WEBVTT - How Skateboarding Works 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to you Stuff you should know from house stuff 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:12.520 Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.880 Josh Clark and Charles W. Chuck Bryant's with me, so 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.080 stuff you should know. And Jerry of course is here, 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:21.520 who just celebrated a birthday. Yeah, happy birthday, Jerry in 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.120 Valentine's Day. Run our Indian sweat lodge that we call 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:29.400 a recording booth. Yeah, man, that's hot. Yeah. Part of 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.600 it's this thing. You want to turn this off, just 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.479 this It really does put out a tremendous amount of heat. Yeah, 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:36.400 Josh's we have a lamp on our table that we 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.400 used to see. Well we can't see any longer. Oh 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:44.080 well blin'd blind. Yeah, that did make it like three 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.600 cooler immediately. Yeah, it's that lamp. It's the lamp. And 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.120 then like you know, just people generating heating here. Yeah, 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:56.959 podcasters were a ball me bunch, the blusters, a herd 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.840 of oxen in the corner. And it doesn't help. It's 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:02.000 been the best intro ever I think. Do you think that? 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:06.280 I think so you're not being facetious. No, you know 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.039 the word facetious. What do you got for me? Well, 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.440 when I was younger, I knew the word facetious. It 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:13.560 was a word that my dad used a lot, so 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:18.360 I used it in like regular conversation correct yeah, okay, 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.279 but I've never seen it written out, or so I thought. 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.440 And then finally one day I ran across in a 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.360 book again this word I kept coming up on, and 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:34.160 I was like, what is that word fastidious? Facidious, facious? 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.039 And I was like, that's facetious. I don't know that 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.080 I've seen it spelled either. Yeah, it looks like factious, 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:42.400 you know, it looks like facet like a facet of 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.400 a jewel or something. And then E s I O 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.440 U S. Yeah, there's no I would have so bombed 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.320 the spelling of that, right. But the thing is, it's 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.600 like I was using it correctly in conversation, and I 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:55.840 had seen it in books. I just never put the 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:58.480 two together until finally one day it clicked and you 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.440 had to get your tattoo changed. Facetious across the back 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:09.520 of your neck in the heart, all right. So um skateboarding. Yeah, 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.040 about the same time that I realized the word facetious 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:15.920 when it was correctly spelled, as I was skateboarding at 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.040 the time. So that's how it ties in that was 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.480 a little skateboarder for a long time. Yeah, I was too. 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.560 I Um, I did not. I'm not old enough to 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.040 where I saw all the different waves of skateboarding. Of 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:32.520 the four, but the first two I saw, I didn't 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.440 see the first one. That's pretty funny. That would mean 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:40.960 I'm dead now. There's plenty of old boarders out there, sure, yeah, 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.760 but I was of the age where I definitely had 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:50.120 the um small sort of plastic board with the single 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:56.519 little tail on the back only and clay wheels. No, no, yeah, 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:01.200 clay wheels. It seems to me like that the skateboards 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:04.200 from from biblical times. Clay wheels. That's what I think 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.560 of when I see clay wheels. What do they even 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:12.200 look like? Uh? Just brown? Were they super dangerous? Well? Yeah, 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.280 And if you've seen the great documentary um Dogtown and 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.200 z Boys they go over. It's a really good doc 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.280 by the way, like amazing footage that they have and 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:26.560 good music and highly recommended over the movie version. The 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:30.320 Lords of Dogtown was Val Kilmer in that, No, Heath 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:35.800 Ledger was. He played the the mentor. I can't remember 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:39.080 his name. Skip the Zephyr Crew, yes, skip skip Skip 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:43.000 went on to found Santa Monic Airline Skateboards. Yeah, yeah, 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.560 he was. He stayed on. It's like a big influence 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.080 in skateboarding's good. So anyway, I just wanted to point 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.200 out that I have branched a few different Like I 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.000 started with a little clay one, and then in high 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:57.280 school is when I got the big, huge fat skateboard 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.840 when they were super obnoxious. Yeah, let's see, that's when 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:05.720 I came into skating. Four had like a nice Lance Mountain. Um, 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:07.640 it was my first board. My first board, remember the 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:11.680 Nash tough tops there was it was blank on the bottom, 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:13.960 there were no graphics, but on the top cut out 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.200 in the grip tape was like a star that looked 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.480 kind of like a saw blade circular saw blade. And 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.400 then the big difference was the different colors of the 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.400 board underneath blue or pink or yellow or what it 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:30.240 was like neon green. Yeah, you're a big fat one. 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.279 Yeah and looking back like kind of corny. And I 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.919 think after that is when like true skater started being like, 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:38.600 you know, we don't really care that much about like 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.440 awesome graphics, Like we just want a good board, good board. