Another one from the collection of John Drummond, this is Go For It! - the Swindle Issue. It’s a pretty good one. Lots of decent photos and a nice glossy printed cover. The Swindle refers to the fact that the outside is glossy but the inside is photocopied. It’s printed on an odd size of paper, not any derivative of A4 or anything, The insides are all a bit smaller than the cover. It must have been custom trimmed. It’s 90% UK vert scene. A lot of names that are vaguely familiar to the colonists. Phill Burgoyne’s interview is amusing, as is the one with Gregor Rankine. I didn’t remember that he was from New Zealand. This is Steve Douglas’s zine. Some of you might remember him as a pro rider for Schmitt Stix. He was one of the founders of New Deal and Giant Distribution. Right now I believe he’s a big wig at Dwindle.

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Swank Zine #6 comes to us from the collection of John Drummond. there’s no date on it, but Swank had moved to Solona, California, if that helps any. There’s a mention about a ramp session at Lance Mountain’s called “Lock at Lances.” Typical Swank fare, though not as artsy fartsy as they would get later on. Lots of pics by J. Grant Brittain.

Swank Zine #6

Editor: Tod Swank
Art: Tod Swank
Photos: J. Grant Brittain, Tod Swank

Featuring: Chris Black, Tim Noel, Owen Nieder interview, Carlos the owner of Fogtown skates, John Gibson, Salvador Dali, Eddie Reategui, Christian Hosoi, Mike McGill, Meck (?), Adrian Demain, Billy Ruff, Jeff Tautum, Lester Kasai

Spots: Colton skatepark, Shell bowl, Lance Mountain’s ramp

Honorable Mentions: Scarecrow Sakteboard advert. In the Zines section is a zine called “Hey U Dick” proported to be by and aboutt Steve and Art Godoy. Owen Nieder’s last words in the interview are pleading for Duane Peters to start skating again.

Local Slang: Skat-gy (Skate energy)

Check out Swank Zine #6

Again, from the collection of John Drummond. This time it’s the premier issue of Germany’s Death Zone, dating back to June of 1985. It cost 1,50 dm, however much that was. Interesting to note the address inside the cover, it said Gütersloh West Germany. I never really thought about about skateboarding in a divided Germany. Sure, we all knew about Claus Grabke (…and speaking of) but seeing the word “West” made me sit back and take notice.

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Swank Zine - the Anarchy issue doesn’t have a date on it, but from the record reviews listed, it dates to early 1886. Typical Swank Zine fare, high contrast photos and arty drawings, incoherent Swankisms littered throughout. Short and sweet. Other issues of Swank zine are numbered, but this one isn’t. Thanks again to John Drummond for making this available.

By: Tod Swank
Photos: Tod Swank, J. Grant Brittain

Featuring: Dave Swift, Josh Nelson, Bill Danforth, Britt Parrott, Monty Nolder, Lance Mountain, Steve Rocco

Spots: Delking, Delmar, Upland, Oceanside

Highlights: A recounting of one of the Godoys spitting on Stan Hoffman’s face after getting kicked out of Upland (for?), Swank using his zine to pick up girls via personal full page messages (Denise, call Swank!) There’s a back page ad of Kevin Staab that’s manipulated in such a way that it makes him looks like a sulky young girl.

Check out: Swank Zine - The Anarchy Issue

San Jose’s Skate Ripper (Also called San Jose Skate Ripper) #1 comes to us from the collection of, (drumroll please…) John Drummond. There’s no physical date on it but there are some clues. Bob Denike is listed as 20 years old in his interview, and there’s a CASL contest at Del Mar where Lester, Gator (Mark Rogowski) and Tony Hawk are in the 3A division. Hawk wins it. It’s got to be be pretty damned early. Also, there’s an order form for Back issues of Thrasher magazine that doesn’t list any years, just months, so that would put it at late 1981 or early ‘82. Another clue, already in publication are the zines known as Skate Fate, Skate Punk and Skate Scene (San Jose), not to be confused with Skatin’ Scene AKA Rad rat from Hazelton Iowa of all places. SJSR was put out by Craig S. Ramsay. SJSR was copied on legal size paper even though the content seems like it would have fit entirely on letter sized sheets. Consequently, there are quite large borders on the sides of the pages. The text was all typewritten an shrunk to a small size. I had to leave these scans at a larger size to make them legible.

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Once more from the collection of John Drummond, I give you Convert zine #7 from Indianapolis, Indiana. Strangely, for a zine based out of Indiana, most of their coverage was from other states. Although this is the “street issue,” it features mostly ramp skating, aside from a page of Chuck Treece from McRad on a bank, and a ditch contest. The same contest features “Kendall’s mom” who brings everyone White Castle sliders. This issue came out in 83 or 84, so I don’t know if Jeff Kendall was still a local or not. There’s an interview with Paul “Gramps” Hugasian or Heugeson, they spell it two different ways. An interesting note, “Gramps” was only 23 years old, something that would not raise an eyebrow now. The accompanying photos document the highest ever air witnessed on an Uncle Wiggly argyle deck, one that we in the Skate and Annoy circles used to fondly call “The Lead Sled.” Convert #7 is one of those full, letter size zines where the pages are stacked up and stapled on the side with no folding. This was the easiest way to go, and although I scoffed at the unprofessionalism of this style zine, I always secretly admired those who went for the large format without all the headaches of tabloid size printing and layout. Convert #7 has multiple colored pages too. In a move to cover more aspects of skating besided vert, this would be the last issue titled as ConVERT. Social Contortion was to be the title of the next issue, although I can’t say if it ever came out. These guys were close enough to Skate and Annoy headquarters in central Illinois, but our first issue didn’t come out until ‘86, and I had never heard of this zine until I got it from John this year.

