Thomas Taylor #2.

High Tension.

Torque was an Atlanta based company run by the late Thomas Taylor. He also ran the Stratosphere shop. His son Grant took after the old man and can really tear it up on a skateboard. Thomas sponsored a lot of Atlanta locals along with fellow Southerners for Torque. Sadly, he passed away in 2023.

The photos are by Alf Elder.

Slap - January 1997 Volume 6 Number 1

Marc Johnson #19.

"For careers you say you want to be remembered for your art."

Marc Johnson recently passed away at the age of 49. He started as a teenager from North Carolina who moved to California in the early 1990s for the sake of skateboarding and became one of the best to ever do it over the next three decades. The ups and downs of his life are well known and there's no need for me to restate any of it.

There's something innocently wonderful about these old Maple ads. Skateboarding was improving in 1994-95 and yet it still retained that smaller underground DIY charm. You could tell from the assorted photos and interviews that Marc was bringing something unique to the table. As he grew older and established himself, his philosophy on skateboarding developed fully. He injected humor and levity into the skateboard world at the end of the 1990s when it was needed and that shaped things going forward.

For all of his videos parts and achievements, I always come back to the first third of Marc's part in Lakai's Fully Flared from 2007. I stick to the front end because as the part moves along the skateboarding crosses the line from being fun to being work. He skates to "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus. I had never knowingly heard that song before and figured it was of the era without realizing it was from 1988. It's a great tune that fits exactly with his tricks and personality. The melody of the song sets a mood that is somehow both melancholic and comfortable. Some of my favorite moves from the part include a frontside 50-50 to back foot flip, a rock to pivot on a natural transition in Australia, and a straight nollie over a bump to bar. I'm not adding anything by saying that a really good part in an important skateboard video is really good, but it's fine to appreciate nice things without overthinking why they are nice things sometimes.

And with that the Shampoo Lounge is closed.

Ed Dominick took the photo in the overseas ad. He might have taken some of the other pictures, too.

Progress: Transworld - June 1995 Volume 13 Number 6

Television: Transworld - July 1995 Volume 13 Number 7

Sunset: Transworld - December 1995 Volume 13 Number 12

Andy Stone & Pepe Martinez #2.

Fine Artists.

Andy and Pepe were staples of the DC scene in the 1990s. The pair were on Element before leaving to ride for Capital. They were part of the original team at Nicotine Wheels, which gave them the connection for when boards started being made. Having two established pros is an effective way to start a new brand on the right foot. Cool photos and solid graphic design also helps a lot. It's too bad there were some issues that led to Capital falling apart. Sadly, Pepe passed away in 2003. I always forget Andy rode for 101 and BBC prior to Element. He works as a civil engineer and has done some skatepark design.

For last week's Chany Jeanguenin post, The Dirt of Luck refers to the album by Helium. This was Mary Timony's band with Ash Bowie of Polvo on bass. They had a couple albums on Matador and two videos that were shown on MTV at least once.

I've been skateboarding a bunch now that the weather is milder and there is more daylight in the evenings. I'm still not really skating great for me and it is a drag. I think I'm just getting old.

Vert Is Dead is taking a late spring break.

It's probably going to be two weeks off. If it winds up being three, don't worry, I'll be back.

Ryan Gee and Lance Dawes were the photographers.

Andy: Slap - August 1996 Volume 5 Number 9

Pepe: Slap - July 1996 Volume 5 Number 7

Sean Mullendore #11.

Set Freedom Plaza free.

It's weird how we mythologize skateboarders who are wistfully obscure. Sean isn't exactly an unknown, but he wasn't getting the same amount of coverage that Chet Thomas and Willy Santos were back in the day. He certainly wasn't on the level of fame like Chad Muska or Tony Hawk either. That's fine. The more esoteric characters are somehow more appealing because you don't know much about them beyond a handful of photos and a couple blurbs on how they totally destroyed the local spots. What makes them fascinating is the not knowing. We know that Sean had more pop than everybody else and that he possibly works on very expensive automobiles. That's it. And that's plenty.

I legit can't believe I've been scanning and writing stuff for this thing for 18 years. Thanks for the support.

The photos are by Pete Thompson.

Capital: Slap - June 1996 Volume 5 Number 6

Nicotine: Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

Ryan Hickey & Matt Willigan.

