23 questions with Russ Howell
Old Man Army is at it again, this time interviewing 70′s skate legend Russ Howell. I know what you’re thinking. By the end of the 70′s nobody much cared about Russ (in the skateboarding world) so why bother now? Well, it’s an interesting read nonetheless, especially for Howell’s take on the Dogtown documentary. He’s got a bone to pick with Stacy. The guy he should have a beef with is Richy Carrasco. See, Howell set a 360 record in 1977 (35 spins) but claims a personal best of 163. Meanwhile, Carrasco beat his record in 1978 with 35.5 spins and then again in 2000 with 142 spins. I don’t know how Russ lets a guy get away with calling himself the 360 King when Howell’s best is 21 over the Guinness Record. Did you know Russ Howell currently has a signature model? Learn this and more in the interview at Old Man Army. Don’t forget to check out the official web site of Russ Howell which stays true to his old school roots by maintaining a look that is circa 1996 web design.
Posted by: on January 10th, 2007
More posts by kilwag
Categories: Back In The Day, Skate
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“circa 1996 web design” or a sure trip to the optometrist. Egad, my eyes!
Is he really selling CDs of crap he has downloaded from the internet?
I think Sonny has one of those discs full of bad scans of pictures of Russ from old magazines.
You know, He has worked very hard to achieve his accomplishments. It is with great confusion that I question his motivation to make ignore the positive influence of the whole Dogtown phenomenon that prevented skateboarding from becoming yet another training ground for cannon fodder. What were you thinking, Russ? Why stain an otherwise brilliant skating career?
this has started a huge thread on skullandbones. Some (who speak the truth) have questionned the rewriting of skate history that started with the Dogtown “documentary”. Others defend the Dogtowners to the death, apparently ignoring the fact that skateboarding existed for decades before them, and would have done very nicely thankyou without them. It was only when oldtimers who were there (like Russ Howell) came on and cited names of skaters and pools that were being shredded years BEFORE Alva and Adams etc.
What happened for me was that the Stecyk articles made skateboarders as cool if not cooler than surfers. Or at least we got our own scene. I know the Dogtown style was totally surf inspired but suddenly you could almost forget that. It was possible to be a rad skater dude who didn’t surf.
Actually, from an outside perspective (as a surfer at the time), Tony Alva and his “Ted Nugent wannabe posing for L.A.’s idea of cutting edge minimilist advertising” ads in the surf magazines of the time were so embarrassingly dorky that they did NOTHING to enhance the image of my skating peers… who were capable of getting by without Craig Stecyk’s California self-esteem clinics (which would not have been so necessary if California had not managed – through the tribal practices exalted in the Dogtown movies – to make itself the joke of the surfing world, performance-wise).
What is the URL for the skullandbones discussion you mentioned?
here you go…
http://www.skullandbonesskateboards.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=68020
“I don’t know how Russ lets a guy get away with calling himself the 360 King when Howell’s best is 21 over the Guinness Record”
Because he can’t. Russ’s claim is unverified and therfore crap.
“Because he can’t. Russ’s claim is unverified and therfore crap.”
He set the record of 163 spins in a competition. But, since it was only a small local pub contest called “Long Beach World Championships”, i guess he was alone there with no witnesses. Too bad for him.
This “23 Questions” article just came to my attention. I am amazed that each comment was based on what someone else had said about me rather than on what I have said or done. Let’s set the record straight. I love Skateboarding and serving it has been an honor for me since 1958; 55 years ago. My motivation to be involved in the Sport was never motivated by gaining personal fame or fortune. My decisions were made to elevate and further an activity that has always been more of a friend than a sport. There were many skaters who unselfishly served the Sport and to isolate one group and exhault them above the rest is an insult to all the skaters who served honorably. Stacy Peralta and I worked together for six months in Australia and we became good friends. I have nothing but admiration for his skating and his dedication to the Sport. His portrayal of the Dogtown group was confusing to me, but it does nothing to diminish my respect for him. I am friends with Jay Adams and Paul Hoffman; both Dogtown skaters. I do have issues with anyone who damaged the image of skateboarding by promoting drugs and lawless behavior. We lost financial sponsorship for the Sport in the 1980′s due to this connection. City Councils banned skateboarding because of the Dogtown influence in the Sport. With regards to World Skateboarding Records, I set records for both the longest handstand on a skateboard and also for the most consecutive spins on a skateboard. My spin record at the 1977 Long Beach World Freeformer Contest was 35 1/2. It was almost a year later when I was at a contest in Southern California and hit over 150 spins five times in a row. The final spin was 163. There were many skaters there counting; Lynn Cooper was among them. Unfortunately, nobody was taking film. I don’t brag about being able to do more 360-spins on a skateboard because I realize it was a gift from a much higher source. You have to reach the mountain top before you can fully appreciate that perspective. I am grateful for being allowed to spin that many, but I would never claim to have done it if it were not so. Richy Carrasco and I have spoken about this and he recognizes that I have done more spins, but he rationalizes that he has film. I don’t hold that against him; he has a skateboard business to run and image is important to him and his ability to make money for his business. We all have to make our own decisions on how to live and relate to others. It’s his choice and we remain good friends. Another issue brought up was about my “Old School” Web site design. Well, you got me there. I began skateboarding and suring in the late 1950′s and I still love those old surf graphics. Surfing was my entire life and it’s all I wanted to do. How does anything else compare with walking on water? One of my projects was to scan as much of the history of skateboarding onto a single CD and make it available to everyone else. Those photos, posters, stickers, and stories belong to the skaters who were involved with the Sport. I wanted everyone to have access to their own memories. It took me eighteen months of scanning eight hours each day to complete the Skateboard Image CD. I stopped selling it because one single photographer complained that one of his images was on the disk. I can’t understand the level of greed in some people, but I discontinued offering the CD. I believe “work is love made visible.” I love the Sport of Skateboarding and my 55 years of working to elevate it show my motivation. In closing, be sure you hear what the person has to say before you criticize them. Not everything you read on the Internet is true. Russ Howell