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.200 You wanted some rib bones, on the side. You remember 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.520 those underneath. Yeah, yeah, but I don't think people like 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.279 those now either. Oh no, not anymore skaters. No, that 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.760 that the whole point of those. I think it was, 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.200 you know, to let you rail slide or whatever easier. 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.480 But I think it was also to protect those graphics too. 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.440 They told he was because I had a little big 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.520 plastic bumper under the tailpiece too, which is counterintuitive to 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:09.599 the tricks. Yeah, but I mean, like, who cares about 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.760 protecting the tail It's weird. Yeah. I was also a 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.920 nosebone too. That was not never very good. Oh I 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.680 wasn't either. I don't mean to give that. I mean 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.520 I spent a lot of our skating and I never 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:23.719 got very good. I think I pulled off one kick 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.440 flip once, really once. That's good. I thought it was 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.760 pretty good too. That is the trick that you most 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:33.680 often see kids not landing driving down the street. If 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.120 you ever see a kid like I, rarely see a 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.000 successful kickflip just on the sidewalk. Oh yeah. If you 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.560 see somebody who pulls off a kick flip, the chances 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.360 are there somebody filming them because they know that they're 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.000 going to be able to pull off the kickflip in 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:49.960 l A. Actually I would see more, you know, obviously 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:56.080 better skaters out there in New York. Yeah, all right, skateboarding. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:57.840 Should we get going with a little history. Yeah, let's 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.960 talk about the history of this. This this is so 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.239 close to my heart. Man, I fell down the rabbit 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:06.159 hole to day watching like old skate videos and like 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.120 checking out old Powell Peralta boards. That was my dam 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.240 was Powell. Well, we mentioned that there have been four 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:18.840 distinct waves of skateboarding starting in UH ninety nine, and 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.800 each new wave like it's it's just waned in popularity 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.640 here and there and then come back strong or in 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:31.039 stronger due to either UH advances mainly in like skateboard 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:37.119 technology right and trickery, yes, and um parental acceptance. Because 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.599 it never really goes away. Skateboarding is either ever since 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:45.200 its inception, it's either been mainstream or else forced underground 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:48.120 and like practiced by juvenile delinquents who kind of kept 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.000 it going and advanced it quietly until it came back 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.719 into the mainstream and parents were like, Okay, you guys 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:57.680 can skate again. But the true origin of the skateboard, 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.400 the first one that came out, the first commercial produced 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.400 when it was in nineteen fifty nine. It's called the 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.760 roller derbry skate. Yeah. And before that, you know, if 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:07.839 you've seen the movie Back to the Future when Martin 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:09.960 might Fly rips the little milk crate off the front 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.720 of the homemade wooden scooter, that was where skateboards really 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.720 came from. You just you know, it was a sort 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.480 of a homemade deal with like a peach crate as 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:22.200 the front of your scooter, a couple of handles. Yes, 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.560 steal wheels from roller skates, yeah, and that was super dangerous, right, 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:27.480 But like you say, if you take the peach crate 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:29.640 off and take the handles off, you have that two 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.080 by four with the roller skate wheels. And they don't 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.520 know exactly who did it. They think actually several people 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:39.000 probably did it simultaneously Marty right in the forties. They 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.800 think surfers in California did it. There are kids in 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.160 France that were seen doing it in the forties, so 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.800 it kind of spread. It happened, it arose independently around 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:51.080 the world at about the same time. That's called the zeitgeist. 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.120 That is my friend. So now we're in the nineties, 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:57.559 early nineteen sixties and it was I mean it really 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.960 took off like a rocket in the first few years 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.880 of the nineteen sixties. Like fifty million skateboards were sold 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.880 in those first three years and it was everywhere. Yeah, 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:09.880 it was like the hot new craze. Well it was 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.360 like also like hula hoops and things like that, Like 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:16.280 it was America was in a crazy mood, a craze mood, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.080 like whatever the big thing was, Yeah, and skateboard fell 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.600 into that big time. The problem is, uh, they were 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:27.880 pretty dangerous. There wasn't a lot you could do with 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:32.319 them now they because again there's steel wheels there. It's 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.760 basically two by four on steel wheels, ride down the 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:37.920 street and you could fall off of it exactly. That 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:42.600 was so and I think because of the safety concerns 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.480 overnight skateboarding just went away in like nineteen sixty five. 