Strobe flares.

It's a couple of arty photos of night time skateboarding that I thought looked neat. Ryan is a proper New Yorker who rode for Zoo York, Supreme, Stereo, and Capital over the 1990s. Matt was on Capital and Nicotine. He is a graphic designer and has done work for Girl, Converse, éS, and more.

The photos are by Thomas Campbell and Adam Wallacavage.

Ryan: Slap - August 1996 Volume 5 Number 8

Matt: Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

Brian Howard #4.

Tall ship, tall air.

Planet Earth pro Brian Howard does a method to fakie in front of a nice nautical scene. Nicotine was a wheel company that was rolled out in 1995. The original team was Chris Hall, Pepe Martinez, Andy Stone, and amateur Reese Forbes. This soon led to Pepe and Andy leaving Element to start up Capital Skateboards. It's cool that they included a few rippers vert on the team to go with the street shredders.

The photo is by Dimitri Elyashkevich.

Slap - October 1996 Volume 5 Number 10

Kevin Taylor #8.

Substantial.

It's a Capital blowout for the anniversary week. This was an East Coast entity run by Mike Agnew and distributed by Intensity Skates mail order. They had a ripping team and some fresh looking graphic design for the 1990s. You could tell that whoever was doing the catalogs for Intensity was doing the ads for Capital because they clearly knew what they were doing. When we last checked in with KT, he was pro for Aesthetics and getting an ad every other month. Prior to Aesthetics, he was riding for Capital. I think he skates for Hopps these days after being on Pittsburgh's Scumco & Sons. I like all the banners on the wall behind Kevin.

The photo is by Pete Thompson.

Slap - May 1996 Volume 5 Number 5

Chany Jeanguenin #4.

The Dirt of Luck.

The Swiss all-terrain ripper holds on to avoid floating away. I don't know how much a little helium in the insole would actually reduce the weight of a shoe, but you have to give Converse credit for trying something different. I can't recall ever seeing many Converse in the wild. Were they selling? The shoes look like a big athletic company's attempt at copying the excessively padded skate shoes of the day. I don't think I've seen too many pairs of their current effort either. It seems like a lot of pros and sponsored ams wear them so I imagine they do move enough kicks to keep the skate team going.

We had all the spring weather this week which even necessitated skateboarding in gloves a couple of times. Have a good weekend.

Atiba Jefferson handled the photography.

Transworld - June 2000 Volume 18 Number 6

Felix Arguelles.

Disco Inferno.

Felix is from New York City and got into skateboarding in the 1980s. He skated both vert and street until some injuries caused him to focus more on street skating. Early on he was sponsored by Shut and World Industries. His folks relocated to Miami and Felix moved with them. At this time, Chris Miller offered him a spot on Planet Earth. After enduring a bunch of late night prank phone calls from Jeremy Klein and Ron Chatman, Felix moved out to California to ride and work for Planet Earth. He was pro and also served in a team manager type of position. This would lead to starting Rhythm in 1995. Rhythm was a second board company by Planet Earth with a focus on fresh styles and gave us the classic Genesis video in 1997. Felix was sponsored by Converse in the late 1990s and scored a pro model shoe. He moved over to the industry side of skateboarding in 2000s while still skating a lot.

The photos are by Frank Galland and Jeff Taylor.

Transworld - August 2000 Volume 18 Number 8

Kenny Anderson #6.

Kenny is the OG that gives your boot up or reboot a degree of instant credibility. When Elwood was brought back from the deserted high plains, he was one of the riders on the new project since he had previously ridden for the brand. If I recall correctly, Kenny signed up with Converse with the hopes he could make a skate version of the Chuck Taylor. That didn't happen the first time around, but he got his chance when they had a skateboard team again in 2008.

Frank Galland was the photographer.

Transworld - December 2000 Volume 18 Number 12

Converse Team 2000.

All Stars.

This was the Converse team in the fall of 2000. They would declare for bankruptcy in January of 2001 so this was essentially the end of the line. The crew was Jerry Fowler, Chany Jeanguenin, Will Harmon, Joel Meinholz, Kenny Anderson, Ricky Oyola, Felix Arguelles, and Danny Supa. Jayme Fortune and Stéphane Larance were also on the team, but missed photo day. I like how they brought back the early 90s tradition of running small sequences in the ads.

