When We Was Rad: Skateboard History from UK Vintage Magazine

Look at these deck shapes. They’re right on the point of changing: still very wide but with some of them starting to move towards the symmetry of the lozenge shape. There’s some very interesting stuff in here if you can make it out. The text will reveal more.
In order to keep to our budget we used to take these pictures on colour print film (on the balcony outside my living room window in this instance…) , then cut out the pictures and stick them all on a big bit of card so we could get them scanned in one go.

Rage was “the indispensable teen guide to dance, indie, rock, rap, tv, film… and more” according to the advert. This was another in-house Maxwell advert, but in this case there was some genuine overlap. I’m not sure what happened to Rage. I have a vague feeling that Steve Hicks, who was later to take R.a.d and Phat into some wonderful territory, worked as a designer on Rage.

Lots of stuff on new skate spots in here as well as an early announcement of what was to become the legendary Ewer Street “Arches” indoor ramp park in London and a plug for Skin’s big bay in Cardiff.

CARDIFF RE-OPENS

Yes: the Cardiff vert ramp is back in action. It’s ready for use at the Cardiff Athletic Stadium in Leckwith Road. The city seem to have gone from one extreme to the other: originally the ramp was just plonked in a corner of a car park somewhere else in Cardiff — now its located in a purpose built enclosure, surrounded by a high fence and safety flooring. There’s enough space in the enclosure to build a street course and minis, but the area will need to be tarmaced first. The safety flooring around the big ramp has also deliberately been extended wide enough to allow the addition of extra width to the ramp.

SUMMER TOUR DATES

This summer we’re likely to see more pro skaters touring in Europe than ever before. First to arrive will be Santa Cruz: they’re here from May 25th to May 26th.
Vision will be touring Britain from June 1st to June 5th. Chris Gentry’s coming, along with Buck Smith and Beau Ikeda.
The annual Bones Brigade European Extravaganza will feature Nicky Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Buck Lasek and Mike Manzouri in Britain this year. They’re here for a full week between July 7th and July 14th. Venues have yet to be announced.

LONDON RAMP PARK

The bureaucratic delays lumber on and on. And you thought all those properties were empty because people couldn’t afford the rent? Wrong: they just couldn’t find anyone who’d sign-up to accept it…
A very frustrated Messrs Kai and Danny are persevering with their plans to re-create the spirit of Rolling Thunder and Skate Circus. The pens are poised, but the bloke with the contract has gone on holiday. Laugh or cry: you choose.
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Here’s Andy Howell appealing for skate-artists to submit work for what would have been one of (the?) first books on the subject of skateboard art. I wonder if he ever received anything as a result of this?

WINCHESTER RAMP PARK

The skaters of Winchester now have somewhere new to skate courtesy of a novel arrangement between the city authorities and the local skate club. There’s a mini, a spine-mini, and a tarmac area which could be used for street stuff, in the park beside the leisure centre in the middle of the town. The builder of the ramp was also responsible for the Southsea minis, which should give a lot of you an idea what they’re like. The two sets of coping which make up the spine are a bit far apart, though, which is a shame.
The way the ramps have been financed makes the Winchester set-up very different from anything else. Jill Guppy, from the Winchester and District Skateboard Club explained how, after the usual hassling, the council came up with a deal whereby they provided a space and loaned the club some money. Unfortunately instead of just spending the money on skate stuff, the club had to use a fair bit of it to tarmac the area and fence it. The park also has to be supervised. Which means that in order to pay back the loan and the interest on it (and pay for the supervision), this has to be a “pay to skate facility” — currently £1 a session.

ARTISTS WANTED

Andy Howell is working on a book about the creative minds of skateboarding. “All skateboarders are artists, and many artists also enjoy other forms of creative expression beside (or in combination with) skateboarding itself. As an artist I want to see those people recognized in a book which presents a collective look at the artwork of the skateboarding culture.” The book will include biographies and interviews with the artists “Art in any form will be covered, and all mediums of expression are welcome, including painting, photography, sculpting, cartooning, drawing, poetry, prose, music etc.”
If you’d like to know more, write to us including a stamped addressed envelope and we’ll send you a photo-copy of Andy’s suggestions about how to submit some of your work for possible inclusion in the book.

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There’s a hefty chunk on international skateboard competition politics, from the time when such issues were being thrashed out again for the first time in ten years (I’m thinking of the Euroskate ’82 contest at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and shuddering even now).

SHORTS

Powell will have a new video out any day now, called, simply ’8′ • G & S are also releasing a short video, a 15-20 minute taste for the full length video which will appear later in the year. • Good news for Danny Webster: he’s out following a successful appeal • Davie Philip is back on Zorlac (but keep the skulls to a minimum, please). Millie’s also on Zorlac now (though Shine are also claiming him?) • Winston Whitter’s moved from Toxic to Life • Matt Dawson’s on BBC • Shane Rouse, Neil Danns, Davie Philip and Pete Dossett are probably off for another set of demos in Turkey at the beginning of June • Congratulations Grant and Laura Brittain on the birth of Zo Elyse • Last minute news, timed to a ‘T’ — watch out for a mini New Deal tour-ette at the beginning of May • Huntington Beach considering a ban on skateboarding? No skating in one of the original birthplaces of the art??? Sacrilege! John Lucero, Marty Jimenez, Ed Templeton and Jim Gray turned up for a public meeting with the Mayor to speak out against it. No decision has yet been reached • Presteigne correction Bad Company Boards sponsored the street comp, as well as Wear and Tear and Sean Beddowes won it — sorry
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Some cracking stuff in here, notably the “How to be the world’s greatest street skater” article!

