The Tony Alva Story

[Deputy Wendell]

I don't want to come across as an asshole, but what did he accomplish that we should care about him?
Again, don't want to be a dick, just curious.

although Alva himself for some reasons seems like he wants to keep resuscitating conversations about himself in terms of "accomplishments," if "accomplishments" are your criterion for determining if you should "care" about skaters who should not be forgotten, then i'm not totally sure why you got into skateboarding in the first place--that's more for competitive olympic-type sports, right?...oh shit, i almost forgot...

...oy vey, what a bitter fucking pill to swallow...hold up, i'm going to go pour myself some more Maker's so i can continue...

...ok, that's much better...i love some of Alva's skating exactly because at times it radiated the sacred principle that it was HOW things are done, not that they have been formally documented as being done, i.e. as being "accomplished," see exhibit A:



--for instance, i love some frontside airs in a pool that Glen Friedman's photos suggest were some of the earliest frontside airs ever done, especially in a pool, see exhibit B:



i'm just sick of having the story retold...between Z-Boy documentary and the film i feel like' i've got it.

but Alva should always have a place in the conversation, i just feel like there are a lot of us who got into skateboarding because we wanted to get around the whole burden of accumulating, documenting, and calculating "accomplishments"

"I don't want to come across as an asshole...Again, don't want to be a dick..."

love,
Deputy Wendell

[fs1/2cab]

I just always thought Shogu Kubo is way sicker als Alva.
But yeah I watch that film. Cheers pals

* Edit. Rolled a doobie and watched the film. A few things:

- If Henry Rollins freaks out about you, that says a lot.
- Ian MacKaye is such a sweetheart, Gonz too
- Being mean to Gonz is not cool
- First Fs Air, I had no idea. So sick
- Skating at 60 years young.

I miss you Grosso

[j....soy.....]

Skateboarding was like scootering....some bullshit you did when you were a child.....he was one of the first guys who pushed this beyond a skateboard being a toy....he was also instrumental in the movement of skating transition freeing skating from just being about races, barrel jumping and freestyle routines....

It's not very often you get guys that are more than the best.....he was one of them....

[fang]

I don't want to come across as an asshole, but what did he accomplish that we should care about him?
Again, don't want to be a dick, just curious.

Did a fs air
Had a mustache

[Willie]

“I bailed the first frontside air: The Tony Alva Story”

[fernando the skater]

76-77 when skateboarding blew up, Alva was the first star. He was the one winning the world champs, he was the one winning the skateboarder of the year poll, he was the one in the hollywood movie, he was the one who had a photo in every magazine all over the world. He's the only skater from the 70s who still gets money from skateboarding.

But, yeah, he was kinda an asshole too.

[Sold Out]

Watching this made me miss Grosso  :'(

[Lowcalcium]

Expand Quote

This is completely tangential to TA, but near the end where Grosso's baring his soul to us in his garage, I really couldn't help but notice a prominent vintage circa '95 - '96 TSA Clothing sticker among all the other more Grosso-centric decals. One of my favorite obscure skate anecdotes is that apparently, when Grosso was at his lowest and living in an old Quonset hut in Costa Mesa, amazingly Tom and Muska in their salad days would occasionally come visit him, in what I imagine was basically a pretty Feck in "River's Edge" scenario. I assume that this sticker comes directly from those "sessions", which is pretty neat.

[close]

here's to things that are "tangential to TA"

these kinds of comments continue to replenish my faith in Slap--i did not know that Muska and Penny did that, and if so, i fucking love it...no matter how piled out he was, Grosso deserved it.

nerding out on skating and skate history is an integral part of being a skateboarder, and i bet Grosso would approve of your perspicacity (and good eye) here friend...

[left knee cap]

i thought how he was shown in lords of dogtown was overexaggerated but i guess he actually like this in real life

[Sleazy]

hosoi's personality makes way more sense after watching that.

the dogtown cliche's get a bit played out and all that but i really enjoyed the coverage of the alva team. one summer in late 80s i lived in australia and saw the alva crew at a demo. i was on some local shop team and we were all into the bones brigade stuff, launch ramps and street plants and all that. i remember the alva crew rolling up and it was like they said in the documentary. they all had leather jackets and dreads and were super crusty. we had the launch ramp setup in this parking lot and those dudes all got out the van and just started cruising around the parking lot skating in ways we'd never seen. chris cook was doing these huge stylish g turns, jeff hartsel came hauling in and did this back side power slide that seemed like it went 20 feet, they were all throwing the gnarliest frontside slappies on these unwaxed unpainted curbs which still confuses me as to how they did that. i remember thinking are these guys even going to hit the launch ramp? and then chris cook started trying this "nollie" 360 shuv off it. the boards didn't really have noses on them. anyway, after that demo the way i skated completely changed and it put a nail in the coffin of launch ramps and street plants. later that summer we saw natas and things really got interesting.

i remember seeing this photo of jeff hartsel a little later and it was pretty influential in me finding my way to california near venus beach in the summer of 89 and going skate sad lands and some of the bank spots that natas and these guys used to skate. that whole crew did a lot for making street skating less kooky and more interesting at least in my world so it was really cool to see them get some coverage.

