Michael Brooke's Blog Mofo lays it down…
from his Malakye profile…
I love this…
Q: Era of Skateboarding: Old School or New School?
Old school was: Less crowds; Less leaches; Less kooks; Less self-important arrogant asses. Less quick-buck Chucks and less pretending to be nice while pretending to listen to them. Most of those involved in skateboarding during the late’70s through the ‘80s had some sort of role they played and were recognized for. Like the “wheel” guy, the “trucks” guys, or the “board” guys. There wasn’t much anything else. There weren’t any agents, personal assistants, reps, junior mid-managers, marketing, PR, or the junior women’s sub-culture winter apparel and key chains. Everybody just about knew everybody. You could get everybody together in a small auditorium, and it’d be no bigger than a small-town PTA meeting.
I have an attachment to the spirit inherent in the people who were into it back then. More edge, more depth and emotional attachment to what we really were all there for. I wouldn’t be surprised that most all of the people involved at that time got into much the same way I did. I never set out and picked this as a career; it picked me. I just went along for the ride. There were people who’d invested more than just money into skateboarding. They gave their heart, blood, sweat and passion to this unique activity, giving it breath, substance, controversy and relevance. Think what you like, but look how much was given by people like Fausto Vitello, Frank Hawk and Jean Hoffman. How many people can compare to the level of committed initiative by the likes of Stacy Peralta, Steve Van Doren, Eric Swenson, Paul Schmitt, Stecyk, Skipper, Red Dog, Larry Balma and Brad Dorfman? These are just some of the names of people who went out and made things happen.
Add to the skater element, and you have the young men who were caught in a void at the end of the ‘70s, left to fend for themselves, to create their own, new reality. And then there’s Thrasher, which was the internet, message board of its day.
When it changed in the ‘90s, I had to step off the ride.
