Steve Douglas (skateboarder)
Encyclopedia
Steve Douglas is a retired professional skateboarder, company owner and industry mogul from London
, England, now living in California, USA.
Born in 1967 in North London, Douglas began skating aged 10 at various skatepark
s in the city such as Uxbridge, Skate City, Rolling Thunder skate park
, Crystal Palace vert ramp and Harrow Skate Park
, which he skated from opening day, alongside such luminaries as Rodga Harvey, John Sablosky, Jeremy Henderson and, later, the infamous H-Boyz of which he was one of the original 7 founding members.
to layback tail-slide, frontside hurricane, and several Caballerial
-based variations.
At the insistence of skate-photographer Tim Leighton-Boyce, he began entering English Skateboard Association contests in 1981 and won every under-16 event he entered. This success attracted the attention of American sponsors such as Madrid Skateboards, Vans Shoes and Independent Trucks (and later Quiksilver Surfwear).
At the end of 1984 the ESA managed to convince their US counterparts, the NSA, to label their contest series as a "world championship", thus enabling the ESA to obtain government grants to send a GB team to take part, a team that was to include Douglas, Lucian Hendrix, Sean Goff and Rodga Harvey. It was the first of many transatlantic excursions for Douglas that by the decade's end, lead him to become a permanent resident of California-in those days the only way to make a living riding a skateboard.
Throughout the early 1980s Douglas wrote and published a skate fanzine
called Go For It! (named after a Stiff Little Fingers record), covering the UK skate scene, in the absence of any more official periodicals, over 16 issues-the last three in glossy, printed form although the penultimate issue was entitled the "Swindle Issue" as only the cover was glossy; inside saw a return to the rough, photocopied pages of old. Come 1986 and, following the release of a Go For It! calendar, Douglas's overseas work commitments had to take precedence and GFI ceased publication, its subject matter now being covered by Tim Leighton-Boyce's R.A.D., and later Shane Rouse's Skate Action and Steve Kane's revived 1970s tome Skateboard.
Douglas had by now changed board sponsor to Schmitt Stix, turning pro in 1987 and later releasing a signature model deck, the graphics of which paid tribute to his heritage in the form of a spoofed beer bottle label, proudly stating, "Imported from Crystal Palace, London, England".
In 1988 a "lip tricks only" competition was arranged at the legendary "Boomeramp" at the Raging Waters
park in San Jose
, CA. No aerial manoeuvres were permitted unless culminating in some contact with the ramp's lip-e.g. a tail slap, grind
, board slide or disaster. Some competitors protested this restrictiveness, such as Dan Wilkes who only did aerials and sub-coping slides, avoiding the lip altogether. However, the vast majority of entrants enthusiastically embraced the premise, relieved that the usually overlooked aspect of vert skating was being validated at last. Along with skaters like Tom Groholski, Douglas was frequently cited as responsible for the surge in interest in lip tricks and was expected to triumph, but in the end first place was snatched by rookie Ben Schroeder. Douglas ended in 4th place, but was later quoted as enthusiastic about the contest and cited it as a highlight of his limited pro contest career.
One more signature model was released by Schmitt Stix before Douglas, sensing a sea-change looming for the skateboard industry, convinced Paul Schmitt to dissolve Schmitt Stix and relaunch with a new team, new product line and renewed focus under a new name, New Deal Skateboards. Paul Schmitt was a master woodworker and made among the best skateboards in the world, but in the skateboarding world of the day, marketing and image were taking hold of the industry, and Douglas had the foresight to see the change coming. New Deal went on to become one of the most important skateboard brands of the early 1990s.
This name Douglas also used to co-found a skateshop back in London, originally in a retail unit in Harrow and Wealdstone shopping mall, but later relocated down the road in Douglas's old stomping ground of Harrow Solid Surf Skatepark, later expanding into distribution too.
