Molotov #1.

I thought that Molotov was gone, but a Google search proved otherwise.

Molotov is a company run by Andy Schansberg. They were based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have the weird and arty vibe going on, which today seems normal. Molotov didn't have a pro team, but Jahmal Williams did ride for them. Now they just do special limited edition runs of boards.

The skater in the photo is Andy's brother Matt.

Poweredge - October 1991 Issue 36

Ron Cameron #2.

A slight return to Blockhead week. Notice that it doesn't say Blockhead Skateboards in the logo, but Blockhead Skateplanks. Thanks for checking out the site, Ron.

The photo is credited to a Kimball.

Thrasher - January 1989 Volume 9 Number 1

Ed Templeton #8.

Airwalk in yr face.

Ed takes a one foot over the rail at Huntington High School.

The picture is by Christian Kline.

Transworld - March 1990 Volume 8 Number 3

Shawn Martin.

Future Black Label pro in the early days. Was Concrete Jungle a shop or a small time board company?

Luke Ogden took the photo.

Thrasher - March 1989 Volume 9 Number 3

Alan Petersen #4.

Bitchen. This is my favorite AP SMA ad.

Thrasher - November 1990 Volume 10 Number 11

Dogtown Chalkboard.

Summer is over as of today because I go back to teaching college kids art.

I'm hoping it doesn't rain tonight and I can go ride around after class. I got a new board on Saturday that needs to be skated.

Thrasher - November 1990 Volume 10 Number 11

Phil Shao #5.

12/28/1973 - 8/22/1998

Never forget Phil Shao.

I'm a day late because I didn't turn on my computer yesterday. It will be back to the late 1980s and early 1990s on Monday. I'm probably going to be doing stuff from that time frame for a while since college starts back up soon and I've been building up a good catalog of new scans.

Slap - August 1997 Volume 6 Number 8

Tony Henry.

Tony was an am for Real at the start of the company and then he was gone real quick.

Thrasher - December 1990 Volume 10 Number 12

Mike Kepper.

Kepper was an East Coast am who rode for Shut. He moved onto H-Street and turned pro for Think.

Bill Thomas snapped the photo.

Thrasher - October 1989 Volume 9 Number 10

Hugh "Bod" Boyle #2.

Bod rode for G & S and Santa Cruz. He's from London, England and his nickname is from an English cartoon. These days he works in the industry at Dwindle Distribution.

The photos are by Bryce Kanights.

Thrasher - December 1988 Volume 8 Number 12

John Lucero #3.

Waiting for the blackout.

The picture is by Sean Sullivan.

Thrasher - January 1989 Volume 9 Number 1

Marty "Jinx" Jimenez.

I spent a lot of time on Saturday night looking for this specific ad. Jinx rode for Vision. He also did some art department and graphic design stuff for them. He started up Channel One in 1991. I'm not sure what he is doing these days.

O photo.

Transworld - January 1990 Volume 8 Number 1

Danny Sargent & Ed Templeton.

Wild in the streets.

The photos are by Josh Curry and Christian Kline

Transworld - June 1989 Volume 7 Number 3

Ricky Winsor #2.

Sacramento local and Sam Cunningham's skate buddy.

Bob Schmelzer was the man behind Circle A. They were a mix of punk rock, street skating and freestyle. Their ads always stood out from what everybody else was doing. I never had any of the boards and the punk rock imagery scared the small town 15 year old me a bit, but I thought they were a neat company.

***

RIP Andy Kessler.

I don't know too much about him, but from what I've read on the internet, it looks like skateboarding lost another good one.

Thrasher - January 1989 Volume 9 Number 1

Jim Thiebaud.

He's stuck with the company for over twenty years even after they spelled his name wrong.

Thrasher - December 1988 Volume 8 Number 12

Corey O'Brien.

I always pair Jeff Kendall with Corey O'Brien for some reason. This is such a cool photo and trick.

Steve Keenan took this photo at the same San Jose ramp as yesterday.

Transworld - June 1989 Volume 7 Number 3

Jeff Kendall.

I've gotten a few requests for some Jeff Kendall, but I hadn't gotten around to scanning in anything. His part in Streets On Fire where he skates to the Minutemen was awesome.

Steve Keenan snapped the picture.

Thrasher - November 1988 Volume 8 Number 11

Chad Jackson.

I watched Splendid Eye Torture the other night. That's an overlooked video with street skating on par with the other big videos of the time. Rick Howard and Sam Cunningham railslide some big rails. It's also heavy on the Fugazi and other Dischord bands for the soundtrack, which is fine by me.

Chad does Small Beating Skateboards these days.

Mark Waters took the photo.

Thrasher - March 1990 Volume 10 Number 3

Jim Gray.

The man behind Acme when he was skating old fridges on the decks of ramps.

It's a Steve Sherman photo.

Transworld - October 1989 Volume 7 Number 6

J.J. Rogers #5.

Before he was pro for Dogtown, J.J. was an am for Blockhead and feeble grinding a rail twenty years ago. It seemed like Blockhead was trying out new things to make street skating better rather than just doing what everybody else was doing.

El Steam fotos.

Poweredge - July 1989 Volume 2 Number 6

Mark Partain.

Another all around ripper. I had his board. If the internet can be believed and in this case I think it can, Mark is still destroying pools. It's good to see that the guys who were pro when I was growing up keep on riding.

Steve Sherman snapped the photo.

Transworld - August 1989 Volume 7 Number 6

Sam Cunningham.

It's Blockhead week. The company was started by Dave Bergthold in 1985 and was around until 1994 when it changed to Invisible. There are occasional anniversary reissues of Blockhead products. Thanks to a combination of a ripping team and the unique art of Ron Cameron, the brand has retained a special place in the hearts of old dudes. I think they blended being weird and creative without being too kooky quite well. Once wheels got small and pants got big, Blockhead tried to keep up with what was going on without much luck.

The big three pros were Sam Cunningham, Jim Gray and Mark Partain. Soon a kid named Omar Hassan was given a board with his name on it. Rick Howard also turned pro for Blockhead. Other notables to ride for the team included Steve Berra, Jeremy Wray, Jason Dill, Dan Rogers and Laban Pheidias.

Sam was from Sacramento and was an all around skateboarder - street, vert, mini and pools. These days he works for a college caring for reptiles, something he talked about in the Poweredge interview that this picture is taken from. I'm pretty sure he still skates, too.

The photo is by Christian Kline.

Poweredge - July 1989 Volume 2 Number 6

Ray Underhill #2.

10/18/1962 - 8/1/2008

Do you brush your teeth twice a day?
No, I don't.

Just once?
Once, but it's a damn good brushing. Bleeding gums and the whole bit. When it comes to brushing, if you don't bleed, it ain't clean.

For some reason I've always remembered Ray's quote about brushing his teeth from his pro spotlight interview with Stacy Peralta.

Ray died from cancer a year ago. He was a long time Powell Peralta rider during the heyday of the Bones Brigade. He invented the classic experimental deck that you would see in the videos when pros were testing out new shapes. He was a very stylish and clean skater.

Left: Bones Brigade Intelligence Report - June 1989 Volume 3 Number 1

Right: Bones Brigade Intelligence Report - December 1989 Volume 3 Number 3

For the quote: Transworld - July 1991 Volume 9 Number 7