When We Was Rad: Skateboard History from UK Vintage Magazine

A brilliant composite ad for Alex Moul, Death Box wunderkid at the time, Pete Dosset’s new deck and DoDo wheels. And a very prominent Vision patch too — shoe sponsors were probably the coming thing then. Does anyone have any idea who took the picture, please? Several photographers who were destined for great things were emerging in Death Box near Milton Keynes around this time.

In this issue the new products page concentrated on relatively few companies: Airbourne, Zorlac, Shut, Mike Smith’s Liberty and Minus K. I think Minus K was the small company pressing decks in Bristol. The Zorlac section mentions a new model from the Abrook brothers.
This is another page which would benefit from re-typing all the text so that you can read it properly, but I’m afraid I’m pushed for time at the moment. I may try and get back to this later!

NSA Pro Final: Hwak, Gator Bod!
Tony Hawk confirmed his position as the top pro skater yet again at the NSA pro finals in Florida just before Christmas. It’s almost as if the real contest is for second place these days and in St Petersburg this time Gator was totally on form. But the biggest stoke for European skaters must be the news that Bod Boyle took third in a field which included all the very best skaters in the world.
Boq qualified in first place, with the highest number of points despite skating in the first group in the elimination rounds where judges have a tendency to mark low. That meant that he not only went straight through to the final without having to skate any intermediate rounds, but also skated last in the final — the favourite spot. Continue Reading »

Academy Awards
A Delirium inspired celebration at the end of a decade at Brixton’s Academy Theatre ran the Snakes Lane New Year race a close second as skate non-event of the holiday season. At Snakes Lane only three people showed up to race. The turn out at the Academy was much better with Rodga Harvey, Matt Bain, Shane O’Brien, Mike Manzouri, Mick Forster and Paul Wright on boards and Craig Campbell on bike, but the ramp was a nightmare, about 6.5 feet wide, soggy, and with no flat bottom to start with. To make matters worse, it was perched on a stage with no possibility for riding out and there were no safety nets. Continue Reading »

• Features
1. Win a Rareunit Mini-ramp. No Way 16
2. In Through The Outdoor. Winter Street 22
3. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. One of Those Things 31
4. Jeremy Henderson. On Shut and Skating 40
• Departments
1. Ears. Is 6
2. Letters. Harrassment Special 14
3. Steve Douglas. Back 15
4. Encyclopaedia. G 18
5. Wall. Penfriends? 46
6. Intros. Jason Lunn, Russ Goodman, Paul Davidson. 48
7. Comp Circuit. Australia, Texas and Birmingham. 52
8. Back Door View. by Joe Millson 62

Seek, find
Be yourself
Don’t follow the heard
Don’t repeat, in spite of ‘encores’
Have Fun. If not you’ll bore us.

One of Gavin Hills’ trademarks (apart from the spelling) was the quotation or aphorism with which he annointed each issue. At this point they appeared on the contents pages, but later they moved to the cover. Continue Reading »

This Rollernsakes advert is a classic if you want to see what prices were like in 1990. Santa Cruz, S.M.A and Magnusson decks all cost £43.99 while Powell and G & S were £47.99. A Death Box board would set you back £40.
Stussy T-shirts were £14.99, Stussy TomTom shirts cost £32.99 and their Homeboy Jacket was yours for £200. They even stocked Anarchic Adjustment at £11.99.
In the shoe section we find Continue Reading »

Grant Brittain supplied the photograph for this Vision advert. For some reason it shows their Californian address instead of the usual address for Shiner, their British distributors.

Wurzel featured on the cover of Issue 84 of R.a.D Magazine at the start of 1990, in a crisp winter’s shot from Cantelowes. Cover lines were:

• Sick Competition — Win a mini-ramp
• Street –Outdoors vs In — Why Choose
• Worldwide Comp Circuit — Oz UK USA
• The Pursuit of Happiness

The cover price was £1.00.
The scanned image in the R.a.D logo and the paint-splattered background for the cover itself showed the distinctive style of Ian Lawson. The even more remarkable thing about this cover Continue Reading »

The legendary Dave Currey was both the featured rider and the designer of the advert. He also did the graphics on the scooter itself. Dave was a colossal influence at this time, but largely unrecognised — the Pacer advert hints at the work he was to do later for Vision. He then went on to do some astonishing work online as one of the pioneers of all-out interactivity and VR. Few people have been so prolific or capable of working so fast. Few people have so many wild stories associated with them. He’s also one of the kindest people around.

For most of R.a.D’s life Santa Cruz had a lock on the back cover, but this issue has no adverts from their distributor, Shiner, at all — as far as I can make out. I can only guess at the reason. Shiner helped kick-start R.a.D and the skateboard revival by funding the original Skate Action pullout supplement in BMX Action Bike and they were the most solid advertisers in the magazine throughout its life.