Wongin’ the pog

Keith Richards’ diary, Friday 15, 1963

Red Lion
Can’t get any sound out of this place
Punch up during session
Effered Richmond Station Hotel every su. from coming sun. Windfall.

On the inside cover of the diary is written the phrase « Wongin’ the pog. » And next to that, under the personal-notes section, « In case of Accident Please Inform », I’ve written, « My Mum ». No details.
« Wongin’ the pog » was when we’d look at all these people dancing around, hanging from rafters, going crazy. « What are they doing? » « They’re wongin’ the pog, ain’t they? » « At least we got them wongin’ the pog. » It meant you got paid. The gigs were getting tight and hot. We had this groundswell going on in London. When you’ve got three queues going round a whole damn block waiting to get into a show, you say we’ve got something going here. This is no longer just us begging. All we need to do now is to nurture this thing.

Keith Richards, LIFE, W&F, 2010.