Along with Tony Magnusson's H-Street and Steve Rocco's World Industries
, New Deal was one of the first of the new breed of companies that fully tapped into the emerging street-skating revolution that would eventually depose the "vert-heroes" of Douglas' own generation in favour of upcoming whippersnappers such as Ed Templeton
,the undoubted star of New Deal's first promo video, 1990's Useless Wooden Toys
SkimTheFat - Your Guide to Skateboarding Videos
At the start of the 1990s, with New Deal's success on the rise, Douglas helped found Giant Skateboard Distribution, and by 1996 had risen to the position of company president. Over the next six years the company grew by 700%, until Douglas stepped down in favour of his old friend Hugh "Bod" Boyle who had joined the company in 1999. Like Douglas, Bod was an ex-pat Brit whose pro-skating career had begun in 1987 and curtailed in the early 1990s by a debilitating knee injury.
Douglas was now free to spend more time with his growing family and to pursue his many other business concerns;
In 1992 New Deal's graphic designer, respected team-rider, and innovator of both the nollie kickflip and the ollie noseblunt, Andy Howell decided to branch out on his own, and so Douglas assisted him in setting up Underworld Element, later shortened to just Element Skateboards
, which still thrives today.
In 1988 Douglas's teammate (first at Madrid, then at Schmitt Stix) John Lucero had flown the coup to start up on his own, initially as Lucero Skateboards, later renamed Black Label Skateboards
. After some early success, growth stalled, morale withered, and by the mid-1990s, Black Label Skateboards
was still being run, to all intents and purposes, from a lock-up garage. Under the combined guidance and motivation of both Douglas and Mike Vallely
, Black Label Skateboards
became and remains one of the giants of the skate industry.
Douglas also co-founded both 411 video magazine 411VM and later the On Video series, both crucial to skateboarding's development through the 1990s and the new millennium. He also founded a new truck company, Destructo Trucks
, in the late 1990s with the usual success, and took over production of Bam Margera
's notorious CKY
video series way before Bam's TV fame came calling.
In 2004 Douglas accepted an offer from Burton Snowboards to be general manager
at their clothing subsidiary, Analog.SURF Magazine A year later Douglas was reunited with his old friend 'Bod' Boyle when they both came to work at Giant's rival Dwindle Distribution, Boyle as president and Douglas in an advisory position.
Aside from the business side of skateboarding, Douglas is also a committee member of both the IASC
and USA Skateboarding, the National Governing Body of American skateboarding.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, now living in California, USA.
Born in 1967 in North London, Douglas began skating aged 10 at various skatepark
Skatepark
A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...
s in the city such as Uxbridge, Skate City, Rolling Thunder skate park
Rolling Thunder skate park
- Rolling Thunder UK :Built inside the Old Market in Brentford, Chiswick , Rolling Thunder was one of the first wave of British skateparks to be made in the late 1970s. Designed by Richard Wrigley , it was built by Mayway Construction Ltd...
, Crystal Palace vert ramp and Harrow Skate Park
Harrow Skate Park
Harrow Skate Park or Harrow Solid Surf is one of the few remaining working seventies shotcrete skateparks in the UK. It is located next to Harrow Leisure Centre in Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow, England...
, which he skated from opening day, alongside such luminaries as Rodga Harvey, John Sablosky, Jeremy Henderson and, later, the infamous H-Boyz of which he was one of the original 7 founding members.
Biography
From early on Douglas showed a talent for lip-tricks and would go on to invent some of his own, like the fakieFakie
In boardsports, fakie is riding backwards with the tail facing in the direction of travel. When used in conjunction with a trick name, like "fakie ollie", it means that the trick was performed as it would normally be done with the exception of riding backwards. Not to be confused with "switch" or...
to layback tail-slide, frontside hurricane, and several Caballerial
Caballerial
Caballerial, Full Cab or Cab, is originally a ramp skateboarding trick, however the trick is now also done by snowboarders. It is another name for a Fakie 360 ollie, or in snowboarding, a switch nollie frontside 360. The Caballerial was named after professional skater Steve Caballero, who invented...
-based variations.
At the insistence of skate-photographer Tim Leighton-Boyce, he began entering English Skateboard Association contests in 1981 and won every under-16 event he entered. This success attracted the attention of American sponsors such as Madrid Skateboards, Vans Shoes and Independent Trucks (and later Quiksilver Surfwear).
