Skateboarding's conventional wisdom says that in 1996, young skaters everywhere found themselves at a crossroads, because of the release of two (or three) videos: Welcome to Hell and Trilogy (Mouse, of course, was a huge factor too, but for post purposes it can be seen in the same light as Trilogy).
Essentially, the thinking says that depending on what video this youngster bought/saw/bootlegged first, would determine their skateboarding future, i.e. Misfits T's, backside 50-50's and a life-long devotion to Jamie Thomas. The other path would lead to shell toes or Axions (later), switch K grinds and a proclivity to start Menace inspired websites a decade down the line.
This macro view of things is fine, but it doesn't really go much further than what's laid out previously. It's simplistic. I fall, more or less, into the latter mold/category of dude, having had shell toes and a Front windbreaker that got plenty of action in those late-90's, though it must be said that I've got more than a passing appreciation for the Misfit's discography and Welcome to Hell is definitely a top fiver.
Making these broad sweeping categorizations regarding the impact of videos that are a decade and a half old really only leads to caveats and asterisks to any point one tries to make boldly.
Instead, I'll get more done relaying the little ways that Trilogy influenced me, 15 years on.
-Skating Pier 7 was an important and attainable goal. Between the McBride brothers part and all the other clips, it was a must. Therefore, in 1998, when I finally made it (at night for 15 minutes with my family looking on), a crooked grind on one of the Bay Blocks while it still had coping is something I'm still talking about 13 years later. Still wishing I could have gotten my parents to somehow drive me do Lockwood (never made a family trip to LA though).
-For years I believed that Gino Ianucci wore a desert camo t-shirt during his first line, and I took it upon myself to find one. Only upon viewing the DVD box set of World videos in the mid-aughts did I realize that due to a blown out Hi-8 transfer, he was not wearing desert camo; that's standard camo. Oh well.
-Kareem Campbell does the best nollie hardflip that will ever be done. Ever. On flat.
-Trilogy gave bragging rights to my roommate who played cee-lo with Maurice Key at the trade show.
-Even at the time, I knew Sam Devlin really had no place in the video.
Edit:-I forgot. Trilogy also gave my skate crew the term "Shilohing," named for of course, Shiloh Greathouse, who crouches once, thinks better of the crouch, then lands a varial heelflip. 99% of the time when one crouches, stands up, and then tries a trick again (without "cleansing," as in both feet off the board), they miss the trick. Try it. Are there any other instances of dudes doing this in a video and running the footage/making it?
5 comments:
What about BUBD 4? Might actually be able to make it this year.
Augie, Luke beat me to the flyer. Up tomorrow.
Addendum to this post, it got me thinking about a similar shift in perspectives when Goldfish and a Visual Sound came out. I wasn't there, but the dudes around here say there was a distinct shift between the Coltrane and Group Home dudes.
True Munz. But then you had guys like myself who were running Stereo boards while listening to Group Home. It should be noted that in said game of cee-lo Maurice took me for about a hundo in less then 5 minutes flat.
Wow, I just read this post.. It is almost like I wrote it myself. Seriously fucking eery. I talk about ALL these things all the time, apart from the flatmate cee-lo game (but no shit my mate had a similar story with Maurice involving a 40oz that he won't shut up about)
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