The Last Pogo Jumps Again studies the evolution of Toronto from small town to big city and it’s pop/counter-culture lifestyle during the early and mid-70s. It centers around the first wave of Toronto punk rock and new-wave music, from the Ramones playing the New Yorker Theatre in ’76 through the police shutting down Teenage Head and causing a riot at the Horseshoe Tavern’s infamous “The Last Pogo” concert in December 1978.
London had the Sex Pistols, New York had the Ramones, but Toronto had a punk movement all it’s own. The Toronto landscape by the late ’70s was forever changed with the infusion of the DIY/Punk/Alternative Culture(s) movement. Six years in the making, The Last Pogo Jumps Again successfully explores the whys and wherefores of what was arguably one of the most exciting but misunderstood movements in Toronto’s history.
The DVD contains the 204 minute documentary, plus over a 100 minutes of added material, and a snazzy 24-page booklet. Check the Shop for details on where you can purchase it.
The Last Pogo (1978) is the documentary that chronicled the last punk rock show at the Horseshoe Tavern when it was run by legendary Toronto promoters The Garys (Topp and Cormier) featuring The Scenics, Cardboard Brains, The Secrets, The Mods, The Ugly, The Viletones and Teenage Head. The Last Pogo was released on DVD in 2008 to great reviews. Available at the Shop.
All of the following photos were done by Ross Taylor, and all taken between 1976 and 1980, and they’re all copyright. First one above is The Dead Boys’ Cheetah Chrome with the Viletones’ Steven Leckie. Cheetah is the only non-local featured in our feature doc The Last Pogo Jumps Again, because The Dead Boys played in Toronto a lot and Cheetah is awesome. 
