Wednesday, August 26, 2009

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

21 comments:

thekettleblackest said...

It's a shop. But based on the "Smoothill Exclusive Distributors" in the lower left corner there must have been a board company by that name back then.

justin said...

I thought it was a shop, too. When I scanned it I noticed the distribution thing and that's what left me wondering.

-A said...

I thought they made boards, but had a shop too. Didn't Ron Allen have an affiliation with them?

AndyB said...

Dude ripped for sure. Where is he at nowadays? Still skating?? Was there any video footy of him skating???

justin said...

That back lip on a curb photo is awesome. His board looks like the coolest thing ever.

Black Label didn't make a video until 2001, so I don't think there is much footage of Shawn Martin out there. I hope I'm wrong.

I don't know too much about Shawn. He was one of those guys who rode for the Label and then kind of disappeared.

rustic_fences said...

I think I saw him skating at that big bowl park in Sacramento about 2 years ago.

Anonymous said...

The Label did make a video prior to 2001. If you bought "Back in Black" their first video promo is included as a bonus feature.

It has Max Evans, Sean Martin, Jake Burns, Gino Iannucci, and others. It from around 1990 - 1991, and runs about 20 minutes. It's a straight VHS transfer, so the quality is as it would be if you had it on tape. But it's good to see exactly how far the brand has come over the years.


- Rikku Markka

AndyB said...

Is that video available online anywhere?

justin said...

I didn't even know about that video. I never saw Back In Black.

smorales said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXYKEAfe8o4
This industry section just got uploaded. Skip Pronier!!!!

Anonymous said...

The only thing I don't like about "Back in Black," is the slam that Matt Mumford takes. It is just awful to watch.

I don't mind watching people slam, but I don't like seeing people get seriously hurt.

- Rikku Markka

justin said...

There are videos that I like that I won't watch because of slams. Chomp On This - where the dude messes up (breaks?) his leg doing a board slide off a high ledge and Foundation's Art Bars where Omar Salazar breaks his ankle are two that come to mind. Also in Cash Money Vagrant, when Peter Hewitt slams coming off a free fall in the pool.

BLKPRJKT said...

Concrete Jungle was a shop/label born out of the ashes of Fogtown Skates(also a shop/label) if I'm not mistaken. OG SF stuff. MoFo did the graphics for the Fogtown decks, he might have penned the CJ stuff as well.

Unknown said...

MY name is Vince, what happen to aggressive skating, & where is Shawn martin? Infact in that sport what is anyone doing these days?

Unknown said...

Infact, it's hard to get a hold of a pair of aggressive skates theses days. Some co. don't even sell them any more!

Anonymous said...

My dad is shawn martin and were in sacto but dad has not skateboarded for a while now. I wish he would get back in the game though.

Anonymous said...

I work with Shawn Martin. He is like the baddest skater you know..

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that some of the Oregon pioneers of Street are still around. I used to skate with Shawn Martin and his friend Miles. Mostly west Eugene, Churchill High School,and the Hult center handrails and Conger banks. I would need some bionic knees to do that shit now. Happy I did it then. Best wishes to the Martin family. J Guske

Anonymous said...

Concrete Jungle was a shop owned by Ron Posner, the guitarist for MDC. It was originally called Fogtown but there was some kind of hassle with the name after Ron bought the shop from Carlos. Lots of SF legends were associated with it. Tommy Guerrero, Jake Phelps, Luke Ogden, Tobin Yelland and others worked there at one time or another. They also had boards produced by the guy that made the Alva boards. I can't remember his name. There were a ton of rippers that rode for the team at one time or another--Arco, Danny Sargent, Aaron Vincent, Noah Salsnek, Shawn Martin, Marc Saito and others. The shop closed up in late 89. Yurt!

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I didn't know Concrete Jungle was owned by MDC's guitarist, that's sick. Someone was asking if there were any videos of Shawn or Danny Sargent available the answer is yeah. Sick Boyz by Mack Dawg productions, really wicked ass street skating for that time in history. NO-ONE was doing the shit these guys were doing on the street back then. Hurricane grinds on a hand rail? few can do that shit today, let alone in 87! Skate till you dieeeeeee!

Anonymous said...

I was in sacto in 93-95 and Shawn was still shredding hard as ever but avoided the mainstream keeping it true to the old school attitude that started the whole skateboarding lifestyle that pushed the sport to what is is today.There's some good stuff in the archives at heckler magazine.Wished I could get an email address to get ahold of him! I'm wondering what the old crew in the 916 is up to.Hey Shawn,if you read this there's a new show coming out Jan. 27 on discovery channel called Bering sea gold,you can check out an old school friend from back in the days when we were hanging with Barry,Troy,& Mike Day.I didn't jump in until the end of the Season but still keeping it oldschool

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