The photos are by Ben Colen, Ryan Gee, Geo Reda, and Jeff Taylor

Transworld - October 2000 Volume 18 Number 10

Converse.

With the recent talk about brands such as enjoi and Madness being resurrected from the dead company wasteland, Converse is a forgotten entity in this category. They went bankrupt in 2001 and were bought by Nike in 2003. The skateboard team was revived in 2008. Kenny Anderson was the lone holdover from the first go round. I have no idea how accurate the gossip is, but there are rumors floating around that Nike might be making cuts and looking to sell Converse. I'd imagine they would keep some semblance of a skate team since they are fairly well entrenched in skateboarding at this point, but you never know how anything will turn out these days.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6

Kevin Taylor #7.

Pittsburgh Razorback.

KT was putting in some serious work for Aesthetics in 1999. I dig the Arkansas Razorback graphic. I don't recall if the Fayetteville crew was stoked on the board. I imagine they were. They were still telling stories about when the 1994 Foundation tour came by the Skate Station and got a couple photos in Transworld. Kevin had so many cool ads in 1999 that I couldn't pick one so I went with the triple shot. As the years roll by, Aesthetics keeps on looking better and better. They're like a good band that broke up before they made a bunch of crappy albums so their legacy remains intact.

Things have been about the same lately and I don't have all that much going on. Have a good weekend out there and maybe it will warm up a little.

Ryan Gee took at least one of the photos.

Razorback: Transworld - February 1999 Volume 17 Number 2

Race car: Transworld - September 1999 Volume 17 Number 9

FDR: Transworld - November 1999 Volume 17 Number 11

Rob Welsh #10.

Forbidden 14.

Rob ruins the graphics in his debut for Aesthetics. His previous sponsor was Mad Circle, which closed up shop around this time. He's riding Kevin Taylor's Razorback deck and wearing the DC Rick Howard shoe with the velcro straps. You don't think of Rob as a handrail skater, but he did have a few pics on them over the years. I thought this was a unique ad that I didn't really remember from when it was published.

Transworld - October 1999 Volume 17 Number 10

Sal Barbier #9.

Eppic.

You sort of don't know much about Sal as he seldom had interviews and moved over to the industry side of skateboarding, but at the same time, it feels like you know who he is. He's from Louisiana and was a big part of H-Street before riding for Plan B. He would later start Twenty Three Skateboards which led to Aesthetics. Sal had an iconic pro model shoe on Etnies and éS, which further adds to his legacy. He always comes off in interviews as caring about skateboarding while not being afraid to say if something is wack or crack a joke about things. I think that's what makes him relatable and a favorite.

Transworld - August 1999 Volume 17 Number 8

Clyde Singleton #8.

Soul Train.

Clyde does a nose bluntslide down a picnic table for Aesthetics. Aesthetics was Sal Barbier's company in the late 1990s that he started after the clock hit zero on Twenty Three Skateboards. The initial team was Sal, Clyde, Kevin Taylor, and Rob Welsh. Clyde recently scored a guest model on Birdhouse and was the emcee for New Balance's Running The Numbers tour in the fall of 2025. It's good to see he's still out there doing his thing.

Transworld - July 1999 Volume 17 Number 7

Keith Hufnagel #18.

Horns up.

The late Keith Hufnagel takes a crooked grind up a rail for Elwood. Elwood was Sal Barbier's clothing company. He started the brand in the late 1990s at the same time he started Aesthetics Skateboards. They were firmly on the fresh side of the fashion aisle. Some team riders over the years included Anthony Van Engelen, Rob Welsh, Shiloh Greathouse, Jahmal Williams, Clyde Singleton, and Gino Iannucci.

It just keeps on being too windy for skateboarding to be fun outside lately. I set up a new deck yesterday and did skate a little, but the breeze was a factor. My ollies seemed to be popping better so that was cool. Ah the perks of living next to a Great Lake.

Transworld - May 1999 Volume 17 Number 5

John Rattray #8.

Flight patterns.

The Predatory Bird perches a fastplant on a barrier.

The weather has been a mix of mild and rainy round these parts lately. I went to JSP in Jamestown last Saturday. I skated like crap, but I bought some new wheels and a t-shirt. It's still been too windy to go to the park much of the time so I've been trying to skate in the driveway when it is dry. Have a good weekend out there.

