Stacy Peralta, style before grace. L.A.
PAUL HOFFMAN
"I like stupid tricks, the ones that have no style, like the flying bullet into the bank
as executed by Folmer. As for the scene now, Chaput's the best showman and
Rodney's way out in front. Mullen has broken a lot of kids' hearts.
"They told me they didn't want me to judge because of my drinking and kicked
me out. "I wasn't even drinking, that's just the way I act. The head guy called me a
degenerate, which I am...after all, I'm a skateboarder.
"Don't be an all American skater because it's not where it's at."
yet...She disappears and returns with a
purloined set of his mother's underwear.
After dressing him provocatively in mom's
finest she starts to leave. He's screaming.
having finally figured out that she's
changed the rules of the game and he's
lost. "Untie me, what am I going to do?" On
her way out, she tells him to say hi to mom.
He forgot that you just don't mess with
skaters. He talked cheap and she charged
him full price. This fall he went out for
varsity football. She continues to skate.
Rocco claims that Rodney's dad has
exiled the skate genius to picking cotton
with a black ex-convict. Mullen denies the
allegation and proceeds to draw a crowd of
a few hundred down on the boardwalk.
Hawkneck's car breaks down on the
freeway and to avoid boredom he hops on
the hood and skates for a while. The
Highway Patrol is astonished.
Primo and Diane decide they need a few
bucks for a night on the town. After skating
at Venice Beach for a couple of hours they
have netted 90 bucks. Is this the new
professionalism?
The annals of the freestyle/streetstyle
explosion are filled with the exploits of
thousands of other classic characters.
Consider Rocco, undoubtedly the first to
extensively apply vertical moves to the
street environment, who still claims to have
trouble promoting equipment. Rocco's
truly the man before his time.
Or Chris Dawson, a member of the
original Hobie and Zephyr teams who set
the record for 360's in 1967. At the last
Skateboarder Poll banquet they named
him art director of the year only they forgot
to invite him.
Or Paul Hoffman, an ace stylist who first
broke into the public eye doing nose
wheelies in an ape suit and cowboy hat.
Paul later gained notoriety by having a
photo of him ripped off by the legendary
schlock artist Leroy Neiman. Hoffman is
currently viewed as uncontrollable in a
contest situation.
Or the countless other ravaged rumors
like: Stuart Singer is painting cars while he
skates, or Swivelneck Harnish, who at
times looks more like the Mutt than the
Mutt does; or the legendary German ace,
who spins one hundred or so 360's on the
AUTOBAN ON-RAMPS; the French
lasses who high fashion dress and skate
the Parisian night districts for fun and
profit; or the spinning Carrascos, who still
can throw one hundred plus frontside,
backside, one foot or two; or Welinder,
who when asked to explain why Swedes
have no sense of humor replied, "Because
them are not laughing," or the further out
antics of Torger Johnson, John Freis,
Danny Bearrer, Scott Archer, Piccolo,
Russ Howell, Ed Nadalin, Bob Moore,
Squeek Blank, Chaput, Lassen, the
Barden Bros, Peralta, the Logan bros,
Reese, Tim Lewis, Brian Abel, Scroggs,
Steve Day, Lance Dowdell, Mike Weed,
Sausage Man, Ty Page, Kurt Lindgren,
Gordy Lineman, Martinez, the Hilton bros,
Hitchcock...the list is endless. So don't
read about it, just go do it.
Lowboy
RODNEY MULLEN
Rodney Mullen quietly draws a crowd at Pier 39 in S.F.
"The future is harder and harder tricks-no more carves. I'm motivated to get
better because the competition gets better and better. Kevin Harris and Werlinder
are coming on, Rocco could come back and win anytime. Steve, by far, is the best
street skater. Primo's a good showman. Holknekt, with experience, will do well in
contests.
"I take it step by step, moving towards the perfect routine, hands style, facial
expression, footwork and most of the time when I'm skating, I don't even think
about it. There's no limit to what you can do in freestyle. Bowlriding, when I used
to do it, was kind of boring.
"I don't psyche myself up for contests. I'm not out to beat everybody. I just try
to have fun and I always have a good time. I want to show people what I can do.
"In freestyle, it takes so much practice to get really good that you progress
slowly. In bowls, it doesn't take so much practice, plus you're going up a wall so it
always seems like a big thing. The difference is hard to understand for people who
don't freestyle.
"When I skate crowds, it's just practicing, when I skate in contests it's tighter, I
try harder. In front of a crowd you can repeat tricks and really get the crowd going.
In a contest you ignore the crowd and concentrate on the judges.
"The old style skating is okay, but it's not going to be around much longer. With
the contest routines, you've got so little time that you have to concentrate on
tricks, you can't afford to waste time cruising around."
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