Classic surf music from the Hi Tide Recordings label and the The Volcanics latest release Concrete Carver. This is not an advertisement, I just happen to enjoy some surf music mixed into my library. During covid I discovered thier label mates the Surfrajettes and have been listening to surf music a little more than usual lately. Album art and music video after the jump.

Jan and Dean’s 1964 song Sidewalk Surfin’ is pretty much the first skatesploitation song. I haven’t actually researched that, Doc Skaterock probably knows for sure. It’s easily the most famous one. As a young lad I remember buying a cutout Jan & Dean greatest hits compilation on cassette tape just because of this song. Before we were exposed to the larger world of punk rock and skate rock, we actually used to derive a bit of stoke from this cheesy tune, and later on would bust it out for a laugh and some nostalgia.

Adam Crofts sent me a beat up copy of the Keane Brothers debut album from 1977 because it had skateboard on the cover. I listened to it, hoping that the song Keep On Rollin’ was skateboard related, but it wasn’t. The album is a truly awful mix of 70’s disco, soul, rock, country and bubblegum. It’s a freaking awesome train wreck. I noticed the producer also had the last name Keane, so I figured this was a showbiz father trying to get rich off his kids, and that this was probably the last time anyone ever heard of the Keane Brothers, if anyone ever heard of them at all. Of course I was wrong. The Keane Brothers had one of those variety shows that were all over the 70’s like flies on shitty music, and they appeared on the Tonight Show and the Mike Douglas Show. On top of that, the opening sequence of their variety show prominently features the Keane brothers on skateboards.

Check out this clip of Jan and Dean lip-syncing Sidewalk Surfin’ on American Bandstand. August 22, 1964. Dick Clark talks with audience a little bit about skateboarding (a young man’s game?) and half the “band” actually does sidewalk surf on the stage. There’s even a little bit of dorking around during the lip sync session. See what passes for a “trick” in 1964. All in all, a very interesting clip showing skateboarding and skatesploitation in mid-60’s popular culture.

Sometimes it´s really weird what kinda artists recorded songs about skateboarding or let´s say at least with a connection to skateboarding.

The German pressing of this rare 70´s skatesploitation record was already shown on SNA some time ago. I knew that there also was a French pressing on Polydor Records (1997, cat.nr. 2056 743) with a different cover.

… this is Doc Skaterock a.k.a. Flow writing from Germany. Kilwag asked me, if I wanted to be an author for sna, and hell yeah, I want to be a part of that site. What an honor, thank you Kilwag!! So what am I going to write here about? Skaterock? Yes! Skatesploitation? Yes! And for sure some other trash, too. We will see. For those who don´t know me so far, I´ve been writing about my passion Skaterock for more than one and a half decade now, starting with my own fanzine in 1996 (simply called “Skaterock”) and then writing and photographing for the German skatemag Boardstein from the beginning (2000) till the end of it (2008 or was it 2009?). This year I finished and self-published my book about what I dared to call “Vintage Skaterock”, the skateboard music that was performed and recorded before the term “Skaterock” was officially created. I hope you are also interested in that kinda stuff. Please fell free to comment, sent tips, leave feedback, give away your record collection…. … enjoy life! yours sincerely Dr. Skaterock

I have evolved, but I still get around. Here’s a true exchange I had about this recent eBay purchase: Friend: How the hell are you going to listen to an 8-track?ME: It’s OK, I have it on vinyl too.Friend: Your wife must hate you.

Since I can’t afford or seem to get the hang of buying old skateboards on eBay, I’ve taken to collecting skatesploitation records instead. It seems like there is handful of the same records that are well circulated. Sometimes they go for $50, but you can pick them up for $10-$15 if you are patient. So I don’t get too bummed if I don’t win an auction. The first time I saw this record I thought I’d be able to pick it up for a few bucks plus postage, but I was shocked when it went for over $100 in the last 24 hours. I thought it was a fluke until I lost another auction to a seemingly ridiculous high bid. There must be cutthroat market out there for really obscure funk bands. Here’s another listing of this record, this time with an opening bid of $89. I’ve seen it on record collecting sites for as high as $258! It sounds very 70’s but the popular consensus is that is was released in 1980 or 81. Well fortunately for my wallet, you can download the mp3. In the mean time I’ll be lurking around the Goodwills looking for stray copies of…

Nardwuar the Human Serviette had a guest DJ Roger Allen on his radio show to present the history of Skate Rock. It’s was an entertaining show to be sure, but I think Roger confused Skate Rock with music that a lot of skateboarders listen to. He started off on a high note with a soundtrack clip from the 60’s film Skater Dater, and a few good skatesploitation tracks from the 70’s before getting derailed by Led Zepplin, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and a bunch of other bands that certainly were listened to by a lot of the skating population, but can hardly be considered authentic “skate rock,” Bad Brains included. It’s something I’d actually enjoy getting into a scholarly debate about with Allen. It’s a good listen anyway. 80’s centric but bookended by decades on both sides. Check out Nardwuar vs. Roger Allen. I love Nardwuar. – Thanks to Dale Pidlisny for the tip. [Photo: William R. Jans]