The photo is probably by Alex Irvine. I'm not completely sure if I got the first name right.

Transworld - June 2006 Volume 24 Number 6

Gailea Momolu #3.

"Gailea Momolu. Bryan Herman. And Rodney Mullen. He was like the first dude I ever met. He was really nice to me. He taught me some things. He's the best. Very smart guy, too. Gailea's my favorite, though. Will always be. No one better. No matter how much time has passed, that's just my favorite. That's it. He's sick." - Antwuan Dixon

Arms down Gailea is Antwuan's favorite skater.

The photo is by Scott Pommier.

For the quote: Thrasher - May 2026 Volume 47 Number 5

Transworld - May 2006 Volume 24 Number 5

Jerry Hsu #14.

“Quit spray painting your shoes. We all know they are Osiris!” - Shiloh Greathouse

Jerry got on Osiris in 1998 thanks to Dave Mayhew. They were both riding for Maple and Osiris was a new shoe company that had room on the team. Jerry always wanted to ride for Emerica and had the opportunity to do so in 2007. His shoe models for Osiris and Emerica looked very similar, which makes sense given it is the same skater, but still is rather quirky.

The photo is by Jonathan Mehring.

Transworld - April 2006 Volume 24 Number 4

Caswell Berry #12.

Vantablack.

Caswell tosses a 360 kickflip over a rail in the dark of the night. I bet nobody remembers when he rode for Powell or that he turned pro for Toy Machine.

Jonathan Mehring was the photographer.

Transworld - March 2006 Volume 24 Number 3

Garrett Hill.

Red & Black.

Garrett is from the San Fernando Valley in California. He got into skateboarding because of his brother Gantry and grew up skating with Paul Rodriguez and Mikey Taylor. Garrett was sponsored by Sixteen Skateboards early on. As their riders grew older, Sixteen would try to help them find more age appropriate sponsors. This led to riding for Zero when Garrett's sponsor-me tape wounding up in the hands of Jamie Thomas. Later on Jamie would let him do a spinoff brand called Threat with Forrest Edwards as the other rider. Threat didn't last long and Garret was back on the Zero squad. In addition to Osiris, he also rode for Fallen. His other sponsors included Thunder and Altamont Clothing. Garrett can possibly speak Russian and knows how to play the guitar. He's not adverse to sewing his own clothes either.

Note: These ads are very elegantly shot photos of Osiris shoes that look great in print, but some of the magic vanished upon scanning twenty year old pages of a magazine. Sorry about that.

The photo sequence is by Joey Shigeo.

For the info: Transworld - November 2009 Volume 27 Number 11

For more info: Thrasher - January 2009 Volume 29 Number 1

Transworld - February 2006 Volume 24 Number 2

Howard Cooke.

The Clash.

Howard is from Liverpool, England. He rode for Consolidated, Spitfire, and Heroin Skateboards. There's a cool photo of him by Wig Worland doing a frontside slash grind on the extension of a giant quarterpipe at the Edge Lane skatepark in Liverpool from 1996. The picture was used for the cover of Sidewalk, a British skateboard magazine. It also appeared in the Dysfunctional book curated by Aaron Rose. Howard plays bass and was in the hardcore bands Walk The Plank and Cold Ones.

The weather has been warm and dry for the week. I've been skateboarding in the driveway and haven't had the time to hit up the park or anything different. Everything has been a chore lately and it is not much fun. I'm not digging it. Have a good weekend out there.

Nik Freitas took the photographs.

Thrasher - May 2000 Volume 20 Number 5

Richard Paez #4.

Hamburger Jr.

As of the year 2000, Richard was sponsored by Consolidated, Independent, Puma, Spitfire, and Volcom. His preferred terrain includes backyard ramps, pools, and skateparks. He likes to watch sports, with the Cowboys and the Lakers being his favorite teams. For music, he's into Motörhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Hank Williams Jr., and Bay Area rap. Way back then Rich was riding a 7.5" wide board with Indys and 53 mm Spitfires.

The photo is by Nik Freitas. It's neat to see how Nik's photography improved over the years with his photos for Consolidated.

For the info: Thrasher - July 2000 Volume 20 Number 7

Thrasher - September 1999 Volume 19 Number 9

Alan Petersen #21.