Featuring: Milwaukee Extravaganza, Marty and Bob Beaudoin, Paul Heugeson- who might be the same person as Paul “Gramps” Hugaisan, Oz, Chuck Treece, Sean West, Sean Long, Jim Charters, Mike Orfait, Andy Egger, Shawn from Arizona, Dump Contest, Corn Head, Kendall (Jeff?) and his mom. Hoop, Rob Roskopp.

Spots: The Turf, Vatolands BC, The Ditch in Carmel, Oak Ridge Ramp

Check out Convert #7

Published in January of 1982, (!) Skate Punk #2 is from the collection of John Drummond and the then 17 year old mind of Steve Caballero. It looks like it was produced on a fancy copying machine with some sort of photo enhancing technology, and the paper is heavier too. Not too surprising since Robert Caballero is listed as the publisher with One Way Press (also in an advert) so I’m guessing his father (brother?) owned a print shop. There are the prerequisite adverts for Powell and Thrasher, and a lot of photos. There’s an interview with Steve Caballero - how did he get that? When asked who he thought would be his main competition, Steve replied Billy Ruff! Also amusing in hindsight is Steve’s answer to when he thought he was in his prime, as if he had peaked already. Answer: Right after the Gold Cup series. What else? Gig reviews at Briner Hall where fights break out and the cops shut it down. A contest on Steve’s ramp, Corey O’Brien am spotlight and the 9th street Punk Pool. Also of interest: A mention of an entity called “The Pool Exchange”, Caballero riding on Tracker Trucks and Sio (?) shorts. Who does he like to skate with in 1982? Rodney Mullen, Neil Blender, Tony Hawk and Lance Mountain in that order. Who does he thank? His sponsors and “especially Stacy Peralta.” This might be the earliest skate zine I have ever seen. It’s great read, especially considering the scene and the players involved, and what they would become shortly.

Other Contributors: Corey O’Brien, Neil Blender, Lance Mountain, Howard, Rick Bosch, Grant, Gavin O’Brien

Check out Skate Punk #2 (Thanks again to John Drummond)

Unbelievably, someone sent me a small box of zines from the 80’s to scan (and return) for the 80’s Skate Zine Archives. I’d just like to say… SUCKER!!!!! Ha ha. That someone is John Drummond, and in order to convince him that they aren’t just collecting mold in my basement, I’ve gone ahead and posted the shortest one he sent, which is Rage’N Nor Cal Local #1. There are a couple of gems that he sent, including a couple issues of Steve Cabalero’s Skate Punk and Steve Douglas’ Go For It! I’ve been playing with the document feeder on the scanner at work with mixed results, so it may go faster. (Mac - Yes, I still have your negatives. Please pretend not to notice that.)

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So I finally figured out who uses the A4 paper size. Lot’s of people in the UK, I’m sure, but hey, I never actually realized that until I went to scan in this issue of Sad Mag. The scans were all cut off, so I went back and noticed the pages fit nicely inside the “A4″ markings on the scanner. Sad Mag is a zine from Shepshed, Leicestershire England. At least that’s where I think it is from. The mailing address is hard to read and I still don’t understand how the english system of addresses breaks down. This zine is actually a skateboarding and BMX zine! Who knew? I guess the scene over there was not segregated as much as it was/is here. They had Read and Destroy, which was a glossy skate/BMX mag that was actually respectable, especially as the BMX coverage dwindled. I guess we had Homeboy magazine here in the states too.

What’s with the guy on the cover? “Is he havin’ a laugh?“

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Published in 1988, Limozine #3 comes to us from the Boston area. There are two mailing addresses, one in East Boston and one in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was put out by the three man team of Jamie Cumming, Sebastian Nichols and Matt Cumming, as listed in the masthead. It’s a fat 24 half letter sized pages. The photos are legible but the toner saturation (Sheesh - listen to this a-hole) is really low. My physical copy is really faint. It actually looks a lot better after being scanned and manipulated slightly. The layout consists of mostly large photos with typewritten captions. Very nice actually. Simple and clean. I featured a Limozine related link back in November of last year. SnA is thanked on the liner notes and I still have the letter I got from the Limozine staff, unsigned so I don’t know who I was corresponding with. I probably got the address from a zine listing in Contort.

Featured Skaters (In order of appearance) Dan Estabrook, Dexter, Pete Verdoe, Bill, Jamie Ferguson, Sebastian Nichols, Bill Bennet, Andy Smith, Chris Robinson’s friend, Aaron. Unanmed locals.

Spots: Devotion Banks, Upland, Cambridge pool, Z.T. ramp

Honorable Mentions: Thanked on the contents: Skate and Annoy, Skate & Mate, Rip the Lip, Andre, fisheyes, Pro Designed.

Check out Limozine #3