Mike Ness

Mike Ness Hates Tattoos, Broke Wrist Skateboarding

This may be old news to you Social Distortion fans. I’m a fan but I don’t feel the urge to see them live anymore. Austin360.com reports:

Last year, Ness’ better judgment went downhill in a hurry resulting in injury and a last-minute phone call to a fill-in guitarist to save the Social Distortion tour from being detoured.

Which made me jump to the hasty and obvious conclusions: Did he have relapse or run in with the law? Turns out he was skateboarding with his son.

“I was helping my son do an eighth-grade school project,” Ness says. “We went downhill skateboarding and I was filming him, and I just ate it going about 25 miles per hour. I broke my wrist in about four places.” Skateboarding under the influence of good intentions is better than wiping out on drugs, which is what Ness was doing early in his career.

I wonder if he has any of the old Skull Skates Social Distortion boards laying around. Earlier in the article the author says that Ness laments having his tattoos. Oh well. Photo by Shigeo Kikuchi. Story by By David Glessner for Austin360.com. Read From punk riot to family man

Discussion

16 thoughts on “Mike Ness Hates Tattoos, Broke Wrist Skateboarding

  1. One of the best american bands ever…whatever happened to my “Another State of Mind” 7″ on 13th Floor? I do still have the 1945/Playpen single (Posh Boy?). But it was the Mainliner 7″ that we all really wanted. My freinds and I were obscessed with Michael Ness in ’83-84…we’d look at pictures of him in Flipside and on flyers and try to decide if his face was really falling off due to V.D like we had heard! I also heard that he could self-fellatio himself, a chick said she saw him do it Chicago…I always thought it was odd/fascinating that a kid could grow up so close to skating and beach culture and never ride, especially in the early 80’s hardcore heyday. But I guess he was a rocker through and through even at the begining, he’d just rather play guitar. What else…Oh yeah, he used to wear an armband which we all copied.

  2. House of Neil on October 25, 2006 - Reply

    Yeah, probably my fave band of all time, but I’m with Randy. After hearing the same tired stage patter for the last 10 years (“props to the old timers but its the youngsters who blah blah blah”) I have no desire to see them live anymore. Plus, once Dennis was gone it wasn’t Social D anymore. It’s Mike and his hired hands.

  3. Neil, were you at the Prison Bound pre-Self Titled show at the Exit in 89-90?

  4. House of Neil on October 25, 2006 - Reply

    no, but I saw the next one at the Vic with Pegboy.

    1. PEGBOY RULES BRADAH!!!

  5. ricky ralf on April 18, 2007 - Reply

    does anyone know what kind of shoes social D has been rocking at the gigs… the suede cork looking soled ones

  6. the best band ever

  7. Oh pardon me for speaking my mind. I can see your website must be geared toward the “Highschool musical”crowd. Could you possibly be anymore spineless. You probably have front row tickets to the Jonas brothers and a Richard Simmons tattoo.

  8. I thought your website says skate and ANNOY maybe you should change it to “ice skaters do yoga”

  9. bobcat on March 5, 2009 - Reply

    “this next song is for the girl with the betty page bangs and poodle cherry patterned skirt standing next to the rockabilly dork”

  10. yeah, randy, thats fucking weak move. if somebody calls me a pussy and tells me to get my head out of my ass PLEASE DONT ERASE THEIR COMMENTS. id like to respond myself.

    im with you recla…

  11. i have no idea what recla or marek are talking about, but back to social d., since this old post has been revisited…
    my housemate has that skull skates social d. deck, unridden. no concave whatsoever. it’s in our living room, waiting to be hung on the wall. he said he talked to one of the skull skates guys visiting canada one time and they don’t even have any of those boards.

  12. jakeferranti on March 5, 2009 - Reply

    actually the whole thing started when i saw mike ness at the sweet factory loading up on gummy-sharks and jelly-bellys. i walked up and knocked tha bag out of his hand spilling blue gummy-sharks all over some preteen girls. ness collapsed on the ground sobbing and trying to pick up gummy-sharks and i calle dhim a pussy and stepped on his wrist,breaking it. then he cried “why are you doing this to me?!” and i said “cuz i just want to give you the creeps muthafucker!”
    then i stole his creepers and sold them to journey’s
    and now you know the rest of the story.

    1. Hahahah you made me laugh so hard! What an imagination! hahaha

  13. the best band ever, thanks for sharing

  14. The best thing about him breaking his arm, was having Ron Emory from TSOL fill in for him. I never really got in to S.D, but Mike has a formula
    for music that a lot of people really like.
    I know this is an old post, but to the guy asking about the shoes. Those are made by George Esquivel of Joes Garb.

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