Caddyshack.

AP flips frontside on the ever unpopular with the neighbors backyard mini ramp. Power is still going as a distributor and handles Death, Blast, Heroin Skateboards, Film Trucks, and a bunch of others in the United Kingdom.

The photo might be by Dave “Nelly” Nelson. That's my best guess based on the internet. Nelly might also only be a surf photographer, but the biography on his website loosely matches the specifics for this picture.

Thrasher - January 1999 Volume 19 Number 1

Consolidated vs. K2.

Adios.

Consolidated was always down to shed light on any shady business dealings going on in skateboarding. This feels like such a bygone era, even with taking into account that attitudes and opinions are going to change over time. Enough years have passed where there are now real skateboarders working in positions of influence at the bigger corporate brands so maybe things are different in the present day than what Consolidated feared might happen. It's also worth noting that Consolidated outlasted K2 in the end.

Investment: Thrasher - March 1999 Volume 19 Number 3

Zip Code: Thrasher - May 1999 Volume 19 Number 5

Consolidated Team 1999.

The Cube Crew.

This is the cast of characters that rode for Consolidated in the summer of 1999. It's neat how they worked in the logos for some of their sponsors, like Forties Clothing, Thunder Trucks, Vans, and Volcom. There's also a shirt for Skate Works, the local skateshop in Santa Cruz. This had to be one of the first mentions of Van Wastell, too. The illustration is by the late Moish Brenman.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6

Sacred No More.

Blankets.

Consolidated was never afraid of running text only ads offering their 2¢ on a matter. I don't think that still happens because we simply hash things out on the internet these days. I can't remember the last time there was a beef between companies in print, which was a staple of skateboarding up until Instagram came along to ruin everything. Two companies need to start up an advertising fight in Closer to fully recapture the spirit of skateboarding in the 1990s. Given that this ad ran in early 2004, my guess is Consolidated was referring to the return of Stereo in 2003.

It was recently announced that Louie Barletta rescued enjoi from the grip of the venture capitalists. Bill Weiss also pulled Madness back from the same depths of despair. Louie has a fairly detailed interview at Slam City talking about what enjoi meant to him and why he wanted it back. He has a well thought out plan for the company that doesn't step on anybody's toes in the process. Louie is open about the business side of skateboarding and provides insight into the nuts and bolts of what he is doing.

In general, reboots of deceased skateboard companies seldom go well. The magic that sparked the original idea is often never rekindled. Creature is perhaps the lone example of a successful return to the land of the living. Chris Pastras and Jason Lee did get the band back together for Stereo, but the mood has never exactly felt right. It would've been better for the two to start a new project under a different name. Another reboot that probably gets overlooked is Converse. They went bankrupt until Nike stepped in to resurrect the company. If nothing else, the new Cons have way less padding and helium than the old ones so that can count as a victory of sorts.

There's also the burden that nostalgia is becoming. We don't need a reissue of every single defunct company that had a niche following, such as Popwar for example. One point I liked in the Chrome Ball interview with Louis Carlton was that he said he has no real interest in making another run of Small Room boards. That was the past and it was good, but we don't need to repeat it, we can let it be. Personally, I would be cool with a fresh batch of Small Room t-shirts since I never had one back in the day, but that's a trivial request that can go unfulfilled. You do have to take into account the circumstances that cause a company to depart. In the case of Madness and enjoi, it wasn't of their own missteps, but because of corporate ownership. It makes the return slightly different. I've seen plenty of Madness boards around so obviously Bill was doing something right. I'm curious to see where all this ends up going. I'm also curious to see when skateboarding is going to tone down celebrating its storied past as the driver for new projects. You always need a good balance of new and old to keep people interested while connecting them with history.

Sacred: Big Brother - February 2004 Number 105

Blankets: Big Brother - January 2004 Number 104

Seth "Zed" McCallum.

Legend of Zed.

Seth is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was pro for Consolidated and rode for Creature. I don't really know too much about him. I checked out a couple of his video parts and he could blast some big ollies over gaps on street. I think he also skated vert. Seth had a couple of interviews, but I didn't have the mags they were in. I'm curious about how his Zed nickname came about.

The weather has been warmer and more springlike for the week. I've gotten in some skateboarding most days. I've been pressed for time with adult life lately so the results have been kind of mixed. It's also been sporadically rainy. What are ya gonna do?

