The Last Pogo Jumps Again

It’s a feature covering the punk scene in Toronto between the period the Ramones hit the floor running at the New Yorker in September ‘76 to when the cops gave Teenage Head the boot at The Last Pogo in December ‘78.

(On December 1, 1978, legendary Toronto promoters The Garys (Topp and Cormier), on the verge of losing the Horseshoe Tavern, presented The Last Pogo, the last blast, the best going-away party ever, the proverbial nail in the coffin, before moving into their new digs, The Edge.

The Gary’s favourite local bands were booked to play: The Scenics, The Cardboard Brains, The Secrets, The Mods, The Ugly, The Viletones, and Teenage head. The evening ended with the cops shutting down the club and the audience tearing the place to bits).

Using The Last Pogo as a starting point, filmmaker Colin Brunton and a gang of kindred spirits have been tracking down and shooting dozens of people who were involved in what was arguably the most exciting two years of music in Toronto. The red-haired stepchild of Michael Apted’s SEVEN UP and Christopher Guest’s THIS IS SPINAL TAP, THE LAST POGO JUMPS AGAIN will be a multi-disc dvd set for release on December 1, 2008, the 30th anniversary of The Last Pogo.

We need stuff

Photos, footage, buttons, t-shirts, and high-school essays; fake i.d., arrest warrants, set lists; scars, tattoos, leather jackets and ripped-jeans. Drop a dime, talk some trash, break a heart, do a little dance, make a little love, and get down with our crew. We’ll sift through the evidence, scan your DNA, corroborate witnesses, record your stories, and gift you with a fabulous Last Pogo t-shirt, a million brownie points, and some very un-punk-like good karma, man.

Who we are

Colin Brunton (Producer/Director): After producing and directing THE LAST POGO, Colin produced the feature films ROADKILL and HIGHWAY 61; exec-produced CUBE; directed the Jandek concert film DUALITY OF SELF, and currently produces the TV series LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE.

Kire Paputts (Director) is the son of original Viletone Chris Haight, and produced and directed the outstanding documentary ONLY I KNOW. Kire gave up his dream of selling jeans at The Bay to join the party.

Suzanne Naughton (Director) was at The Last Pogo and directed the seminal punk rock shorts AN AFTERNOON AT NEW ROSE and MONDO PUNK. She currently edjamucates new punks in film and civil-disobedience at Ryerson Polytechnical University.

Blair Richard Martin (Director) used to sing lead for THE RAVING MOJOS, is making his own documentary about the Toronto punk scene and makes YouTube videos that garner hits in the hundreds of thousands.

Aldo Erdic (Director): investment banker by day, punk rock archivist by night, Aldo has spent years chronicling punk bands new and old in Toronto. Scared of Kryptonite but able to leap small buildings.

Tristan Orchard (Director) covers the West Coast and all the folks from Toronto who went out west, young man. In his spare time, he organizes something called “The Pissing Contest”.

Richard Fiander (Director, cinematographer) is the guy with the eye and fearless with the f stop. Likes to hang out with circus people.

There’s a ton of other people who’ve helped out too, not the least of which is Gary Topp and David Quinton-Steinberg, but the list is endless. Almost. Check out the IMDB for more names and info.