80's Surfing and Cultre

Good thread idea. I was born in 81 so I didn't surf in the 80's but remember seeing it and thinking it was awesome. 80's I think is one of the best time periods in general.

 

Remember corky comments?

skateboarding was not a crime (loved my signature frontside air over the coping on the half pipe...I would love to drop in and pull one more of those. Ain't happening!)

My favorite gotcha T shirt said get off my wave lol...

I made homemade skim boards...they where round...early 80's

Loved watching Dane kealoha get pitted at backdoor on vid.

The neon was outta control. My first real board was a neon orange red and green twin fin...the airbrush was rad...I grew out of it so quick it seems.

Loved the 80s...

 

Richie Collins... as reported in one of the mags back in the day...

Interview went down at his shaping shop. During the interview, while cutting in the bottom contours of the board and talking to the interviewer at the same time, he ran the planer over his hoodie string. Catching the string around the barrel of the planer, the heavy tool reeled up in an instant, clocking him straight in the forehead, and knocked him out.

True story...

The guy was... and is... a legend.

 

Some of my best memories from the 80's was going to hardcore punk shows in Washington, D.C. Saw so many great bands at the 9:30 Club. Definitely miss those days.

 

The year before the '80's

[video=youtube;wVvoQIdD80U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVvoQIdD80U[/video]

 

The year after...

[video=youtube;2bYDhcLg7Yk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bYDhcLg7Yk[/video]

So I ask you... did the '80s make music better, or worse...

 

I bet you even got to see Minor Threat, didn't you? I went to the 9:30 Club, just later on. I did get to see a lot of shows at CBGB's, from living across the river in Jersey. Needed a fake ID until I turned 16 in 87. They didn't allow anyone under 16 in there, not even up to 2006 when they closed.

I first surfed in the late 80's, though it was very sporadic for years after this, due to my proximity from the beach, which was over an hour drive one way. Wish I got into it earlier. My best friend's dad is in his late 60's and really good at golfing. People always ask him "So I guess you must have been golfing almost your whole life?" To which he replies "If I had been golfing since I was young, I'd be the best damn golfer in the world right now!". I'd like to believe that if I had been surfing since I was 8 or 9, I'd be pretty damn good!

 

I remember loving the beach as a kid in the 70's and hated that we had to live so far away from it. I remember noticing surfers that far back and thinking "This would be pretty cool to do! A challenging activity where guys get to stay in the ocean while doing it?" Then I remember first seeing guys surfing with wet suites in the Winter and thinking "Holy fug! These guys do this in the Winter and get into the ocean with that rubber suit? I gotta get into this!" Haha.

 

Started surfing in '77 and idolized the best surfers around the La Jolla reefs and Sunset Cliffs areas, where black wetsuits, clear boards, soul surfing and No Goon Cords was preached (sometimes violently).

So when the 80's rolled around, I pretty much fought the changes. I respected punk music, but it wasn't my thing. But anything New Wave, neon, polka dotted and especially the "amp out" staccato frenetic surfing earned my vocal (sometimes physical) derision.

It wasn't until the mid 80's that I started listening to bands like Oingo Boingo, UB40, The Cult and Depeche Mode, started wearing a leash and introduced some colors to my wetsuits and wardrobe that I fully accepted 80's style and abandoned the 70's. Surprisingly, my surfing and attitudes progressed lol.

I miss the 80's, although the era was steeped in materialistic pursuits. Although Reagan was Prez and had a lot of detractors, the general feeling across the country was extremely upbeat and positive. The music, although very kitschy, has endured the tests of time. It was a great time in America, possibly to never be matched again.

Believe it or not, I believe that the surf is not much more crowded than it was when I grew up. Most of the spots that were crowded in the 80's have pretty much the same amount, while my go-to spots to avoid crowds remain the same.

 

Lance collins wave tools newport echo beach neon twin fin 5'8"...WEBS

 

MR twin and then Curren drove him nuts. Literally. Just look at that POS. Never the bride, always a bridesmaid. Mr. 2nd place, which makes him the 1st loser. But mccoys were also crap like wave tools because historically cal sends their crap boards to us here on the east coast. Oh bad batch? Send it to jersey.

 

****1n La Jolla and Sunset Cliffs? These are the only reasons I sometimes wish I grew up on the West Coast or at least some coastal town. Went to beaches in Jersey every Summer and spent a few Summer's at my grandmother's in Ormond Beach, Florida. Ormond Beach wasn't the greatest surf destination though.