The Origins of Modern Street Skateboarding: The Early 1980s

The origins of modern street skateboarding: the early 1980s

Historically speaking, street skateboarding has existed since the very inception of the sport itself. For example, in the 1960s, skaters would ride skateboards through city streets to transport themselves to popular surf spots. By the mid 1970s, skateboarders in Southern California were actively seeking out street spots at local public schools. Nevertheless, the origins of true street skateboarding were not to come until the early 1980s. At this point in time, the skateboarding industry was experiencing a major recession, which forced the closure of the majority of the skateparks that were constructed throughout the United States in the late 1970s. The closures meant that the remaining hardcore skaters would be forced to either construct their own back yard ramps (such as half-pipes), or find somewhere else to skate altogether. Some were able to make use of irrigation ditches to emulate park-style skating. Southern California skaters continued to make use of backyard pools that had been drained or otherwise abandoned. Those skaters who were without such options were forced to turn to their urban surroundings for a place to skate.

The golden age of street skateboarding: mid 1980s

In the early 1980s, skateboarding was dead. At this time, the title 'professional skateboarder' was little more than a formality, and no pro could make a living through the sport alone. Not surprisingly, all contests, demonstrations, videos, and companies were underground, and far from mainstream. Vertical Skateboarding (aka, 'vert') dominated the professional scene and the magazines that covered it. However, it was at this time that upstarts such as Mark Gonzales (also known as 'the Gonz'), Natas Kaupas, and other top skaters in and around Los Angeles began to get creative with variations of vert and freestyle tricks on public terrain. The first "streetstyle" contest was held at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1983, and Tommy Guerrero won an upset victory as an unsponsored amateur. Guerrero, from San Francisco, also got the first, true, street skating part in a video, in 1985's "Future Primitive" by Powell Peralta. This video part coincided with a boom in skateboarding's popularity, and was a defining moment in influencing a new generation to street skate.

Street skateboarding in magazines

Magazines throughout the 1970s and early 1980s were dominated by vert skating and to a lesser extent freestyle skateboarding. 1984 is seen as something of a watershed in street skateboarding's history as Tommy Guerrero made the July cover, Natas Kaupas made the September, and Mark Gonzales made the November cover of Thrasher magazine. This level of exposure was unprecedented for street skating and marks the birth of the golden age of street skating.

The impact of a new medium - videocassettes

Just as VCR's were being purchased as the latest luxury item, the skateboard video revolution began in late 1984 with the release of Powell Peralta's "Bones Brigade Video Show". In it, street skating serves as just the backdrop of the videos various vert and freestyle parts as Lance Mountain cruises around Los Angeles, doing little more than bonelesses and acid drops, but the video itself helped skateboarding make a comeback. By 1985, both street skating and skateboarding's popularity was making an insurgence. Overnight, street skating eclipsed freestyle in popularity, though vert remained the preeminent form that got most of the attention. Photos of street skaters like Mark Gonzales, Natas Kaupas and Johnee Kop were seen fairly often, but this emerging form of skating was still not