Saturday Starrs #4: Free Former demo at a rock concert
This edition of Saturday Starrs is a 1978 California Free Former demo at something called Cal Jam II which was one of those outdoor mega concerts that purportedly had an attendance of 350,000 people. The skaters are legends Ty Page, Laura Thornhill and Brian Beardsley. Can someone be considered a legend if they aren’t well known? I’m certainly not up on all the 70’s pros, but who the heck is Brian Beardsley? (UPDATE: OK, Brian Beardsley) Right. There’s freestyle, highjump and halfpipe footage from one of the plexiglass Firestone Ramps. At least one of those Firestone ramps was still being carted across country for demos as late as 1988 or so.
From the archives of Scott Starr. (More Saturday Starrs) Note: You might actually want to watch the next one below instead.
Here’s the same film from an alternate source. The audio level is lower but it hasn’t been compressed so much so it’s actually preferable to listen to. I think the video might be cleaner too.
Wow, that fro dude is really tearing up the half…
Laura Thornhill, she is welcome on my team anytime. Loose those other squares baby, I’ll teach you how to ollie, you’ll really dig that.
One of my personal favorites. Many more to come…….
Cal Jam II skating was covered in Skateboarder magazine as well. What Ty Page not a legend? wtf : 0
No, no, I’m not talking about Ty Page, I’m talking about Brian Beardsley.
Laura looks a little anorexic in the still shot. And they say the camera ads 10 pounds.
Beardsley was known for high jumping. There were photos of him jumping an MG convertible.
Oh, you mean this Brian Beardsley
ramps are made of wood……duh
Brian beardsly should up with ty-page in ocean city (the O>C> bowl) back in mid 70’s. Ty was doing these super power slides accross the whole big bowl with out putting his hand down. It was a trip too because everyone wsas just getting used to soft grippy rode riders, but when he showed up wih had hard wheels which were able to let loose at his command. Years later I rode Black hearts. Brian was in the street high jumping over MG”S or was it 280 z’s and a high bar. He was known for crossing his legs indian style when he was up there high jumping.
Dude its so wierd wathcing this stuff skateboarding has gotten so fucking rad
Speaking of Ty Page, check this out: http://www.ty-page.com
I’ve got an Old School 27″ California Free Form plywood/laminate,barely ridden !
Looks a lot like the board the girl is holding in the first video.
I would post a pic if I could.
“Back in the day”, there were no tubes, so it was just a matter of how fast you could go down a hill….and the California Free Former was the Go-To board the bigger the better.