Watch Blondie's Debbie Harry on a pogo stick explaining the punk Pogo dance (1978)

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/14/watch-blondies-debbie-harry.html

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You can see a fellow doing something similar (I won’t swear it exactly corresponds to the “punk pogo” but it’s close enough) in The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. His explanation is that he danced like that to keep an eye on his girlfriend. (Explanation from the Criterion extras.)

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Oh my gawd the Joisey accent! I don’t remember her talking like that in Videodrome. I didn’t realize I could love Debbie Harry more.

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Heh. The Pogo was great for someone as talentless at dancing as me–I loved it. A group of us went to a country music venue and did the Pogo and Slam danced the night away, much to the horror of the assembled C&W crowd. Ah, to be young and stupid again. Well, young.

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Amen, friend. Debbie Harry is, and will always be, a Goddess.

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Were many live shows edited like this back then? Or did they get creative because she’s hopping up and down while potentially bra-less?

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I pogoed at my school prom in '82 in a small Texas town. Classmates were quite upset with me. Mission accomplished.

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I always just thought it was the natural dance that happened when you were crowded to the front stage by the mosh pits behind you so that there wasn’t enough room to do anything else.

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That thought crossed my mind as I cursed the camera man.

LOL@ that whole last section of the Wikipedia quote. As if you couldn’t see some girls pogoing at a Frank Sinatra show to get a better view of the stage.

Also adding a weird reference to Pink Floyd being previously called “The Pink Floyd”, something that Brits seem to do randomly every once in a while even today.

My guess is the only special effect they can do is turning the A-FADE-B dial until that sweet effect is achieved.

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Lies! It is LOGOing and they are all attempting to follow the turtle’s commands.

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image

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Until she wades into things she doesn’t understand.

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Kids in Germany at The Monks’ mid-60s shows pogo’d - but they called it Hop.

It’s beat time, it’s hop time, it’s Monk time!

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I recall a poetic version of the origins of the Pogo:

A short punk
at the back
couldn’t see the band.

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