60/40 was the shit. I think that the original team was Mark Gonzales, Ron Chatman, Fabian Alomar, Lee Smith, Joey Suriel and Steven Cales. I personally was drawn to 60/40 via excessive readings of Thrasher magazine in 1994 through 1996; Gonz was writing short stories in the mag pretty much every month and I was definitely stoked on him. I even got a Mark Gonzales 60/40 deck for my birthday in '94, complete with Gullwings(hah) and 43mm A1 Meats. The footage of Gonz during this era in random 411's and Thrasher videos is my favorite besides Video Days; while it was amazing that he later had full parts in Non-Fiction and Kicked Out of Everywhere, I feel that Real presented him in some overly dramatic way which didn't really get me too stoked to go skate. The earlier glimpses of Gonz skating in Simples and f/s bluntsliding brick ledges down stairs in 411 were far more inspiring as far as I'm concerned, not to mention his appearances in those 60/40 commercials; the most vivid in my memory being a perfect f/s flip over a bump to can wearing cuffed Levi's. By the time Glasses For Your Feet came out, Gonz had already left 60/40, although his 43 seconds of footage in Gino Perez's part is some of his best stuff ever.
The bulk of the original team left to make up most of the Menace roster, but 60/40 added a bunch of new dudes, most notably SAD and Gino Perez.
Gino Perez had the best part in the 60/40 video for sure, check his tricks at Union Square and I believe you can spot a Menace shirt at 1:29.
Two comically similar ads which ran in different issues of Thrasher. Listing off tricks "Performed Daily" seems like a harsh beam, but Sixty-Forty was getting pretty rotten at this post-gonz stage so whatever.
SAD is criminally underrated. Judging by his multi-colored Fu Manchu and penchant for skating with a towel in hand he was definitely eccentric, but that only adds to his unique illness. "No time for slippin!"
60/40 had a bunch of other dudes as well, ranging from sick skaters like Ron Chatman, Rodney Torres(edit: not sure about this, but the part is good so I'll keep it up) and George Morales, to kind of boring dudes like James Qua, to straight-up crazy Larry Moore. And no one will forget Bobcat.
That's all I got to say for now about one of my favorite companies. Expect more Gonz related stuff soon.
13 comments:
Thanks for this post, looking forward to more gonz. I just found a thrasher from 95 in a parking lot while out skating with one of those gino perez ads.
Dude, best post ever. You really killed it on this one. I was always stoked on 60/40. Amazing name for a company too.
It's funny before I even got to that part in the write up I was already thinking about the front blunt down the brick hubba. That's the first 411 I ever saw/bought.
Great links. I've never seen that SAD Gumbo section or that Glasses For Your Feet footy. Gonz's gap to board off that table is fucked up to say the least.
First time I ever went to LA, the first pro I saw was Gino Perez. This was in like 2002, so needless to say he wasn't really a big name anymore, and I thought it was hilarious. A week later at the same spot SAD showed up, carved around for like 5 minutes riding into grinds on the edges of planter boxes in the ground, then went over by the playground, did some push ups and then left. "Eccentric" is an understatement hahah.
Oh yeah and one of these days I'm gonna capture and post up the ad of Bobcat slamming jumping off the roof. I swear.
Watson - I believe that there is a longer version of the Bobcat incident at the end of Glasses for your feet. My friends and I always wondered how they came across that footage, so weird. I would attempt to capture it but sadly I don;t have a copy anymore.
Oh man extended Bobcat footy?
I have it somewhere on the worst third generation VHS dub. (The 411 ad.) I remember the crazy skid laugh at the end is amazing.
Fuck dude, I don't think there's that many people out there who remember/are mad stoked on Bobcat.
Oh man, PLEASE post that Bobcat footy! I used to work in a skateshop around the time that 411 was released and the staff could just not hold it together when that clip came on....
I was way stoked on that Bobcat footage but when I got the 60/40 video the extended bit was too harsh for me.
Gonz's stories in Thrasher were great. I liked how crude the 60/40 ads were in comparison to what everyone else was doing. The only reason I liked Beck's "Pay No Mind" video was because the Gonz and Ron Chatman were in it. Mark rides off a bar, knocking down drinks as he rolls along.
as far as the other guys on the team, it was a dude rodney cooper from ny that was on 60/40, not torres. not to be a nerd, but still tight with both those guys.
i remember having a Gino Perez 60/40 as well as the James Dean Gonz model. I wish I still had that..
Great post!
I have Glasses for your Feet on DVD via transfer.
Stephen - I'm pretty sure Torres was on briefly around '94. I have the thrasher with his am checkout thing somewhere, I think he lists 60/40 as a sponsor. He also mentions "60/40 buttas" in his wheels of fortune. I might be wrong of course but I was pretty certain. Thanks for commenting.
one of the first boards i ever owned i purchased from a surf shop in brigantine nj. it was the 60/40 now that punk is back i better get motivated. i cnt believe my parents let me have that graphic. i was so young. god how i miss those days. 60/40 def. had some of the radest graphics and the gnarest team haha! wich i saved all my boards from my early years of shralping. Thanks so much for a post i had totally forgot about 60/40 until now. you reminded me of the best part of my skating, the early years.
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