In the mid to late-’70s, Toronto was a swirling mess of blood, spit, spilled beer and riotous, incendiary guitar-driven noise. It was the city’s — if not the country’s — punk rock renaissance, a short-lived underground scene with a DIY aesthetic that inspired soon-to-be musicians across the country to take up guitars and speak their minds.
Bands with names like the the Diodes, Teenage Head and the Scenics played clubs like the Roxy Theatre, the New Yorker and the Crash 'n' Burn; names that have been largely forgotten today by everyone except for those who were there. What was once the Colonial Tavern, home to a thriving punk scene, is now an HMV, while ascendant bands that seemed poised to take over the world stalled out mid-climb before they really had the chance.
For those who experienced those early punk days first-hand, whether as fans, journalists, concert promoters or bands, that moment in time is one of the most important moments in Canadian music history. Unfortunately, it’s never really been treated as such.
Directors Colin Brunton and Kire Paputts hope to change that with the release of The Last Pogo Jumps Again: A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978, a documentary that begins when the Ramones played their first Canadian date at the New Yorker on Yonge Street (now the Panasonic Theatre) and ends when police kicked Teenage Head off the stage at The Last Pogo concert, leading to the city's first (and only?) punk rock riot. For many, that marked the end of an era.
“It was the perfect storm, where Toronto was really starting to change culturally,” says Brunton, who’s spent the last seven years performing interviews and compiling archival footage for the film. “Toronto was starting to get a bit cooler, because before that there really wasn’t a thing called the counterculture.”
And nothing was more counterculture than punk, which had already blown up in London and New York City but wasn’t really a thing yet in Canada. Appropriately enough, all it took was a visit from New York’s the Ramones to get things going.
“When the Ramones came to town, it sparked a whole new spirit and really gave people permission to do whatever they wanted in art,” he says. “You didn’t need training.”
It was enough to inspire Brunton, who at the time had worked at various clubs and was also driving a cab, to attempt his first short film in 1978. Called The Last Pogo, it documented what was billed as the “last punk rock concert” in Toronto, and featured the Scenics, the Cardboard Brains, the Secrets, the Mods, the Ugly, the Viletones and Teenage Head.
Brunton, who won a Genie Award in 1989 for best live action short and has produced films with Bruce McDonald, says the impetus for revisiting that film came in 2006, when he decided to introduce his then 13-year-old son to some of the punk musicians he knew from the ’70s.
Seven years and countless interviews later, Brunton has managed to capture that thriving punk scene for posterity, from the bitter rivalries that seemed to border on street gang mentality, to the colourful characters involved, such as Steven Leckie, a.k.a. "Nazi Dog," frontman for the Viletones.
“He’s an original,” says Brunton with a laugh, recalling Leckie’s first show. “It was f--king crazy, man. The place was jammed, people were doing poppers and falling all over each other, and Steven smashes his beer bottle and runs it up and down his arms. It was like, ‘Holy shit, this is amazing.’ He was very much ‘It’s my party and I’ll die if I want to.’ There was one show where he promised that he would kill himself, and of course we didn’t think he would, but we wouldn’t have been surprised if he did.”
The Viletones released three albums between 1977 and 1998, but unfortunately never blew up like the Ramones or the Sex Pistols, despite being covered by no less than Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses.
“When grunge happened, there was a thing in Seattle where you just had to listen to these Toronto punk bands,” says Brunton. “Big bands covered their songs, but nothing ever made it to an official recording. It’s a shame because that’s probably all it would have taken for them to make it big.”
The Last Pogo Jumps Again: A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978 premieres March 23 as part of Canadian Music Week. For more information visit CMWFilmfest.com.
Follow Jesse Kinos-Goodin on Twitter: @JesseKG
Related:
What’cha Readin’? Perfect Youth and the Last Pogo
What’cha Readin’? Perfect Youth – The Birth of Canadian Punk