The photo is by Andrew Hutchison.

Big Brother - October 2002 Number 89

Ryan Wilburn #5.

The Crow.

Ryan rode for Stereo and Consolidated. He's one of those pros that in retrospect you don't know a lot about. I don't think he had much in the way of interviews so his coverage was mostly ads, editorial photos, and a couple video parts. I like the boards with the giant cube logo that are popping up in the photos this week. It's a simple graphic that works well without being overly bland, maybe because Consolidated's cube logo is a strong piece of graphic design.

The photos are by the late Joe Hammeke.

Big Brother - July 2003 Number 98

Jesse Paez #7.

Visalia still rips.

Jesse and his younger brother Richard were both pro for Consolidated. They were born in Culver City, where they discovered skateboarding as little kids. The family moved to Visalia and that was when they really got into skating. Having ripping locals like Karma Tsocheff, Dale Blackmon, and Tom Knox around probably aided the cause. Jesse's frontside 180 down Wallenberg in 1992 was one of those big tricks that hinted at what would be possible in the future. He would go on to ride for Think before returning to Consolidated at the end of his pro career.

Nik Freitas took the photograph.

For the info: Thrasher - April 1994 Volume 14 Number 4

Big Brother - January 2003 Number 92

Alan Petersen #20.

Shadow air.

AP is from Fresno, California. He rode for Eppic, SMA, and Consolidated. Vans and Puma provided shoes for his feet. During the 1990s, Alan was one of those all terrain rippers who was equally adept at skateparks, ramps, and street skating. That seems like an odd statement given where skateboarding is at today, but back then there was a little bit of distance between the different fields. He vanished to Australia in the early 2000s. Big Brother was a magazine started by Steve Rocco at World Industries in 1992. The mag was sold to publisher Larry Flynt, of Hustler fame, in the later 1990s. Consolidated wasn't the biggest company ever and didn't have a ton of money for advertising. They sometimes partnered with Vans to get more coverage since many of the Consolidated guys were also riding for Vans. Or in this case, Big Brother gave them a deal after an interview with Alan. And that's way too much skateboard history condensed down into a few sentences when I could've just written that this is a sick photo.

I'm not sure what to write for these things some days. When I started, the audience was generally people who grew up with skateboarding so they knew the cast of characters. I don't really know who might stumble upon this site so I sometimes want to write a more general overview of a skater's history in case a new reader hadn't heard of a pro or company. I suppose it doesn't matter too much since blogs are freeform creatures to begin with, but I do want to provide a little more context since a whole bunch of this stuff is from a long time ago now.

The photo is by Nik Freitas.

Big Brother - February 1998 Number 33

Hollywood & Kris Markovich.

Finale.

These two ads ran in the same issue of Big Brother. Markovich split for Blind at the end of 2003 or early 2004. There were some financial issues and potential team cuts at Hollywood that led to his departure. Kris wasn't on Blind for long before starting Crimson with Charlie Thomas. Tum Yeto kept Hollywood going for a little while longer, but they weren't overly excited about the brand. According to his Chrome Ball Incident interview, the reason Kris bounced from Blind so quickly was because they changed the business plan they initially offered him. The idea he signed up for was a version of Blind that used more original artwork along the lines of when Mark Gonzales started the company. There would still be boards with the childish reaper graphics, but there would be a bigger focus on more creative endeavors. That's something to ponder.

It was 46˚ F when I left work yesterday. It warmed up to near 70˚ F by the time I got home. Living near a Great Lake can sure cause some weather discrepancies over a just few miles. I skateboarded in the driveway for a bit because it was much warmer. Things actually felt OK for once, even though I didn't land much of anything. I think being out in the nice weather helped. Have a good weekend out there.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, April 13th. I'm worn out and taking a little spring break.

Big Brother - February 2004 Number 105

Justin Roy #3.

Piling down.

Justin is from Lafayette, Louisiana and moved out to San Diego for the sake of skateboarding. He was an am for Foundation and turned pro for Hollywood. Later on he would ride for Hellrose, the short lived LA based company with Richie Belton, DJ Chavez, Don Nguyen, James Atkin, and a few others. In a Thrasher interview from 2003, Justin said he didn't see Kevin Staab very often when they were both on Hollywood.

