-Rays and more.   The third gig Talking Heads in Toronto, and the first that including keyboardist Jerry Harrison, was at The New Yorker.  Upstart unknowns The Scenics would get the coveted opening slot, much to the disgust of other bands who felt that they deserved it.   The Scenics made as many fans as enemies that night.

The New Yorker Theatre, before the stage was built, courtesy Toronto Archives.

To be continued…

Everyone’s getting busy with the Kwanza/Hannukuh/Christmas (pick-your-own-pagan-holiday) season getting started, so we won’t be posting very often over the next few weeks.   But it’s not like we’re not doing anything.  Far from it, dear blog readers.  Far fucking from it.

Left Coast Second Unit Director (L.A. Division) Amy Bellings is on the case, getting ready to chat with graphic artist/photographer Rodney Bowes on the beach in Los Angeles, and find out all about Rodney’s take on the original punk scene in Toronto for our epically titled multi-platform feature film extravaganza The Last Pogo Jumps Again:  A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978.

The Last Pogo Jumps Again Christmas party, 2009

Co-director Aldo Erdic is putting the finishing touches on his nifty half-hour Diodes documentary circa 1977:  The Diodes, and needs to put that to bed before diving back into the 900+ minutes of footage from 2008′s Last Pogo 30th Anniversary show, certain to be one of the many DVD extras on our project, the tortuously tongue-tied project titled The Last Pogo Jumps Again:  A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978, scheduled for release next year.

We love the fact that Santa gave up undressing halfway through taking his right sock off.  That and the nutsack peeking out.

Producer/co-director Colin Brunton is busy working on a kids TV show and killing time between shots and meetings collecting more jpgs (thanks Imants, Gail, Robert, Patrick, etc.) and pondering ways to release the cumbersomely yet very accurately titled multi-media monster The Last Pogo Jumps Again:  A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978 and reminding people that the DVD of The Last Pogo is still available, and it’s only twelve bucks.  $12.00! The Last Pogo Jumps Again Shipping & Receiving Department awaits your orders.  Just click on the “Store” link on the left.

Co-director/editor Kire Paputts continues to upload the interview footage of late (Tibor Takacs, Lucasta Ross, Joe Keithley) and tinker with our four and a half-hour cut, and is excitedly getting prepped to shoot his new half-hour short film — working title Roadkill (WTF?!) — with local talents Julian Richings, David Huband and Amy Rutherford.

Julian Richings, actor.   Really, who else would you cast to play John Cale in a movie?  One of Canada’s best.

Cue the creepy music sting as Julian’s silent and sullen lead character cuts open and prepares to exact his taxidermy skills on a dead animal.   Then get your hankies out for the ending (and not in a Pee-Wee Herman type way, if you know what I mean, and I think that you do. )

John Cale, musician.  Really, who else would you cast to play Julian Richings in a movie?  One of Wales’ best.

Wheeee!

But maybe most exciting music-wise over the next while is the show next Tuesday the 15th at the Cameron Tavern.

Steven Leckie at the Last Pogo 30th party;  photo by Edie Stiener.

Original Toronto punk/artist/provocateur Steven Leckie will hit the stage with new band Fleur de Mal, featuring keyboardist Alex Topp and guitarist/percussionist Blair Richard Martin (late of 80′s band The Raving Mojos) at a show at the soon-to-be-missing, never-to-be-forgetting Queen Street West landmark Cameron Tavern.

Alex Topp with Steven Leckie & The Solutions! at The Last Pogo 30th, 2008; photo Edie Stiener.

With arrangements by the talented Ms. Topp, the eight-piece band Alex has assembled (WTF?!) for this one-time-only show will be performing crazily inventive covers of two Velvet Undergound songs.   And we’re guessing that this is a show That Should Not Be Missed.

L – R: Somebody’s arm, Alex Topp, somebody, Andrew Haughton (Major Grey) and Gary Topp.

Also playing that night are catchy tunesters Major Grey and Lorraine Leckie, (who amongst other things happens to be Steven Leckie’s ex.)  A winter’s evening of history in a building doomed to a duller fate.  $10.  Be there, and dress nice ’cause we’ll probably shoot it.

