Todd Congelliere #4.

Hardcore with a drum machine.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, August 5th.

The photos are by Christian Kline.

Poweredge - October 1991 Issue Number 36

Todd Congelliere #3.

"So, when Mike Smith asked me to skate for Liberty, I said sure. He, at least, had seen me skate, unlike Powell, and I looked up to him, not just as a great skater, but by the way his business was run. Yes, it was always run on a shoddy level, even at its peak, and as far as income and all that jazz goes, well, I did get some pretty crazy offers as far as money's concerned, but the fact that I liked going to contests with Mike and didn't want to go with a bunch of buffoons helped me resist. Plus, I never had any pressure from him as far as the contests went, simply because he's still a skater, running a skateboard company, not a skateboard coach." - Todd Congelliere.

The bigspin.

Programming update: There will be a rare Saturday post tomorrow. I will then be taking a short break so Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, August 5th. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments or email me if you have any requests. I'm not sure what I'm going with next. I've been mucking about in the very comfortable early 1990s a little too long and want to switch it up. I'm thinking maybe late 1990s or early 2000s, but I don't have anything planned. Some early Krooked might be one option.

For the quote: Thrasher - September 1995 Volume 15 Number 9

Transworld - October 1990 Volume 8 Number 10

Todd Congelliere & Mike Smith.

Today we have Mr. Congelliere and Mr. Smith out for a quick jaunt on the open seas.

Transworld - November 1990 Volume 8 Number 11

Jake Sharp.

Brilliant.

Jake had the opening part in Liberty's Horror video. He did some solid street skating around LA by early 1990s standards. He might be the only person other than Mike or Todd to be in a Liberty ad.

Transworld - March 1991 Volume 9 Number 3

Mike Smith #2.

This is classic World Industries advertising spin from the days of yore. So wrong and so funny.

Mike also had some sort of music project called Ape Rock. Did anybody ever order the tape?

There was a Liberty video called Horror. It's from 1990. I'd never really heard of it.

Transworld - December 1990 Volume 8 Number 12

Mike Smith.

Ape Rock.

Liberty was Mike Smith's company in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For a while Mike was partnered with Steve Rocco's burgeoning World Industries empire and that resulted in some funny ads that you will see over the course of the week.

Mike was pro for Madrid prior to starting Liberty. He invented the frontside Smith grind and the Smithvert. He was also on Speed Wheels and had a part in Speed Freaks. The only other pro on Liberty was Todd Congelliere. The ams included Jake Sharp, Chad Fernandez, Erik Villalobos, Ofer Moses, Erik Ricks, and Ron Resurreccion. There possibly was a Liberty video in addition to a section in World Industries' Rubbish Heap.

I'm making a few educated guesses this week so holler if anything is a little off.

Transworld - February 1991 Volume 9 Number 2

John Pryor #2.

Post-rock.

John had a short part in Memory Screen with a few big tricks. I think the extent of his coverage was in that video and two Tracker ads, both of which are now on Vert Is Dead.

Liberty on Monday.

Steve Sherman took the photo.

This is a Tracker poster from 1991. I think the print version ran in Thrasher, of all places.