Jed Stone lives  in Plymouth

Age: 24 (in 1977 when this interview appeared in Skateboard mag)

Number of years skating: 2 approx.

Other hobbies: surfing in the summer

Team: Rob Ward’s West Country Team

Favourite skate places: bowls — also likes the Bristol ramp and half-pipe

Preferred skating: bowlriding

Equipment: West Country rocker deck, 651’s and big reds for bowls, Fibreflex cambered deck, small green Kryps for slalom.

 

Admires in the UK: Si Napper, Alex Turnbull

Admires in the States: no one till he’s seen them in action

“The night before the Watergate competition, a few of us were taking bets on  which of us were going to

win. Then guys like Jeremy Henderson turned up and started doing power slides, lip slides and aerials. We just sat back and watched. . . we couldn’t believe it .”

“Rob Ward and Dave Thomas have always supplied us with our gear. Whatever

we’ve wanted, we’ve had.

That helps. . .otherwise it would cost us a fortune. The number of decks I go through . . . I’ve been changing every month or so.”

“There’s a guy on Plymouth Ho! called Jimmy who could always frapp me at

slalom. Whenever I raced him l’d always be left standing, or fall over or something. One day he told me to tighten up my trucks, go wider, and to

get something grippier than the big red Kryps I was using.

I got the small greens and now I’m beating him.”

Brian Kellner

Country of origin: South Africa

Living now: in Brighton

Age: 15 (in 1977, when this interview appeared in Skateboard magazine)

Normal skate place: Brighton’s Marina Wall

Equipment: Bennett and Tracker trucks, Simms Comp 2’s self-made freestyle board. For slalom, green

Kryps, Henry Hesters, Park- riders, Logan 4&5‘s G&S Cutaway deck with Full Tracks.

Prefers to skate: some slalom, otherwise, just  goofing around’

Other hobbies: Some surfing

Admires in the UK: Tim Levis. . . “I’ve seen all the guys and he’s got something the others haven’t”

Admires in the States: Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Lonnie Toft, Henry Hester.

“Over in South Africa there were only four really good skaters — and my brother, Steve, was one of them. Those guys could beat anyone in Britain.“

“Back home, when the police catch you skate-boarding, they treat you like a criminal, not like a kid who’s done something wrong.”

Skateboarder Paul  Conibear lives: in Swansea

Age: 23 (1977)

Team: rides for the Dave Friar Team

Equipment: Highway board with 65mrn reds and small Lazers

Other hobbies: some surfing

Recent contest success: over-all winner at the Bristol Skate Fest ’77

Admires in the UK: Mark Sinclair, Jeremy Henderson, Jock Paterson, Si Napper, Alex Turnbull.

Admires in the States: Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Tom lnouye

Normal skate place: the Swansea ramp

Favourite skate places: Skate City Black Bowl, Weymouth. “The only competition

l’ve liked so far has been the Bristol one. Everybody had a really good time.On Wednesday night

after the Bristol contest we went raging. . . eating gateaux, pizzas and ice cream at three o’clock in the morning.”

“There’s no way we’re going to get as good as the Americans at the moment. . . there’s not enough  facilities.”

“The only thing wrong with the Black Bowl is that it’s for regular footers. . . and I‘m goofy.”

“Steven Kellner’s routine at the Nationwide finals was amazing.”

Skateboarder Paul Nelson lives: in Brighton

Age: 12 (1977)

Team: Skateboard City, Brighton

Equipment: Skuda L-A, Half

Tracks, Road Rider 2’s for

freestyle and for slalom,

Lazers, Parkrider 4’s and a

self-made deck.

Prefers to skate: slalom,

freestyle, banks and speed

Other hobbies: occasional

diving

Admires in the UK: Steve Kellner, John Mitchell

Admires in the States: Lonnie Toft. . . “Because he’s so radical with his 8-wheeler — it’s insane.”

“Steve Kellner may be a great skateboarder but he’s also a fantastic magician. I’ve seen him do the milk pouring trick. the strings and the cards. . . he’s brilliant!”

 

Archive interview from Skateboard Magazine 1977

Here’s an interview with London skateboarder Simon Napper from 1977 Skateboard magazine

1977 has thrown up a multitude of promising  UK skateboard stars. Some have shown   tremendous footwork skill, a few have   displayed brilliant bowl-busting technique   and others have ‘gone for it’ so hard you’ve   wondered if they really are totally fearless.

One rider straddling all three camps is   Simon Napper. Nobody goes for it like Simon.   He’s 16 years old, hails from Chelsea in   London and he represents almost every rider’s   idea of the complete skateboarding machine.   Renowned for his legendary reserves of guts,   his mastery over Skate City’s Black Bowl has   to be seen to be believed.