And speaking of the soon-to-be potentially Disney-fied version of it’s former self Cameron Tavern, veteran punk, killer bass player and infamous coxman Sam Ferrara is displaying his metal sculpture wares there at his annual holiday show.  Opening night is Thursday, December 9th.  Get there fast and stick a red dot on something, ’cause Sam’s stuff goes fast.

Google artist Teppo Manninen for more neat drawings like this.

Pink Eyes gives the one-finger salute to some band he doesn’t like.  Photo Kire Paputts

Fucked Up‘s Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham spent an hour being interviewed for The Last Pogo Jumps Again in one of his favourite hang-outs, used vinyl store Hit’s ‘n’ Misses.  Waxing poetic about the influence of first-wave punk and raving about the Toronto bands that inspired him — The Viletones, The Diodes & more –  he was a real gentleman, punk though he may be.

Meanwhile, the Filthy Lucre Division at Pogo H.Q. fretted about the budget needed to finish the film properly (any millionaires out there, please check in.)

Film lab Technicolor made our eyes go all watery and glazed explaining the byzantine steps required these days to transfer 16mm negative — a fresh and spanking clean dub of Elizabeth Aikenhead & Colin Brunton’s short film Bollocks coming soon — to digital.  Bollocks was the film Liz and Colin made while taking a film course at the old Toronto Filmmakers’ Co-op, taken to school by teacher Patrick Lee (who a year later would co-direct and edit The Last Pogo) and shot at David’s on Hallowe’en 1977, featuring The Ugly and The Viletones (unbelievably, we couldn’t afford to bring a sound recordist with us, so no live music, but we’ve got a way of getting this into The Last Pogo Jumps Again.

While West Coast Director Tristan Orchard planned his interview with D.O.A.’s Joey Shithead, slated for next week, senior Pogo archivist Imants Krumins dug deep into his personal stash, and sent us PDFs of The Skulls (pre D.O.A., and for at least a few months in ’77 and ’78, Toronto-based) fanzine Drones.

Thanks to Imants for copy of Drones;  and thanks to Joey Shithead and The Skulls

A long day ended at the shithole called The El Mocambo to watch The Scenics tear through an almost two hour set.  The small crowd of Scenic loyalists were not disturbed by the arrival of several emergency vehicles, because one of them called them:  The Scenics were on fire.  Catch them in Ottawa, Montreal, London and/or Hamilton in the next week.

Johnny MacLeod by The Awesome Ross Taylor.

Happy Thanksgiving (for our Canadian pals.)

The Last Pogo Jumps Again co-director Kire Paputts spent a few hours last Thursday interviewing the song-writing team of Johnny MacLeod and Harri Palm from the original most excellent first-wave new-wave punky-doodle band Johnny & The G-Rays.   M.I.A. was drummer Bent Rasmussen (now teaching diving and Ingis in Thailand) and bass-player Robert G. MacDonald.   For those of you who remember and those that might be visiting this site for some schooling, Johnny & The G-Rays were distinguished by terrific song-writing and great live shows, and were a big part of that sprawling wild scene that our film is focusing on.

After spending a couple of years in England, Johnny made his way back to Toronto when the whole new-wave thing was starting, and while his O.C.A. (Ontario College of Art) pals were doing their thing, he opted to put a band together called The Country Lads, playing country standards.    Sharing a bill with The Eels at an O.C.A. gig, Johnny palled up to Eels’ Bent Rasmussen and Harri Palm;  Harri quit the band after the gig, but Bent hung on to watch The Eels transform into an early incarnation of The Diodes.   Not long after, both without bands, Harri and Johnny sat around and jammed (yes, you can still use that term and not sound like a fan of The Grateful Dead), recruited Bent, and Johnny & The G-Rays were born.   In a quid pro quo kinda deal, Johnny and Harri are going to trade footage with the editors at Pogo H.Q. for our respective projects (a plan is afoot for a G-Rays doc.)

Stay tuned.  And enjoy your turkey.  Or tofurkey.  Or Avocado and Gelatin Turkey.  Mmmm…avocado and gelatin turkey…

Kat Citroen, touring her art show in Germany with husband Richard Citroen (ex-drummer boy of The Diodes) sent us these pics from the Ramones Museum in Berlin.  Kat promises to bring The Last Pogo Jumps Again crew a Ramones Museum bumper sticker to adorn the Pogomobile.  Heil, ho!