Fu Manchu and Valient Thorr came into town this weekend to play at the Hawthorne Theatre. I had only heard of Valient Thorr in passing and was looking forward to hearing them live. To say the least, I was blown away by the energy of these guys! More about Valient Thorr after the jump.
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Black Out from Black Label Skateboards, circa 2003. The Black Label videos always stoke my skate fire. They not only have some of the best all-around skaters, but they manage to keep some of the greatest legends in skateboarding too.
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Psycho Skate from Vision Streetwear, circa 1988. This video is a good mix of Freestyle, Vert, and even some early Snowboarding. It seems like everything back in the late 80s was some sort of bright neon color. Do you remember color-changing shirts? More after the jump.

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Speed Freaks from Santa Cruz Speed Wheels, circa 1989. This was the first video ever made by a wheel company. It gave Santa Cruz the ability to bring skateboarders from different board companies, and put them on their videos. This makes the video that much better, with a great mix of street and vert skating. Santa Cruz also put out Streets On Fire in 1989, which featured some of the best skating to date, especially Natas Kaupas’ groundbreaking part. More about the 80s and skateboarding after the jump.
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Zero Hero from Zorlac Skateboards, circa 1991. I’ve watched this video quite a few times. It has some really good vert skating, and the kind of street skating that still had tons of potential behind it. More about Zorlac Skateboards after the jump!
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The Story from H-Street, circa 1997. This is the sixth video in the H-Street Box Set. This is a really long video, it even gives you the timing of each section so that you can fast-forward to each part. Of course, this was back in VHS times, so the timing means nothing now.

H-street was the brainchild of Mike Ternansky(along with Mike Carroll, Matt Hensley, Danny Way and Sal Barbier), who formed Plan B, and Tony Magnusson, who now runs Osiris.

I had to include the Story of Iron Cross, which is an interview with Art and Steve Godoy from Skate and Annoy 6.

Featured Skaters: Ron Allen, Jordan Andreen, Felix Arguelles, Barker Barrett, Andre Camacho, Colby Carter, Chad Conner, John DeAgo, Jason Ellis, Kit Erickson, James Frazier, Trent Gaines, Buster Halterman, Eric Jueden, Kien “Donger” Lieu, Brian Lotti, Cheyne Magnusson, Tony Magnusson, Dennis Martin, Chris Miller, Jeremy Owens, John Reeves, Mark Roach, Jason Rogers, Ally Roller, Shane Rosson, Noah Salasnek, Brennand Schoeffel, Sean Sheffey, Jovontae Turner, Aaron Vincent, Danny Way, and Paul Zuanich

run time: 2 hr 32 min 19 sec – Check it Out
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Video Days from Blind Skateboards, circa 1991. One of my all-time favorite videos. Spike Jonze was the director for this video and he definitely set the bar when it comes to filming/editing. Blind was started by Mark Gonzales in 1991. The company name is an intentional jab at his former team, Vision.

This was a time when Street Skating was developing at an insane rate. Although the video is mainly street oriented; there is some vert featuring the Gonz and Jordan Richter. There’s some really good music on here as well, including Black Flag, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, and much more.

Blind now offers this video on DVD by combining it with What If?.

Featured Skaters: Mark Gonzales, Rudy Johnson, Jason Lee, Guy Mariano, and Jordan Richter

run time: 24 min 0 sec – Check it Out

Is What it is from Consolidated Skateboards, circa 1999. I really enjoy these earlier Consolidated videos. It has a really good mix of Street and Vert throughout each persons part.

More about Consolidated Skateboards after the jump! (more…)

Way Out East! from Stereo Sound Agency, circa 2004. This is a three week long tour video of London, New York and Paris with a little west coast action thrown in for good measure. I really like this video for its smooth style, and it always seems like they are having a blast. Isn’t that what skateboarding is all about? To answer my own question… Yes, yes it is. The entire video is shot in either 8mm or 16mm film.

I didn’t even know that Stereo was still a company, but I guess Jason Lee seems to have run into some money with his TV shows and Movies.

Stereo was originally founded in 1992 by Jason Lee and Chris Pastras. After Jason left the company to pursue his acting career, Chris kept the company running, until 2000 when it closed its doors. In 2003 Chris and Jason relaunched the company under the Giant Distribution company. By 2006 they were able to distribute independently which was probably their main goal in the first place.

Featured Skaters: Jason Lee, Chris Pastras, Clint Peterson, Benny Fairfax, Keegan Sauder, Olly Todd, Brian Brown, Rick McCrank, Mike McDermott, Soy Panday, and Snowy

run time: 27 min 19 sec – Check it Out

Cheese and Crackers from Almost Skateboards, circa 2006. Its a new year, so we can break out the videos from last year right?

This is one of the better skate videos to come out of 2006. In my opinion Daewon Song and Chris Haslam are two of the most creative skaters out there, and it definitely shows in this video. Flip tricks off of blunts and into noseslides and everything in between. They even incorporate tires and suspended flat bars for a little extra flavor.

The video may be short, but I usually end up watching each part multiple times just to catch what is going on.

Featured Skaters: Daewon Song and Chris Haslam

run time: 14 min 56 sec – Check it Out