Stacy Peralta talks frankly about Tony Alva on his instagram

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Tony Alva circa 1978. Tony is one of the few individuals whose skating talent literally took my breath away. On numerous occasions I saw him do things that stopped my heart dead. He was stunning and spellbinding to watch. He skated with a form of aggression that was backed by pure emotion and furious desire and that was coupled with a physical style that was magnificent in its perfection of the human form. — And yet for so much of the time we spent together I hated Tony. I hated him for his arrogance and his ego and his need to be the center of attention at all times. But I probably hated him most for making me a better skater. He made me better. He made all of us better. He was so deadly serious about what skateboarding meant to him, that if you weren’t living up to how he saw it, then he was going to make you pay by humiliating you with his talent. I saw this happen time and again. — Over the years I’ve come to appreciate Tony for the person he is now and the person he was then. He was chosen to play a very large role in skateboarding and it was a role destined for him. No one else could have done it. His abrasive and intense personality was as important as his skating talent because the young sport needed a compelling rebel figure like Tony to help define it. More than anyone from our generation, Tony had the innate ability to set on fire the hearts and minds of skaters the world over and he did it through his living example. He was the ideal skateboarder in its purest form. And more than anything, and this is where my appreciation reaches its highest level; Tony was able to recognize, develop, contain and focus the extraordinarily powerful gift that was given to him at such a young age. Responsibility comes with gifts; the first is to figure out how to develop that powerful and precious gift, the next is how to share it with the world. Tony did just that, he infused the gift he was given with love and fury and he shared it with all of us, and I believe we are all better for it.

A post shared by Stacy Peralta (@peraltastacy) on Nov 28, 2018 at 2:22pm PST

One of my Early Instagram posts

TONY ALVA skating as he likes with Kent Senatore looking on... The best of my books FUCK YOU HEROES and FUCK YOU TOO now appear in MY RULES bigger and better than ever... #photography #skateboarding #integrity #inspiration #TonyAlva #DogTown #MyRules @thetonyalva1957 #turningpoint

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Jan 11, 2016 at 1:32pm PST

Tony Alva and My Hall of Fame Trophy on my Instagram

Here's the 1st photo i ever took using a mobile device, old friend Tony Alva holding my trophy at the 2012 Skateboarding Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. #skateboarding #life #brother #zephyr #OG #DogTown #honor #oldasfuckandstillkickingass #halloffame #oldschool

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Dec 7, 2015 at 9:28pm PST

SkateBoarder magazine on my Instagram

TONY ALVA on the contents page of SkateBoarder magazine in 1977. I think this was the first time a photo of mine made it onto the contents page, i was stoked, so was T.A. , even got him to slap a SkateBoarder magazine sticker on his board. You’d be hard pressed to find any magazine stickers in T.A.’s boards back then. SkateBoarder, the original bible of skateboarding, and its culture, is being inducted into the “Skateboarding Hall of Fame” @skateboardinghalloffame this year, so I’ll be out west for that and get another chance to be up there, i promised to keep the speech short this year😉, give the other old dudes a chance. Should be a fun event, as usual. SkateBoarder magazine was not only the first, it was the best. It was the template for the rest and the bible of the 70’s Skateboarding revolution. . . . This photo was made at Brett Adams one hit ¼ pipe ramp up on Oakmont Drive in Brentwood, about as exclusive of a block you can find anywhere in Los Angeles, in fact i brought Ice-T up there around 10 years later and made the photo of him and his Slant-nosed Porsche (and Darlene laying on top of it) just a few hundred feet up the road in front of some big fancy gate. #SkateBoarder #MadDog #TonyAlva #Originals #Leaders #skateboarding #TailTap #OneWheeler #BackYardRamp #inspiration #1977 #Session #WLA #Brentwood now if you zoom in to see it was the February 1978 issue of the magazine which means it hit the stands at the beginning of January probably and the photo was taken a few months before that. Also the caption takes a dig at another magazine trying to use Alva to gain acceptance and popularity, but we had him back in here as strong as ever after missing a few months. “Our boy” referencing the loyalty with the sticker on the board 🤙🏽 watch the SkateBoarder magazine short form documentary on iTunes now!