Lately, rumours   have been heard regarding his physical   condition. Could his recurrent knee problem   force him to cool off for a while – even   permanently? ‘Skate- board!’ magazine’s Steve   Kane asks the questions.

 

Simon, how long have you been skating?

 

Just over a year now. . . I started around   November ’76.

 

What kind of board did you learn on and where   did you use it?

 

Originally I had a home-made board with Tiger   Trak wheels and X-Calibers. To begin with I   used the South Bank, Primrose Hill and   Wandsworth roundabout. Then Skate City came   along.

 

What do you think of the South Bank? It was a good place, but then it got really   boring – it almost made me stop skating. It’s   really limiting.

 

How about Skate City. . . didn’t you have   something to do with its design?

 

No, not really. I had a little to do with it,   but not directly.. I think it’s great – a   good place. What I mean is the Black Bowl is   great. . . I wouldn’t bother with the rest of   it. The Black Bowl’s original and very nice   to skate. To start with it’s radical —   plenty of vertical. It’s just a good shaped   bowl. Funnily enough it wasn’t‘ actually designed   like that originally. That’s just how it   turned out.

 

You mean it was a happy‘ accident?

 

Yea. . . l thought the original design was   terrible. And I wish the whole place could he   1. organised better. . . it needs more   atmosphere.

 

What mistakes have they made that you think   other * park builders might learn from? There’s only a select few who can ride the   Black Bowl and , lots of the others can only   just ride the Red Bowl. And there’s about   5,000 people who can’t ride any bowl, so   they’re just left with the flatland. There’s   not many people who’ll want to pay the money   just to ride flatlend. . . they’ll go to the   South Bank.

 

Skateboarding-wise, where do you think the   future lies now?

 

America. . . I’m going in March. They’re not   all that far in front of us. They’re ahead in   freestyle, but in bowl riding, they don’t   seem to be doing much more than we are. Who would you most like to meet? Tony Alva. . . full stop. Why? Well, Tony’s into this really radical stance   — a go-for-it stance. And he’s into bowls and   pipes which is where my main interest lies.   I’d just like to see him skate. . – it looks   like he’s really hot. Of course he is   commercial, but I’d say less than most of the   others.

 

What do you think of the image of American   skating. ls it good as it is, or do you think   it’s too commercial? It’s good as it is. . . it certainly works   okay?

 

What about over here? Right now there’s many people in   skateboarding who’ve just jumped on the   bandwagon. They’re not in it seriously. l   mean, yea, they’re making perks, but they’re   cutting corners and costs. Obviously they’re   trying to make their money back as quick as   possible. If they go on making really bad parks, ‘people are   going to lose interest.

 

Are there any parks over here that you’ve   really enjoyed – apart from Skate City, which   we’ve already discussed?

 

I’ve been to Thruxton and Newbury and enjoyed   both. Thruxton was the only one with   verticals, but I thought the other was quite   fun as well.

 

What do you think of the media coverage   skateboarding’s been getting? There’s lots of   people been saying it’s dangerous. . .would   you say that was fair? That’s a hard question to answer. I mean   there’s always ‘old women’ around. if the   kids weren’t into skate- boarding you’d still   get people complaining about something. What’s your opinion on safety gear?

 

Well, I don’t like wearing it and if I had a   choice, I wouldn’t wear it. But I think it   should be compulsory. it gets difficult if   you start saying when you should and   shouldn’t wear it, so in skateparks anyway it   should be worn all the time.

 

Do you think it’s just a matter of allowing   for bad judgement? When you first start, there’s no doubt that   everyone should wear safety equipment. As you   get better, l don’t think maybe you need it   so much. But then, common sense tells you if   you’re going for a hard trick, then you   should put it on. As I say, I suppose it’s   best really to wear it all the time.

 

Do you think skating on the streets should be   banned? No, it’s really fun skating on the streets.   There’s no need to ban it. Sometimes l prefer   skating in the streets to skating in parks.

 

What sort of thing do you like to do in the   streets? Sometimes l slalom in and out of people. . .   King’s Road is pretty good for that, or on   the bridge to the South Bank. When it’s busy   you’ve got to use your judgement when you’re   overtaking. I find I often have to lurk   behind people. . . and then shoot through the   gap.

 

Obviously what you’re saying is   controversial. Have you ever been stopped by   the police? No, I’ve never had any problems. I’ve had   them asking questions when they’ve been   looking for a stolen skateboard, but they’ve   always been nice about it. ln fact one of   them even had a go on mine.