Australia Pin

Not too much to say here. This pin is from Australia and judging by the neon colors, triangles and board shape I'm gonna guess that this dates from the late '80s / early '90s.

Radical Discharge

Radical Discharge is a crossover band from Baltimore, MD. Imagine a thrash-influenced version of the Mean Jeans who are more inspired by Johnny Utah than Ted Theodore Logan and you get a little idea of what is going on. The above graphic was used to advertise their debut LP release party (which I attended last night). Unfortunately, this is not the cover of their record nor is it a t-shirt graphic (at least not yet or not one they had for sale last night). In addition to their new LP they also have a 7" out, both on Wallride Records. Check 'em out here.

Coolcuts

Carrots get pretty extreme when you add some ranch dip. The latest triathlon craze: home run derby, skateboarding and diving.

Caketopper

This dude was made in 1990 by Bakery Crafts, which is apparently a company that sells a lot of decorative cake supplies. He's riding a deck with an enormous tail and is in a rather unusual position. I think he might be coming back in with a tail-tap but that doesn't explain why his feet are facing backwards and why he is looking off into space.

Sk-8 or Die

Sk-8 or Die is a compilation 7" EP from 2001 featuring 5 thrash bands playing songs about skateboarding, including What Happens Next? covering The Faction's "Skate and Destroy." It also includes Lifes Halt, No Reply, Fistfull, and Dirty Dirt and the Dirts as well as numerous sound bytes from Powell Peralta videos. The cover feature a dude eating it pretty hard, so hard that his pants are falling down (or falling up in this case). Is that belt even doing anything? There is also a limited alternate cover that features slightly modified Animal Chin artwork.

Rude Dog

Rude Dog was a character created in the mid '80s by Suns Sportswear to market clothes with angular neon graphics to surfers/skaters/posers/etc. He's clearly a Spuds MacKenzie rip-off (only way more extreme). In 1989 Rude Dog followed the time-honored tradition of Ernest P. Worrell and Max Headroom and made the leap from advertising to mediocre television show. I have absolutely no recollection of this show but it apparently revolved around Rude Dog and his canine crew (the Dweebs) running a garage and driving around in a pink Cadillac while avoiding Herman the dog catcher. Not surprisingly, Rude Dog and the Dweebs lasted only 1 season. The intro linked below is reminiscent of Poochie's introduction on The Itchy and Scratchy Show, complete with rap. I'm not sure exactly when these figures date from but it is probably around the time of the show. There was third figure but he was rollerskating so I melted him.

Deathreat

Deathreat comes in as the 50th skate punk record posted on BPA. The cover shows a bunch of boards leaning against what is most likely their tour van. While this is a cool image I would've put side one's graphic of a sick edger with a Deathreat board on the cover. Side two's graphic is a picture of the band at a skatepark. This 7" EP came out in 1998 on Partners In Crime. Members of Deathreat later went on to be in His Hero Is Gone and Tragedy, and while I unfortunately never saw Deathreat I did see both the latter bands. The first time I saw Tragedy they played the Crispus Attucks house just outside D.C. They arrived early and were very excited to check out Lansdowne Skatepark for an afternoon session before the show.

Tootsie Pop

Tootsie Pops date back to the '30s and their wrappers have changed a bit over the years. At some point in the '60s or '70s they added and updated some of the characters, which included adding the skateboarders. The wrappers have remained virtually unchanged since then. The skaters are located across and slightly down from the coveted Native American shooting a star (which supposedly gave you good luck or a free bag of candy) but was really just as likely as any other graphic. Everyone knew that the skaters were the real good luck charm.