Axl Rose. Get it? Get it? Ha ha ahw haw, har hardee har har. I’m watching Glee right now. Kind of phoning this one in. Is this really Axel Rose? I mean it’s implied that it is, but I’ll be damned if I can reconcile this picture with my hazy memory of the late 80’s and early 90’s. I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about my friend Don Gerard. Picture this: It’s 1987 and there’s a house in a college town that is half filled with students, half filled with dropouts. It’s called “Ten Shitty Guys,” but there are about 14 people living there. My roommate Don walks up to our front porch, where a few of us are sitting next to one of those giant console stereos from the 60’s. We had one on our front porch. It’s where we rocked out. Fresh off of work, Don strolled up and started to slide some vinyl out of a paper bag as he walked up the steps. “Check this out you guys. These guys are going to be HUGE.” And then he slaps Appetite for Destruction on the turntable. And this is early, because these guys are still unknown outside of LA, and it’s the original cover with the controversial Robert Williams painting. At first we were like ” Are you kidding? This is heavy metal bullshit. Nobody is going to give a shit about these guys.” But within a week it was regularly featured on the playlist of the radio station that was our front porch. Don was right about these guys. They did become huge about six months later. As right as he was about Guns and Roses, he was just as wrong about R.E.M.. He was a huge fan, and I was giving him a hard time because at the time it seemed like they were releasing an album every eight months. He replied “These guys have to strike while the iron is hot. An indy band like this is never going to be popular for very long.” OK. Maybe he didn’t actually say “strike while the iron is hot,” but uh, if I had my druthers…. Yeah, so. Axel Rose and a Mike McGill skateboard, plus an official licensed Guns and Roses skateboard that is disappointing, like most licensed band boards. At this point in my rambling I’d liek to mention that Rich from EPM used to actually skate with Axl in Indiana when he (Axl) was known as William.

Thing is, I get distracted easily, and to me, the internet is like a strobe light for epileptics. While trying to track down a copy of the Carvells L.A. Run, I accidentally learned about a Danish relic from the past known as Mabel. These guy look like a bunch of Rod Stewart clones from the Hot Legs era. never heard of them? I guess they didn’t make it that far out of Denmark. Turns out it’s not that expensive to get 7″ vinyl records from Sweden, where I ended up getting this one. I got the hideous cover on the bottom right, which is so bad that it’s actually better than the understated one, which is a full length album. There’s also a Japanese version of the Skateboard Rider single, but the only place is turns up on the internet is a postage stamp sized dead link on someone’s very extensive Mabel fan page. Calling 1978.

I was in high school when a friend turned me onto JFA. He had a sarcastic sense of humor and found JFA’s “Beach Blanket Bongout” to be the most brilliant thing ever. The Valley of the Yakes EP had skatefish on skateboasrds all over it, so that was an instant turn on. Then there the subtleties of “We Know You Suck.” In college I bought the Mad Garden EP just for the Peanuts theme song, and wore that record out. JFA could come off as seemingly inane, but at the same time often brilliant when it comes to distilling an emotion into a couple minutes of barraging vocals and guitars. The end results were greater than the sum of the parts. Some 25 plus years later, JFA is still out there. They’ve got a new live album on DC Jam Records titled “To all our friends.” This is the Brian Brannon interview on Skate and Annoy.

[Photo: Pat McGinnis]

In the dark days leading up to the apocalypse of Skate and Annoy’s web meltdown I featured the Carvells video for L.A. Run. Well, of course that led me to do some further investigating on the internet, and by “investigating,” I obviously meant draining my Paypal account by having a record shipped from the U.K.. In the meantime, House of Neil uncovered a contemporary (at the time) cover of L.A. Run by the Swedish band Magnum Bonum. And yes, it’s in Swedish.

Just a quick note to let you know that an excellent interview with Brian Brannon is coming to Skate and Annoy as soon as I get a little bit more of this hosting mess sorted out. The image above is from the Vintage T-Shirts book by Lisa Kidner and Sam Knee. Brian said that shirt was a little embarrassing.

The Carvelles had a bunch of skateboard songs on their 1977 LP Skateboard Rampage. In fact, out of ten songs, only two are missing the word “skateboard” from the title. Two of those are on the very good This Is Skateboard Music collection. This song, L.A. Run isn’t on that collection. All Music doesn’t have an entry for the Carvells, but they appear to be a vehicle for a guy named Alan Carvell, who had a UK hit in the 60’s and sang backups and harmonies for many well known acts in the 70’s and 80s. This video is a 1977 appearance from Top of the Pops. Check out the stage for assorted skateboard props, a ringer in the audience, and gratuitous stock footage from the U.K.. Who are those guys? The Benji Board team has been suggested, since they are skating U.K. spots. Check it out after the jump.

– Thanks to Eric Shea for the tip.

My friend is going to burst a gasket if I don’t post about this Caustic Defiance/Negative Element split CD release. It seems a Japanese label called Akashic Records has decided to release his 80’s hardcore band’s demo tapes. It happens to everyone doesn’t it? House of Neil and I are still waiting for a very polite call… Caustic Defiance rings a bell, you say? That’s because their promo shot was featured as a Shot of the Week here back in 07. Why Dr. Brad is “up in my grill” about mentioning it here is a bit of a mystery. It’s not like he needs the buzz to get laid or anything. I mean he’s a grown man with a wife and responsible job. Maybe it’s because 80’s skate legends have recently been spotted chatting up his old lady. The CD of C.D. is getting good reviews on PunkNews.org, PunkVinyl.com. You can pick it up at Interpunk.com or preview some tracks on MySpace. Can a Caustic Defiance model on Backstage Skateboards be far behind?

Another Powell Ripper tribute, this time in the opening of the Teenage Bottlerockets video for “Skate or Die.” Catch it after the jump. Shut, and get rad, because now it’s time to skate or die.

I haven’t seen this many band boards since Punk Rock Skateboards. Remember Punk Rock Skateboards? I mean, the company? They burned bright, and then disappeared. But I digress. DC Jam, home to skate rock bands of legend and today has a new venture called Backstage Skateboards. Check out the lineup: Narcoleptic Youth, JFA, BYO Records Aggression Youth Brigrade, Dr. Strange Records, Teenage Bottle Rockets, Fishbone, Meat Puppets, T.S.O.L., 300 Pounds, Frontside Five, Goverment Issue, DC Jam Records and McRad.

I don’t know who this Franklin Mint Blog guy thinks he is, but he’s trampled all over about a weeks worth of posts for me in this entry called Skateboard Mania. He’s got the standards like Farrah, Skateboard, the movie, and the Wonder Woman episode. There’s the less known Stacy Peralta on Charlies Angels, and the even more obscure Jodie Foster movie Foxes, that has some skateboarding in it. He’s got the whole Sneakers and Lace Skateboardin’ USA album ripped from vinyl and ready for download. Well Mr. Smartypants, you missed something. Jodie Foster actually released a pseudo disco single where she kind of talks over a backing track. It’s pretty schlocky, but she mentions a skateboard in it. In any case, he did come up with a old picture of Brooke Shields lounging on a skateboard. I tip my hat to you. Excellent post. Be prepared to spend some time at the Franklin Mint Blog.