After exhaustive research of the very crowded field of contenders, Skate And Annoy is finally able to give you the definitive top 2 record covers featuring violinists playing while riding a skateboard. In the interest of fairness, I’m going to list them in chronological order. Drumroll please… First there was the country, rock, Cajun and calypso sounds of Steamin´ Freeman, a guy who once hailed from Bellingham, Washington. Who knows, maybe he can be found lurking at the Bellingham skatepark. Then in 1979, Rounder Records released Mark O’Connor’s “On the Rampage,” which he recorded at the ripe young age of 17! So it likely wasn’t the record company’s idea that he pose on a skateboard. According to this review, he was an excellent bluegrass player.

UPDATE: Added videos of Mark O’Connor concert performed on skateboards.

Upcycle, recycle, bicycle. Yet another Kickstarter for a skateboard project, this time to make skateboards out of used bourbon barrels. It seems moderately cool at first and I was kind of on board until I watched the video. I must have been in a bad mood, because listening to these guys made me want to punch them in the face. I’m not a violent person, and I’m sure they are nice people, so I apologize to the folks at Hepcat, which unfortunately has nothing to do with the excellent band Hepcat. The company is not primarily a skateboard brand, they just want to make lifestyle products out of upcycled material, an idea that has been recycled a lot lately. Yes, this is backlash. I am one sour (mash) old man today. Silly and overpriced, but I bet they smell good.

– Thanks to MC for the tip.

In 1991 McDonalds issued Happy Meal toys consisting of memvbers of the “Laf-Squad” riding motorized vehicles. The Laf Squad must have been the secret, paramilitary arm of the Laff-A-Lympics splinter group known as the Yogi Yahooeys. Of the four figures, only Boo Boo Bear had the privilege of riding the customary out of scale skateboard. Here he is, more stylish than your average bear. And yes, he is on actual pool coping.

From the brand you can trust for all your creepy, electronic cockroach needs, Hexbug brings you Tony Hawk’s Circuit Boards. It’s a hybrid of fingerboards and RC skateboard technology that sounds like a bad idea, but looks kind of cool in the demo videos. The promo footage shows some cool maneuvering, however it’s speculation whether this is due to hours of practice and precise timing or some built in mechanism or inherent design that makes lip tricks and kick turns on such a small scale seemingly easy. It comes with a TV commercial featuring Tony Hawk in one of his least wooden advertising appearances ever. Radio controlled Circuit Boards! Get it? Get it?

S&A reader Johan snapped a few pics of a CD he found at a flea market. Smurf Hits are compilations of smurfed versions of pop tunes. The Smurfarna versions are sung in Swedish, some by this lady. Surfarna 5 came out in 1998, and features some excellent skateboarding (Smurfboarding?) action on the covers. Back in 1997 they used a skateboard in the art for an English speaking compilation as well. It will make your ears bleed.

Apparently frat boys have a long history with skateboarding. This Delta Tau Delta skateboard allegedly came from a pledge dance in 1965. The board style and condition of the skateboard would seem to support that. I have to say, it’s a pretty cool party favor, much better than some stupid paddle. This board was spotted at a Goodwill online auction, and eventually sold for $102.

– Thanks to Guy Housewright for the tip.

Another fine offering from the folks at Topps, T-Shirt Factory Iron On’s from 1988. They definitely carry on the tradition of Garbage Pail Kids, another Topps product. These iron-on transfers are maybe about 5×7 inches. I don’t actually have this, it was floating around at a party I went to. I did some due diligence when I spotted it and snapped some cell phone pics once I saw there was a skateboard graphic.

For fun it’s a wonderful toy
It walks downnstairs
Alone or in pairs
And makes a Slinkaty sound
A Spring
A Spring
A marvelous thing
Everyone knows it’s….

Everyone knows it’s “Slinky” and not “Slurpee.” Spotted at a local 7-11, Mountain Dew and Slurpee X-treme cross marketing.

Skate Hockey in the street has been going on since the 80’s but this might be the first documented occurrence of a Skateboard Air Hockey game, in the street… Spotted on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands by Doc Skate Rock. We need to coin a phrase for the practice of depicting unrelated sports on sporting equipment.

SkatersTape, it may not go up to 11, but is has the word “skater” right in the product name, so you know it’s going to work better than something like duct tape. It starts at $6 a roll, and if you buy in bulk you can get a case of 12 rolls at a discount for just $6 a roll. SkatersTape is so dedicated to passing the savings on to you that they’re using the same 2 recycled low res action photos on every page. If you forget where to buy it, just scan the handy QR code infinitely repeated on the roll, like a modern day version of the Gator graphic… Just squint your eyes. Do you remember Gator? Do you remember QR codes? “If you use skaters tape every time you skate, you can keep your shoes looking like new.” Could they make such a bold claim if it weren’t true? After extensive testing we found that SkatersTape did indeed keep our shoes looking like brand new shoes covered in obnoxious duct tape. But why stop there? Why not make an entire pair of shoes out of SkatersTape? How about a wallet to hold your credit cards so you can order more SkatersTape. Make an iPhone case to aid in scanning the QR code for the web site. While you’re at it, fashion a pair of skinny jeans so you don’t wear out the ass and knees when bailing on all those 20 stairs. OLD man GVK keeps his vert shoes on life support for years, and with SkatersTape he’ll be able to stretch that to decades.

– Thanks to MC for the tip.