When We Was Rad:
Skateboard History from UK Vintage Magazine

Category: Issue 84 February 1990

  • Vision Streetwear Shoes Advert

    Vision, not Santa Cruz, on the back of R.a.D magazine? These were strange days. No idea what was going on there. Interesting to see that one of the pictures is by David Walsh and another by Dan Sturt. Vision’s history would be fascinating to read. This must have been around the time of the peak,…

  • Insane Clothing Advert

    Ged Wells’ Insane Clothing was one of the defining features of the UK skate scene at this time. It always seemed to me that Insane was part of a very long and distinctive strand in British culture — one which resonated strongly with the spirit behind R.a.D. Ged was also a huge direct influence on…

  • The Bird the Boy and The Bat by Joe Millson

    Back Door View was a feature we ran for a while to allow space to publish various kinds of short pieces from new contributors. Joe Millson was the skater who had the ramp near Newbury with one platform supported by an old car. The hope was that providing a small space which did not have…

  • Skate Rags Advert

    I have no idea who ran this advert for skate rags. Someone in Cornwall, judging by the area code…

  • Backyard, Essjays and Other Adverts

    There are some real solid names in here: Backyard, Essjays, Round Ocean and so on. The Angel Lights Planetary Skatepark (the famous Glasgow skatepark in a Church) were advertising at this point too. Other skateboard shops include Wheels Unlimited in Weymouth, Transition in Grimsby and Subway Skateboards in Hammersmith. Somebody called NSW Mail Order was…

  • Birmingham NEC Skateboard Competition (Part 2)

    Stadium skateboarding was a concept which was just around the corner, but at this point the idea of skating in a big venue was completely new to us. The banked slalom course was the other major novelty here. In retrospect that seems like a glance backwards towards an earlier stage in the development of skateboarding…

  • New Style [Skateboard] Comp in Birmingham

    Banked Slalom is Rad The Brummie NEC Skatemaster Airwalk Converse bash was a smart little affair tagged on to a supercross motorcyle type thing. Three days of assorted goings on left a good impression, and Dave Crabb as pucker prince and overall skatemaster: a title achieved by combining his position in ramp, street and —…

  • Double Comp in Texas (Part 2)

    The pictures show ex-pat Danny Webster, John Fabriquer, Alan Losi, Nick Guerrero, Mark Roach and Craig Johnson. Vernon’s report on the competition concludes: MAlba turned up and systematically built up his runs in a crescendo for the final. A well thought out approach got him into 7th place. H Street’s John Sonner made this his…

  • Double Comp in Texas, Arrests Imminent

    This story is about two competitions, a week apart, in Dallas and Houston. Words were by Vernon Adams with pictures by his alter-ego, Jay Podesta. The pictures show (top to bottom) Henry Guttierez, Mike Crum, Stan Stanners, Mike Yousefpour, Blaize Blouin, Jeff Phillips and Bryan Pennington.

  • Melbourne Skateboard Competition (Part 2)

    Photographs by David Walsh show (top to bottom) Andrew Morrison, Lester Kasai, Serge Ventura, Steve Douglas, Jeff Phillips, Reese Simpson, Bryan Pennington, Danny Way, Jeff Kendall and Bod.