speed freaks

By the power of youtube, the aforementioned Mike Vallely segment from the 1989 santa cruz video, speed freaks. I remember watching it over and over at a friends and being blown away, then skating SO hard the hours following, amped on this section.

At the time, Vallely had just done the unthinkable and left the bones brigade, the biggest team in skateboarding, joining punk upstarts World industries, which seemed incomprehensible to us. He followed it by releasing the first "double ended" pro model featuring the iconic barnyard graphic. This shape was revoloutionary and it, and the decks that emulated it, had an effect on street skating which cannot be underestimated. The "pill shape" deck is still the industry standard today.

If you want to follow me down memory lane have a look at Mike's website here.

There's a documentary in the works about the Bones Brigade, with Stacy Peralta behind the lens, the man largely responsible for the team originally and one of the originators of the skate video itself, it should be something to look forward to.