Context, we loved to show the context… John Thurston, manager of Southsea Skatepark and a key player at the time, can be seen at the right. Another caption on this spread says “It’s easy to come up with silly things to do on a scooter.” The appeal of scooters was transitory, unlike that of the bowl…
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Southsea Skatepark Bowl, featuring Carl Westfield from 1987 Rad Magazine
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Pacer Street Scooter at Southsea Skatepark from Rad Magazine
A hangover from the BMX days (and maybe a throwback to the seventies incarnation of Skateboard! Magazine) was the inclusion of product tests. These standard features of consumer magazines eventually disappeared from R.a.D, but at this point we were still following the convention. Southsea Skatepark was rad. So was Carl Westfield. Enough said.
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Classic Skateboard and BMX Adverts from 1987 Rad Magazine Issue 58
This page contains some key British skateboard advertisers from 1987. Some of them are still around. Rollersnakes appear as “Rollernsnake” (another mistake) offering Tracker, Powell, Vision and Alva — interesting to see a truck company at the front of the list instead of the usual deck brands.
Bike City Bromley are there ( “now incorporating Skate City” ) alongside Round Ocean in Doncaster, Weston BMX, Mycycles, Bikes and Bits, and the BMX Centre Mousehole. (more…)
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Lucian Hendickse Interview Conclusion from R.a.D 1987.
This interview was published at a turning point in the history of skateboarding in Britain; it closed with a look back over the dark ages which were coming to an end.I liked it in the old days. Hanging out in Alpine Sports. It was much more mellow. It was a better scene in those days. I was just as bummed, but things were getting better, now it is better and I’m still bummed. (more…)
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R.a.D T-Shirt Advert featuring Nick Philip 1987
Out of his box indeed. All of it out of the mind of Nick Philip. This is the authentic “Read and Destroy” original T-shirt. There was also a pure magenta/pink one, of course, this being 1987. Very over the top by today’s standards. Yours for only £10.45 including the 50p for postage and packing. Rare roots stuff, this!
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Lucian Hendrickse Centre Spread R.a.D Issue 58
“Lucian Hendrickse, Reverse Sad Eggplant, Brighton, October 1987” says the caption. This would have been a skater’s choice, not a photographer’s one. I would have ignored this as too dark and moody. Just as well that the skater-viewpoint always won the day.
One for the obsessives: note that the R.a.D logo on the centre spread is still the original “Read and Destroy” version although it had been banned from the cover, to placate the distributors, by this point.
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Lucian Hendrickse Interview Part 4 1987 R.a.D Magazine
Caption: This started out as a Method Air. Lucian’s determination to push for the ultimate in contrortion totally transforms the move. The result is so extreme it looks like a Japan.There’s lots of good skaters at South Bank. Floyd Reid for example is a really good bank skater, but everyone just hangs out all the time and wants to go to parties and stuff. They won’t put any effort into skating. I do that too — I’m a prime layabout — but I find that I’m skating more.
Stockwell Road skatepark also gets a prime mention. At the time it was not nearly as prominent as it was to become. As Lucian explained, at that time only the locals would really skate it.
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Skateboard History Quaterback, NHR, Hills and Empire Skate Warrington Adverts 1987
Another classic skate shop, Quarterback, get to show their roots. Hills was also a significant player at this point, even though their advert concentrated on the infamous scooters. NHR were sticking to the BMX purist approach, while the Empire Skate Building in Warrington were skate through and through. The Warrington roller rink played a crucial role in the revival of skateboarding. It was here that many of the key events of the era took place.
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Lucian Hendrickse Interview 1987 Part 3
Two things come out of this for me now, Lucian’s very acute perception of the state of skateboarding in Britain just as it was about to go big-time again, and his sense of frustration. Wanting it and not wanting it. There were some very knowing sound-bites: “Publicity and money changes — everything. I’d like to to change me some more” and “I’ll Ollie all the way to the bank”, but the frustration seems to dominate the piece. (more…)
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Skateboard History Death Box Hot Wheels and Skate Zone Adverts R.a.D Issue 58 1987
Death Box, Hot Wheels and Skate Zone shared this advertising page. The Death Box advert featured Wurzel’s board, but with a teaser mention of Mac’s freestyle and bank model being in the pipeline. At this stage Jeremy Fox was also distributing Flyaway helmets, but the future was in the boards — as he knew then and we all know now. But at this point Flip was a few years away.
Hot Wheels promoted the No Ped scooter, while Skate Zone took their place as a skateshop with a history.
