80's Surfing and Cultre

and all the plastic protection pieces

 

I had a lot of decks, but one that I loved was a Santa Cruz Claus Grabke, I could Ollie over anything on that!

 

Random memories:

I remember the second thruster I got, it was called The Shape, a Natural Art neon painted 6'0" squash tail with 3" thick rails. It would catch anything and everything.

My buddy Tony's younger brother Mike got a board with neon polka dots, he was forever named Spot.

One day I paddled out at DOH Lake Worth Pier in the early 80s, the locals started chanting "Broward Devo Surfer Go Home!"

Cameo Theater in Miami Beach was the epicenter of punk back then down here saw Black Flag, Circle Jerks, B 52s, Bad Brains, Ramones

David Bowie did a concert with a giant glass 30 foot spider all lit up with the guitar player suspended from the web

Summers on the Beach in Ft Lauderdale - Iggy, when it was over, nothing but a mountain of beer cans on the stage

Same spots were crowded then

Surf Punks "My Wave"

[video=youtube;HFx_U49o6d4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFx_U49o6d4[/video]

 

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

I grew up in the 80s, graduated HS and went off to college in the 80s. I hated a lot of it. Hated new wave, hated the teased hair, hated (as mentioned) those stupid high hip cut bikinis. The crass materialism. Turned up collars. Every metal band started teasing their hair and wearing spandex...even Ozzy. Ugh.

Then punk rock finally made it's way to my doors, and speed metal. There was hope.

Skateboards went from those skinny plastic ones with huge wheels to ones you could actually ride. Bmx bikes got really rad. MotoX tech really took off, 12" suspensions? Yeah baby. Wasn't surfing then, so got my thrills on two wheels.

And the wonders of hyrdoponics were introduced...

 

This is good, you should post more stuff like this.

 

They were hot. Danny kwock. Newport. Rabbit. Tommy Carroll.

 

True. We should thank God for simon and what he did. And tom curren.

 

Santa cruz concave was my favorite skateboard, and those soft lime green sims snakes my favorite wheels. It was unbelievably fun.

 

Danny Kwock with those wonderbread baggies. Schroff blasters (Yeah I had one). Fibreflex skateboads including the Henry Hester slalom model. Waiting for the next issue of surfer magazine to come in your mailbox. Surf movies, hell yeah. Chappy Jennings in the green room. Some of you youngsters might have to google that shiz to know what I'm talking about.

 

ZINKA sun screen, to go with my fluorescent wet suite.

Greg, the owner of Grogs Surf Palace in Sleazeside NJ (before drug habit).

Meeting Shaun Thompson at Sunglasses Hut on LBI

 

"Helllllllooooooo... this is Claaaaayyy......"

 

Guys like Buttons and Bertlemann were doing 80's surfing in the 70's.

On single fins.

 

Saw Minor Threat and many others. Favorite local bands were Government Issue, Marginal Man, and Black Market Baby.

 

I always wonder what the old timers think about crowds. I grew up in the neon 80's and it was blowing up. Even if you didn't surf you had surf gear. It was empty compared to these days. You could have a jetty all to yourself on Long Island or just a few friends. Now it's crazy, but I have had sessions to myself on weekday mornings so...

 

Yeah, it's crazy. Let me give you some perspective...

I first located to Washington state around 1990, living inland a few hours from the coast. Some kids found out that I surfed and told me about a jetty on the coast that got really good surf. I was like, "no way" and "how many guys were out". He said that sometimes 30 or 40 people would be out in the water and I told him to his face that he was full of sh1t lol.

Fast forward 3 years. I'm living within 2 hours of the coast and I've been reading the newspaper during January and February that the coast has been getting 6'-8' surf with offshore winds all day long. I thought the newspaper was full of sh1t. So I decide to drive out and check it out.

The newspaper wasn't lying. It was fvcking firing!!! And about 30 guys out too. I couldn't believe it. But at the time, coming from SoCal, I had no interest in surfing in 45 degree water. But I obviously kept a mental note of it.

Today, particularly during the summer, it is common to see 30-40 guys out in the water. But 20-30 of them are on the inside with Wavestorms. Most competent visitors surf the beach away from the Jetty, while 5-8 of the local boys get their pick of the rock waves. I guess the reputation of the place keeps the respect level up.

 

Even I fell for 80s fashion for a brief period in 1987. Orange clam digger shorts with a powder blue Pete Smith's surf shop long sleeve tee shirt. Then I snapped out of it. It just took a bag of shrooms and the Allaman Brothers Eat a Peach.

 

Yeah, it's weird because even on a cold winter day there'll be 20 guys out now because of suit technology. Like don't these guys work? Even though I'm doing the same. There was definitley a lull after the 80's where it was empty. I'd say around '93. But as a person who likes vintage photos and stuff I do see places like Malibu and stuff during the Gidget days where it's absolutely party waved and mobbed.