The weather has been windy and rainy since the weekend. I skateboarded a couple of times in the driveway with mixed results. I started breaking in a new pair of shoes, too. I haven't really had much going on lately.

Big Brother - January 2004 Number 104

Don Nguyen & Dorian Tucker.

Hollywood Stars.

It had to be something a little silly for today. I've never cared for the tabloid style ads. I get why they do them because they are fun and easy to do, but they don't look great.

I think Hollywood was Nuge's first big sponsor. He would later ride for Foundation and Baker. Dorian rode for Planet Earth, Creature, and Scarecrow over the years.

Don: Big Brother - June 2003 Number 97

Dorian: Big Brother - September 2003 Number 100

Richie Belton.

Dave Carnie had an anecdote in Big Brother about Guns N' Roses. Every time he had people over to his house he would put a record on in his living room. After a little bit he would leave the room for whatever reason and when he returned, somebody had inevitably changed the music to Appetite For Destruction. He wrote that he got tired of constantly being welcomed to the jungle so he started hiding his copy of the LP. On the rock side of things, skateboarding was obsessed with Axl, Slash, and company in the early 2000s to the point of ridiculousness. It was also obsessed with David Bowie. I'm not a huge Bowie fan, but at least he has an expansive and diverse catalog of songs to pick from. We've gotten about as much milage as we're gonna get from Guns N' Roses, as was evidenced by two different G N'R shirts in yesterday's post. Girl possibly achieved maximum saturation by using a song from each artist for the soundtrack to Yeah Right! in 2003.

Big Brother - December 2003 Number 103

Kris Markovich #27.

Rock & Rollers.

Hollywood was Kris Markovich's company after he had been on Foundation for a couple of years. It was distributed by Tum Yeto and featured a few guys who had ridden for the F-Troop. Kris also brought in some of his friends to fill out the team. If I recall correctly, Markovich liked it at Foundation, but was getting some wild offers so doing his own board project again made sense. They went with the rock & roll theme that was very popular at the turn of the century. Hollywood made a promo with quite possibly the longest name ever for a video. I have it on VHS, but haven't watched it in a couple of decades. I should see how it holds up. The company was not around long before fading away into the hills.

Big Brother - October 2002 Number 89

Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson & Tim Gavin.

Handrawn Sequences.

It's a power trio of tricks from the younger guys on the Blind team. I like the layout of the advertisement. I know Rudy was pro in late 1991/early 1992. Was Guy pro yet? This was probably The Gav's first time in a proper ad. The backside 360 ollie is so sick, especially considering the sequence was most likely taken in late 1991. I'm not sure if Mark Gonzales was still involved with Blind. He was definitely on his way out the door, if he hadn't left already. Jason Lee was still on, but would be gone by the summer. Henry Sanchez would soon be added to the team and would star with Tim in Tim & Henry's Pack of Lies video in the fall of 1992. Those were the video days.

Chops has a great new interview with Louis Carlton of Small Room fame up at the Chrome Ball Incident.

I got skateboarding a couple days this week. I did put new wheels on the new board. It was needed. I want to go skate someplace other than the driveway, but the yo-yoing weather conditions are making it difficult. I haven't been skating too well either so that is making it even less appealing to hit up a different park or spot. I hope everybody has a good weekend.

Thrasher - March 1992 Volume 12 Number 3

Coco Santiago #6.

Ride on.

Coco is from either New Jersey near Manhattan, New York City, or San Francisco. There really isn't a ton of info about him. He rode for Shut, the famous East Coast powerhouse squad that dominated all the contests in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Real would turn him pro and he would later ride for Black Label. His favorite bands included Mercyful Fate, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Slayer. He was part of the original Hellride crew with Jake Phelps and company. Coco was a gnarly all terrain skater for much of the 1990s before disappearing.

I hate when people crop scans. I try to avoid doing it whenever possible and mention when I do. It takes away from the context of the original. Sure there can be a lot of dead space you don't need and many a rad photo has been wrecked by being a subscription or shop ad, but it omits part of the story. I thought this picture of Coco was cool. I also wanted to include the full advertisement it ran in for reference purposes. Whatsport was a shop in SF that carried Real, Black Label, Think, and Alien Workshop goods.

Thrasher - April 1992 Volume 12 Number 4