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.280 It was over, but it's still kind of stayed somewhat 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:54.120 popular as a thing to do among surfers. When the 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.120 waves weren't breaking, Um, they would just kind of sidewalk 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:01.000 surface what they called it, And they never really saw 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:06.280 it as anything bigger than a supplement to surfing. It 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.440 was just kind of like it wasn't its own thing 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:15.800 until uh the sixties, the late sixties or the early seventies, 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.439 when clay wheels came about. You could do a little 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:21.840 more stuff. I think, Well, clay was better than the 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.640 steel wheels, but still bad. And that's hit a rock 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:27.840 in the road your toast, and like that's when people 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.040 started dying from skateboards, which kind of led to its 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:36.040 decline again. Sure, and then some surfers, the Zephyr Crew 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.840 are the ones who like broke skateboarding out once and 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:43.200 for all. Well, yeah, thanks to uh Frank Nasworthy's invention 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.560 of the Eurothane wheel in nineteen seventy two. Uh he 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.120 founded Cadillac Wheels, and all of a sudden, it was 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:54.800 like a smooth, like steady, silent experience on a skateboard 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.080 for the first time. And then you changed everything it 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.640 did because it could grip. Um, it wasn't just that 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.520 it was it rumbly any longer like that. You're a 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:07.240 thing could grip like concrete or pavement. Yeah, instead of 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:11.880 just stopping and um, yeah, all of a sudden, there 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.880 were way more surfaces that could be skated. And that 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:20.640 plus the invention of the truck, yeah, which is basically 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.160 an axle for your wheels that not only allows the 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:26.280 wheels to revolve more smoothly, especially when you add a 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:30.079 set of bearings, but it also allows you to maneuver 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.920 to the left or the right, which is a big deal. 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:37.319 Kind of opens things up there, twisty. And then the 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.439 kicktail also changed everything. All these kind of came together 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.079 at about the same time. Yeah, and you mentioned the 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:48.679 Zephyr Crew in ve that held the first um uh 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:53.600 basically competition in Delmark, California, and that's when and if 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:55.640 you've seen the documentary, it's pretty great. I mean they 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.520 had sort of the holdovers from the sixties doing like 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:02.480 handstands and all these sort of square, antiquated moves, and 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.160 then these little punks came in there and just like 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:07.959 toward the place up and like the judges didn't know 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:09.760 how to judge them at the time because they've never 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.719 seen anything like it. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It was 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.520 a pool. They were skating in pools right well at least, Yeah, 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:17.840 the pool thing came a little later because they um 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.520 there was a big drought in the mid seventies in 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.440 southern California and water was actually in short supply. So 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.720 people would drain their pools or not refill them or 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.360 whatever for the new summer. And so they started busting 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.280 in the backyards and skating in pools. Yeah, and they 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.200 would bring their own pumps and hoses to drain like 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:39.160 all the muck out entirely and then just like skate 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.400 that pool. And there was um at one of those pools, 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.280 a kid named Tony Alva who was in that Zephyr crew. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.840 It was Tony Alva, j Adams, and Stacy Perelta, yeah, 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:52.320 among others. Right, but those are like the big three. 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.200 Tony I was your guy, right, Stacy Perelta, Oh, I 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.200 thought you were like a huge Tony Alba dude. Okay, No, 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.240 I respect for Tony album, but no, I was always 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:06.440 pal par Alta. Um. But Tony Alva at one of 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.880 those pools kept going and going and pushing himself harder 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.360 and harder, and then one day he cleared the coping 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:17.320 of the pool and like caught air, yeah with his 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.800 hand at first, Oh, he did like a hand plant. Yeah, 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.480 that was how that originally came about. But he did 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:25.959 leave contact with the pool, and no one had ever 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.240 done that, and everyone's like, and that was like the 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.839 creation of vertue style skateboarding. UM and Alva went on 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:37.199 at like age nineteen and found his own skateboarding company. 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.079 He was the first one to use some Canadian maple Veneers, 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:45.240 which we'll talk about UM. And it was like really innovative, 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.440 especially for a nineteen year old skate punk from southern California. Yeah, 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.000 they all were. Yeah, it's pretty amazing, like this collection 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.800 of kids were. And it most of them ended up 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:59.120 being like very savvy, like wealthy businessmen like yeah. And 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.120 and right after the del Mar competition, the Zephyr crew 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.920 kind of scattered to the wind and went in and 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:10.320 found purchase and and expanded skateboarding as a sport and 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:12.559 as a theme. And one of the things that they 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.200 brought with them from having been part of a crew 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:20.320 is to form their own crews um of people that 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.760 they sponsored, which made those people pros. And those pros 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.280 would go on tour. And when those pros went on tour, 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.080 they were skating say palm Pearl to skateboards and showing 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.880 local kids what could be done with the skateboard. And 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.240 those kids would go buy pal Pearl to skateboards and 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.960 go out and skate. And it that whole idea of 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.120 doing demos on tour with pros who are sponsored by 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:47.560 skateboarding companies really helped expand skateboarding in the eighties and 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:52.680 and created that third wave where skateboarding just became it. Yeah, 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.439 I mean it was big in California and Florida. Like 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:57.520 my cousins were way into it in Florida early on. 