At the end of 1984 the ESA managed to convince their US counterparts, the NSA, to label their contest series as a "world championship", thus enabling the ESA to obtain government grants to send a GB team to take part, a team that was to include Douglas, Lucian Hendrix, Sean Goff and Rodga Harvey. It was the first of many transatlantic excursions for Douglas that by the decade's end, lead him to become a permanent resident of California-in those days the only way to make a living riding a skateboard.
Throughout the early 1980s Douglas wrote and published a skate fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
called Go For It! (named after a Stiff Little Fingers record), covering the UK skate scene, in the absence of any more official periodicals, over 16 issues-the last three in glossy, printed form although the penultimate issue was entitled the "Swindle Issue" as only the cover was glossy; inside saw a return to the rough, photocopied pages of old. Come 1986 and, following the release of a Go For It! calendar, Douglas's overseas work commitments had to take precedence and GFI ceased publication, its subject matter now being covered by Tim Leighton-Boyce's R.A.D., and later Shane Rouse's Skate Action and Steve Kane's revived 1970s tome Skateboard.
Douglas had by now changed board sponsor to Schmitt Stix, turning pro in 1987 and later releasing a signature model deck, the graphics of which paid tribute to his heritage in the form of a spoofed beer bottle label, proudly stating, "Imported from Crystal Palace, London, England".
In 1988 a "lip tricks only" competition was arranged at the legendary "Boomeramp" at the Raging Waters
Raging Waters
Raging Waters is the name of three water theme parks located in Sacramento, San Dimas, and San Jose, California. They are the largest water parks in the state of California. The three parks are owned by Palace Entertainment but each contains different attractions...
park in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, CA. No aerial manoeuvres were permitted unless culminating in some contact with the ramp's lip-e.g. a tail slap, grind
Grind
The grind of a blade refers to the shape of the cross-section of the blade. It is distinct from the type of blade , though different tools and blades may have lent their name to a particular grind.Grinding involves removing significant portions of metal from the blade and is thus distinct from...
, board slide or disaster. Some competitors protested this restrictiveness, such as Dan Wilkes who only did aerials and sub-coping slides, avoiding the lip altogether. However, the vast majority of entrants enthusiastically embraced the premise, relieved that the usually overlooked aspect of vert skating was being validated at last. Along with skaters like Tom Groholski, Douglas was frequently cited as responsible for the surge in interest in lip tricks and was expected to triumph, but in the end first place was snatched by rookie Ben Schroeder. Douglas ended in 4th place, but was later quoted as enthusiastic about the contest and cited it as a highlight of his limited pro contest career.
One more signature model was released by Schmitt Stix before Douglas, sensing a sea-change looming for the skateboard industry, convinced Paul Schmitt to dissolve Schmitt Stix and relaunch with a new team, new product line and renewed focus under a new name, New Deal Skateboards. Paul Schmitt was a master woodworker and made among the best skateboards in the world, but in the skateboarding world of the day, marketing and image were taking hold of the industry, and Douglas had the foresight to see the change coming. New Deal went on to become one of the most important skateboard brands of the early 1990s.
This name Douglas also used to co-found a skateshop back in London, originally in a retail unit in Harrow and Wealdstone shopping mall, but later relocated down the road in Douglas's old stomping ground of Harrow Solid Surf Skatepark, later expanding into distribution too.
Along with Tony Magnusson's H-Street and Steve Rocco's World Industries
World Industries
World Industries is a skateboarding company that offers skateboarding products, accessories and apparel. The company was founded by Steve Rocco in 1987. In 1988, Rocco was joined by skaters Rodney Mullen then Mike Vallely in 1989....
, New Deal was one of the first of the new breed of companies that fully tapped into the emerging street-skating revolution that would eventually depose the "vert-heroes" of Douglas' own generation in favour of upcoming whippersnappers such as Ed Templeton
Ed Templeton
Edward "Ed" Templeton is a professional skateboarder and a contemporary artist who resides in Huntington Beach, California. -Biography:...
,the undoubted star of New Deal's first promo video, 1990's Useless Wooden Toys
Useless Wooden Toys
-Track listing:#"Cutup"#"You, You and You"#"Heavyweight Freight"#"Sand People"#"We Milk Life But Dress Smooth"#"Save The People"#"Pick Up Sticks"#"The Beef"#"Useless Wooden Toys"#"Lodestar"#"All A Dream"#"Never Wed An Old Man"#"They Made Us Too Many"...