[ok boomer]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

This is completely tangential to TA, but near the end where Grosso's baring his soul to us in his garage, I really couldn't help but notice a prominent vintage circa '95 - '96 TSA Clothing sticker among all the other more Grosso-centric decals. One of my favorite obscure skate anecdotes is that apparently, when Grosso was at his lowest and living in an old Quonset hut in Costa Mesa, amazingly Tom and Muska in their salad days would occasionally come visit him, in what I imagine was basically a pretty Feck in "River's Edge" scenario. I assume that this sticker comes directly from those "sessions", which is pretty neat.

[close]

here's to things that are "tangential to TA"

these kinds of comments continue to replenish my faith in Slap--i did not know that Muska and Penny did that, and if so, i fucking love it...no matter how piled out he was, Grosso deserved it.

nerding out on skating and skate history is an integral part of being a skateboarder, and i bet Grosso would approve of your perspicacity (and good eye) here friend...

[close]

I need to know more about all of this. I used to run all TSA gear when I could find it. TSA everything. TSA anorak jacket was my favorite. RIP that jacket I miss u xoxo

[radcunt]

That was a flimsy wishy washy ‘doco’ but an enjoyable enough watch

[Deputy Wendell]

hosoi's personality makes way more sense after watching that.

the dogtown cliche's get a bit played out and all that but i really enjoyed the coverage of the alva team. one summer in late 80s i lived in australia and saw the alva crew at a demo. i was on some local shop team and we were all into the bones brigade stuff, launch ramps and street plants and all that. i remember the alva crew rolling up and it was like they said in the documentary. they all had leather jackets and dreads and were super crusty. we had the launch ramp setup in this parking lot and those dudes all got out the van and just started cruising around the parking lot skating in ways we'd never seen. chris cook was doing these huge stylish g turns, jeff hartsel came hauling in and did this back side power slide that seemed like it went 20 feet, they were all throwing the gnarliest frontside slappies on these unwaxed unpainted curbs which still confuses me as to how they did that. i remember thinking are these guys even going to hit the launch ramp? and then chris cook started trying this "nollie" 360 shuv off it. the boards didn't really have noses on them. anyway, after that demo the way i skated completely changed and it put a nail in the coffin of launch ramps and street plants. later that summer we saw natas and things really got interesting.

i remember seeing this photo of jeff hartsel a little later and it was pretty influential in me finding my way to california near venus beach in the summer of 89 and going skate sad lands and some of the bank spots that natas and these guys used to skate. that whole crew did a lot for making street skating less kooky and more interesting at least in my world so it was really cool to see them get some coverage.

this was a great read Sleazy, thanks for taking the time to share the history--and i'm jealous of getting to skate Sadlands.

it is easy to forget that Alva did it's part in advancing street skating. perhaps another obvious example is Gonz's fleeting time on Alva





but also, Jesse Neuhauss was/is a super important part of street skating history here in the midwest, and he was on Alva as he was winning all of those NSA street contests (and he won a lot), and in G&S Footage (riding for G&S Trucks of course), etc....

[ShyLow]

Were the Alva team the original Crust Punks? That's one invention I can't forgive.

[WastedHippy]

I just always thought Shogu Kubo is way sicker als Alva.
But yeah I watch that film. Cheers pals

* Edit. Rolled a doobie and watched the film. A few things:

- If Henry Rollins freaks out about you, that says a lot.
- Ian MacKaye is such a sweetheart, Gonz too
- Being mean to Gonz is not cool
- First Fs Air, I had no idea. So sick
- Skating at 60 years young.

I miss you Grosso

All good stuff

haha I laughed pretty hard when that dude was talking about the image of Alvas crew then switched to the Powell guys and is like "Tony Hawk pencil neck geek over here"

[ndsr]

76-77 when skateboarding blew up, Alva was the first star. He was the one winning the world champs, he was the one winning the skateboarder of the year poll, he was the one in the hollywood movie, he was the one who had a photo in every magazine all over the world. He's the only skater from the 70s who still gets money from skateboarding.

But, yeah, he was kinda an asshole too.

The current American president is kinda an asshole too but in the 80’s blah blah fucking blah

[mattchew]

You think Alva has ever done a kickflip?

[Chavo]

Good watch. With the whole Six Stair/Grosso/Vans production, I hoped it would have more of a Love Letters feel opposed to a formal chronology, but those days are no more.

As someone who skated during the '80s and followed Alva since his New Romantic period, the rogue image of the Alva posse seems laughable. Skaters have always been dorks and even though leather jackets paired with H.I.C. surf trunks seems cool to us, it seemed silly to everyone else. Also, I went to school with actual gang members, so white dudes with dreadlocks out the top of their helmets did not instill fear.