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Apr 16, 2018 at 7:20pm PDT

This Blows My Mind

Skateboarding history in Culture . . .

Here's my favorite photos of Alva I made on FILM Last month, back from the lab today...

TONY ALVA a few weeks ago i made some photographs with T.A. over at Pier 62, i finished the roll of film down in the Union Square subway station over the weekend (see my blog) and just got it back from the lab this morning. Couldn't wait to share it here with y'all. 35mm FILM with a 17mm lens - no tricks, no reflectors, no flashes, no crop. yes composition, yes style, yes character, yes available light, yes natural flare, yes art, yes fun! … how grown men work together who have been working together for 40+ years... #punks #OldAsFuckAndStillKickingAss #Skateboarding #Life #Brothers #Growth #planet #environment #inspiration #integrity #FuckYouHeroes #MyRules #19762016 #vertical #coping

A photo posted by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Dec 13, 2016 at 9:51am PST

Skateboarding on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" in 1977

This was the take of ABC's Wide World of Sports on skateboarding, I believe it was filmed in late 1976 and aired in early 1977 when they had a gap to fill.

This video is actually in three parts has commercials and all. When it goes black it's for the local station to air their commercials. Classic stuff

I put part 2 first since it has the most skateboarding in it, but part one has a great intro at the beginning and a preview at the end (each just a few minutes).

part 2


part 1


part 3 (no skateboarding)


BONUS:

And in case if you forgot, Let Ian remind you of something about Skateboarding:



ONWARD 2016!

Tony Alva 30th Anniversary Interviews TransWorld SKATEboarding

DogTown and Z-Boys (full movie) (w/french subtitles)

Here it is the 2001, award winning film, for your sunday viewing pleasure.

Tony Alva in the current era... A cool interview

There are several people interviewed in this clip, but it's mostly surrounds Alva, a good watch.



And of course my shot of T.A. from an era passed that still inspires to this day:

SKATEBOARD KINGS 1978 - a British documentary crew comes to DogTown

"Skateboard Kings" is a news documentary that was made by a British program called "The World About Us". This episode is about the Skateboard Kings of Southern California, and in particular riders such as the World Champion Tony Alva are featured in their daily lives and exploits in and around DOGTOWN. Ray Flores, Billy Yeron, Paul Constantineau, Jerry Valdez, Shogo Kubo, Kent Senatore, Ellen O'neil, Bob Mohr, Elen Berryman, Kim Cespedes and others. Russ Howell and Stacy Peralta are featured in a bizzare freestyle and safety demonstration. La Costa segment with Henry Hester, Bob Skolberg and John Hutson. There's visits to SkateBoarder Magazine, a few empty pools, a new skatepark, typical DogTown house party, demo's, a visit to the infamous Arizona Pipes, and a skate board manufacturer. This is a "cult classic" special that is hard to find, that's why we've posted here for you all to enjoy and share, for the oldschool hard core skate fanatic.

In fact I posted this on Google Video a few years ago, happy it's still floating around. The BBC asked me for some photos at least 10 years ago, they weren't paying much so i asked them to dig up a VHS copy of this doc. for my archive, i got it. It's pretty laughable, but does have some classic footage and dialog which most of you probably won't believe actually existed. The thing is i remember well the time when they were out working on this program, in fact Billy Yeron and I went back to the backyard pool they emptied for the party session the next morning and shot some cool shots there, the best one I put in FUCK YOU TOO.

My friend, and serious collector of my work, Philippe Petit sent me a photo of the page (actually a signed page proof from the original printing) to post here, since i'm out of town and don't have access to the original. Thanks!