SkimTheFat - Your Guide to Skateboarding Videos
At the start of the 1990s, with New Deal's success on the rise, Douglas helped found Giant Skateboard Distribution, and by 1996 had risen to the position of company president. Over the next six years the company grew by 700%, until Douglas stepped down in favour of his old friend Hugh "Bod" Boyle who had joined the company in 1999. Like Douglas, Bod was an ex-pat Brit whose pro-skating career had begun in 1987 and curtailed in the early 1990s by a debilitating knee injury.
Douglas was now free to spend more time with his growing family and to pursue his many other business concerns;
In 1992 New Deal's graphic designer, respected team-rider, and innovator of both the nollie kickflip and the ollie noseblunt, Andy Howell decided to branch out on his own, and so Douglas assisted him in setting up Underworld Element, later shortened to just Element Skateboards
Element Skateboards
Element Skateboards is a skateboard manufacturer and surfwear retailer based in Irvine, California. It is a subsidiary of Australian clothing giants Billabong International....
, which still thrives today.
In 1988 Douglas's teammate (first at Madrid, then at Schmitt Stix) John Lucero had flown the coup to start up on his own, initially as Lucero Skateboards, later renamed Black Label Skateboards
Black Label Skateboards
Black Label is a skateboarding company founded and owned by longtime professional skateboarder and skateboard graphic artist John Lucero in 1990. It is based in Costa Mesa, California.-External links:* *...
. After some early success, growth stalled, morale withered, and by the mid-1990s, Black Label Skateboards
Black Label Skateboards
Black Label is a skateboarding company founded and owned by longtime professional skateboarder and skateboard graphic artist John Lucero in 1990. It is based in Costa Mesa, California.-External links:* *...
was still being run, to all intents and purposes, from a lock-up garage. Under the combined guidance and motivation of both Douglas and Mike Vallely
Mike Vallely
Mike Vallely , also known as Mike V, is a professional skateboarder. Mike is also a musician, actor, television personality, stuntman, professional wrestler and FHL hockey player.-Early life:...
, Black Label Skateboards
Black Label Skateboards
Black Label is a skateboarding company founded and owned by longtime professional skateboarder and skateboard graphic artist John Lucero in 1990. It is based in Costa Mesa, California.-External links:* *...
became and remains one of the giants of the skate industry.
Douglas also co-founded both 411 video magazine 411VM and later the On Video series, both crucial to skateboarding's development through the 1990s and the new millennium. He also founded a new truck company, Destructo Trucks
Destructo Trucks
Destructo Trucks are a brand of skateboard trucks. The trucks of a skateboard are metal axle assemblies, mounted to the underneath of the deck. They hold on the wheels and allow the board to turn....
, in the late 1990s with the usual success, and took over production of Bam Margera
Bam Margera
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera is an American professional skateboarder, television and radio personality, actor and daredevil. He released a series of videos under the CKY banner and came to prominence after being drafted into MTV's Jackass crew...
's notorious CKY
CKY (video series)
The CKY video series is a series of videos produced by Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo and other residents of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Four videos have been released to date, Landspeed presents: CKY , CKY2K, CKY 3, and CKY4: The Latest & Greatest...
video series way before Bam's TV fame came calling.
In 2004 Douglas accepted an offer from Burton Snowboards to be general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
at their clothing subsidiary, Analog.SURF Magazine A year later Douglas was reunited with his old friend 'Bod' Boyle when they both came to work at Giant's rival Dwindle Distribution, Boyle as president and Douglas in an advisory position.
Aside from the business side of skateboarding, Douglas is also a committee member of both the IASC
International Association of Skateboard Companies
The International Association of Skateboard Companies is a profit organization that was established in 1995. Its "goals are to promote skateboarding, increase participation, save its members money, and educate". Its members include skateboard manufacturers, distributors, skatepark designers and...
and USA Skateboarding, the National Governing Body of American skateboarding.
External links
- Official nostalgia website of former top UK skatemag from 1980s/1990s
- Official website of Douglas's old skatepark
See also
- BMX Action Bike Magazine, issue 50, March 1987. Article: Steve Douglas-The Forgotten Englishman.