FEATURES

16 All Play and No Work

The daily grind

23 Holy Hamburg

Europe’s Hottest Skate Spot

27 How to be the World’s Greatest Street Skater

Win Münster with our 30 day wonder-plan

39 Birmingham Days

Skate HARD in the City

56 Goshen Gallery

Snaps and Snippets from the Bury comp

DEPARTMENTS

6 Ears

Summer Tour Dates, New Places and Faces

10 Products

Decked out for the sun

12 Letters

Gavin gives as good as he gets

14 Steve Douglas Page

As predicted last month: Cab’s won one

21 Couch Session

Blinding stuff — a major contribution from Gonzales and co

36 Spangleski

Hi-jacked by Hardcore, the Mouth of the Street

46 The Wall

Hi to X-ey, Y-ey and Z-ey. Please send diagrams.

48 Intros

Warren Brown, Winston Whitter, Jagger

52 Sequences

Tweakery, nosery and bumpery

61 Desert Island Skater

Brider Bleeding on a Beach

62 Calendar

A Maxwell Specialist Magazine R.a.D Magazine Maxwell Specialist Magazines Panini House nnn-nnn Goswell Rd London EC1V 7QD Editorial: 081 677 nnnn Advertising: 071 490 nnnn Fax: 071 490 nnnn EDITOR: Tim Leighton-Boyce DESIGNER Dan Adams ADVERTISING MANAGER: Niki Michaelides PRODUCTION CONTROLLER: Jayne Penfold PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Sarah Barnard AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE: Steve Douglas SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jay Podesta, Paul Sunman PRODUCT PLACEMENT CONSULTANT: Vernon Adams SENIOR WRITERS: Gavin Hills, Simon Evans BIKE TYPE: David Slade CONTRIBUTORS: Marc Bultitude, Florian Böhm, Thomas Kalak, Curtis McCann, Nick Philip, Shane Rouse, Sam Scott-Hunter, Davy Van Laere, Ged Wells PUBLISHED BY: Maxwell Specialist Magazines, Panini House, nnn-nnn Goswell Road, London EC1V 7QD, England MANAGING DIRECTOR: Peter Welham DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR: Ray Lewis PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Antony Jacobson DISTRIBUTORS: Comag, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, MIDDX UB7 7QE PRINTED IN ENGLAND BY: Chase Web Ltd., St Ives plc. ORIGINATION BY: Ford Graphics Ltd Fordingbridge © You shouldn’t need reminding, but remember, somebody holds the copyright on everything in here: specifically Maxwell Specialist Magazines and our contributors. SUBSCRIPTIONS: UK £14.40; Europe £27.00; Rest of World £37.00 (Overseas rates include airmail service). Send stirling cheque or money order payable to ‘MCPC Ltd’ or Access/ Mastercharge card number, cardholder’s name, signature and address to Subscriptions Manager, R.A.D Magazine, nnnnn Ltd., PO Box nnn, Roper Street, Pallion Industrial Estate, Sunderland, SR4 nnN BACK ISSUES: Some back issues are also available from Lazahold Ltd at £1.70 including postage and packing. The publishers accept no responsibility for loss howsoever arising from purchases made from mail order advertisements appearing in this magazine. Monies sent to such advertisers are entirely at the reader’s own risk. Similarly the publishers accept no responsibility howsoever arising from the use of any goods purchased from such advertisements.

This from the days when Zorlac had their own UK distribution company. In this respect Airbourne Zorlac were up with Powell in the ‘ahead of their time’ stakes; they had a go at doing their own distribution in the UK long before most manufacturers.
By 2006 this approach had become much more common. The European distributors are starting to be squeezed out of the picture and are taking to manufacture instead, as skateboarding becomes a mature (!) global industry. I expect the trend to continue as the ‘distribution’ stage in the supply chain gradually fades out.

Dark Side and World Beat were other mags published by R.a.D’s owners at this time (Maxwell Specialist Magazines). Pages like these were used to cross-promote the various titles.
In the case of World Beat, which covered world music, there would have been a considerable crossover. I’m not so sure about Dark Side “The Magazine of the Macbre and Fantastic”. Having said that, one of our happiest periods was when we shared an office with “Games Master” magazine which covered similar territory.

It’s an advert. It’s for skateboard shoes.
Skateboard shoes (DC, not these) kept me alive for many years and almost paid off the debts built up by publishing skateboard magazines, so they’re fine by me.

In May 1991 Winstan Whitter (Rollin’ Through the Decades) featured on the cover, skating the fly-off on the bank at Harrow Skatepark. The cover lines promised to tell you “How to be the Worlds Greatest street skater (in 30 days)” as well as tempting references to “Brum Street” and vague offers of “All play and no work”.
My first reaction when I look at this issue is to wince at the low standard of the reproduction. We were clearly having one of episodes of trouble at this time. These were particularly painful to an editorial team led by a photographer and full of artists of one kind or another. But the contents include one of my own favourite photographs and article which I was really pleased to publish. There’s also a review of the Blind Video complete with Jason Lee as well as plenty of “news and attitudes.”
So here we go.