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.319 But it really took off when kids like me and 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.360 Georgia and you and Ohio we're skiing, you know, skiing 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.840 skating up my like steep driveway and trying to do 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.280 a little one eight turns going back down like it 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.160 was a wave, and I was, you know, it was 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.640 one of those silly little kids, like was so caught 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:17.160 up in it at first. Well, I had a kid 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.880 who lived across the tracks from me who had a 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.720 half pipe, like a good half pipe that his dad 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.880 built him UM, and that was part of that rise 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:30.600 in nineteen three. I think that third wave where UM 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.840 because I should say we didn't really mention UM in 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.760 the late seventies, after Alva Skateboards was founded and and 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.160 pau Perelta was founded and all that, UM, skateboarding took 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.440 a hit mainstream wise, and it became associated with punks 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.640 and like just like like just punk kids, bad kid 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:54.040 yeah yeah, the bad kids and who literally gave skateboarding 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.800 a bad name. Um. And so it was kind of 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.240 driven underground again. And then in the early eighties that 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.920 experienced their rise and its image kind of changed a 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.240 little bit thanks to the pal Peralta team, the Bones Brigade, 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.880 who were actually like they were all young kids and 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.640 they were skateboarders and all they cared about was skating. 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.600 But they were also like kind of clean cut as 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.240 far as um as far as skateboarders went, and like 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.880 they didn't do drugs, at least they didn't publicly do drugs. 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.720 Stay was a good kid, yeah um. And so the 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.479 kids that he sponsored, like Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Steve Caballero, 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:32.880 Christian Hassoi, all those kids were good kids too, and 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:36.560 they had a tremendous amount of influence on the the 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.320 skaters who were into them, and so it kind of 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.080 changed skating's image a little bit too. It went from 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.640 like being something that like punk kids were into to 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:50.040 something all kids were into. Yeah it um. It did 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.640 go into another four year lull towards the end of 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.600 the seventies before it started coming back in the mid 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:57.640 eighties and BMX had a lot to do with it. 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.880 That became more popular and um, you know some skateboarder 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.080 magazine shut down or change names to a different you 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.240 know title, and it just like you said, it never 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.600 went away to the adherents of like like the true 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.920 underground skateboarders, right, it's always there's always somebody who's been 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.960 skating at some point ever since the ninety nine. But 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:20.880 in the mid eighties is when it definitely came back 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.000 to the big time mainstream. Yeah. And I can't tell 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.200 if it's just nostalgia on my part or else if 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.160 that was when it like really exploded, but like that 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.880 was when that was my wheelhouse. Remember the videos man, 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.800 Bones Brigade videos. Yeah, and that was another thing too. 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.920 One of the reasons why UM skateboarding was able to 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:42.760 spread as a sport or recreation or whatever UM was 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:47.400 in part the access to cheap VHS players because the 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.920 Bones Brigade made videos and people bought them, Like you 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:52.840 could go to your local skate shop and buy like 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.600 a Bones Brigade VHS tape for like twenty five or 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.040 thirty bucks. You kind of had to if you wanted 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.360 to learn the cool tricks. Right, It's like the only 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:01.920 place you could see him at the time. Yeah, and 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:03.680 then they were produced in a way like you'd want 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:05.439 to watch him again and again, like they think the 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.000 fourth one, the Search for Animal Chin, actually had like 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:11.800 a plot and everything. Yeah, so you would watch these 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:14.680 things again and again. These guys became like your heroes. 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.520 And not only were you watching them do their tricks 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.520 and and you know, watching their videos, but like you 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.160 also wore their t shirts, like you got their deck 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:24.639 and it said a lot Like I had a Mike 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.879 McGill deck. I really was into Mike McGill. I had 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.080 a Lance Mountain deck. Was really into Lance Mountain, and 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:31.919 I like Tony Hawk and everything, but I never had 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:35.000 a Tony Hawk deck like that. You identify with the 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.400 skater based on your personality type of yeah, and your style. Yeah, 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.639 style had a lot to do with it for sure. Uh. 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.479 Then there was another law in the early nineties because 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:48.200 um of the recession is what everyone seems to blame 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.960 it on. And I don't know, I thought it was weird. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.399 I don't remember that happening, But now that I think back, 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.280 late high school early college that there wasn't a lot 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.960 of like skate stuff going on in the world, and 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.080 I wasn't skating in the time, but I was still 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:03.600 just young enough to pick up on that fourth wave 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.199 in the early mid nineties. Well, thanks to the X games, 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:11.560 that's what really brought it back big time. Antony Hawk too, Yeah, 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:16.160 he kept it going. His video games definitely helped spread 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.480 that fourth waves too. Um, and I guess it's never 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:26.120 really gone away. He's bigger than ever skating. Yeah. Well, 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:31.080 another thing I think that helped is that eighties nostalgic craze. Yeah, 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.320 you know that how the eighties inform everything today. Part 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:41.240 of that was that the I guess re exploring that 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:45.080 third wave of um skateboarding. So like if you're go 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.520 into a band store, they're all like old Powell decks 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:53.640 are old like UM Vision Vision street wear decks. Yeah, 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.439 and slimeballs. Yeah. I have and I still have a 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:00.679 pair of Vans Old Schools the black and white checker No, no, no, 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:02.520 those were this, I can't remember the name of those. 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.240 The slip ons. Yeah, the Old Schools are the black. 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:07.439 They have the low top in the high top that 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:09.240 has the little sort of white wave on the side. 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.720 But um, yeah, I still wear those shoes. Ye. So uh, 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.520 I think we should talk about the skateboard itself. Um, 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:21.760 right after this message break, So CHUCKO, we're going to 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.160 talk about the skateboard itself. You promised. Yes. Um. There 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:28.919 are three main parts. You have the deck, you have 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:31.320 the trucks, and you have the wheels. And like we said, 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.040 the trucks connect the wheels to the deck and they 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:35.920 service the the axles on the front and the back 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:41.000 a little T shaped thing. Um. And I remember definitely 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:45.600 like taking a lot of time to get your trucks 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.919 the way you wanted. Some people like them really loose 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:51.960 and some people like them a little tighter. If they're looser, 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.320 you can turn more aggressively. Yeah, but you also get 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.440 wobble wheel and you get wheel. But um, yeah, I 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:00.600 like my little tighter too, Like you want to be 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:02.560 able to turn, but you also I like the stability 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:07.400 of a tighter truck. Um. You've also got your wheels, 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:10.080 which have a set of bearings. Yeah. And the wheels 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:13.919 haven't changed too much. They're still polyurethane. They've changed in 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.480 size a little bit, but it's the same basic concept 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.000 and again, it still depends on your preference. Like you 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:22.679 can buy a pre made skateboard that's all put together. 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.960 But as you know, any skate worth its salt buys, 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:28.960 the deck buys the trucks, buys the wheels that they want, 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:30.679 puts it all together. You might as well just go 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.239 to like a department store and by your skateboard, if 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.320 you're just gonna buy it all together. Yeah, with a 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:40.040 little outfit that comes with it. One out yeah. Um. 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:44.960 So the last part arguably the most important part, well 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:48.080 one of three most important parts, is it the deck? Yeah, 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:51.160 and the deck has evolved over time. We talked about 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:56.160 how the tail kicked up in the early seventies and yeah, 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:00.119 that allowed a lot of like tricks. Um. And the 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:04.080 if you look at a skateboard from the top or 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.680 the bottom were you're looking at the outline, that's called 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:09.520 the plan. And then if you look at how the 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:11.840 tail or the nose is kicked up and then the 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:15.320 concave to the interior of the skateboard which allows more 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:19.760 control and stability. Um, that's called the concave. So you 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.880 get the plan in the concave, and those are part 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:25.320 of the deck. They informed the shape and size of 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.280 the deck and um, then on top of that deck 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:30.960 you have the grip tape, which I thought that would 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.000 have been a recent innovation. Apparently grip tape was invented 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:38.639 all the way back in for scooters. They get it 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:46.160 back then, and a guy named Ferdinand's switz Offer invented it. Nice. Yeah, 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:48.040 and they changed the name from switz Offer tape to 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:52.159 grip tape. Um. Yeah. And in the eighties too that 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:54.919 the thing now is your whole board is covered with 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:57.760 grip tape. In the mid eighties, I remember, I just 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:00.560 had like there were graphics on tops said tape at 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:02.719 the front and the back, and it really didn't make 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:05.480 any sense, like you the whole thing should be grippy. Yeah, 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:08.560 but I mean, like again, the Powell graphics are pretty awesome. 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:11.840 Steve Cavalilero had that your dragon or like at least 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.159 you had the bones guy. Uh. The decks are not 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:18.720