GONZ x NATAS x TOMMY G x OCEANSIDE STREET 1986 SKATEBOARD VIDEO

"The year: 1986. Street skating was well and truly becoming a legitimate entity of its own within the skate world, however no one could imagine that in just a few years, street would take over the skate industry, and the direction of nearly every beginner embarking upon a life of skateboarding.

But in 1986, skateboarding was still very much dominated by vert, so much so that even the winners of many street events, such as this one, were won by established vert pros. Freestyle was still included in every contest, but as a separate sideshow that rarely garnered the attention it deserved for how relevant it would become, as Rodney Mullen, perhaps more than any other skater, ended up fire-starting the tech street era, once he applied himself to skating street.

But back to 1986: The new breed of street specialists were coming in hot, with skaters like Natas, The Gonz and Tommy G getting major play in the mags, both editorially, and in ads. The judges still wanted to see speed, power, flow and style, making these contests, some of the most cherished memories of the golden era of skateboarding.

Skaters: Results:

12- Eric Dressen

11- Johnee Kop

10- Rob Roskopp

9- Natas Kaupas

8- John Lucero

7- Bill Danforth

6- Jeff Kendall

5- Mark The Gonz Gonzalez

4- Billy Ruff

3- Christian Hosoi

2- Tommy Guerrero

1- Steve Caballero

Music: Asylum Party "Borderline", Hi I "Mind Your Head", Nation III "V Piece", Johhny Sevin "Slick Boys", Asylum Party "Picture One".

Additional sources: Thrasher, Transworld Skateboarding, Poweredge, RAD, JG Brittain, Don Hoffman/NSA, Vision."

Courtesy of Real Skate Stories

"Can't even count how many times I've watched this contest on vhs lol. Love it!"

"Billy Ruff killed it. Boneless to back rail"

"Awesome footage. Even top pros struggled to land kickflips on those boards. Had no idea Natas was doing those street plants too!"

"A year after this I saw all of them in Münster. Gonz Ollie’d the boot of the car with ease. Although they didn’t place high you could see then that Mark and Natas were on a different wavelength."

"I think too many people equate popsicle boards to the street skate phenomenon, but all of us kids rode street all of the time (86-89 for me) Launch ramps, grinding curbs, and ditches were huge, but for the most part, vert was only found at the skatepark. Street skating advanced with popsicle (skateboarding would have evolved regardless), but it was alive and well throughout the 80s."

"Mark Gonzales with a Powell Peralta Hawk T shirt on."