Origins of the Frontside Pop-Shove, Part 2
SOMEHOW A FULL DECADE HAS TICKED OFF SINCE WE CHECKED IN WITH STEVE ROCCO AND TRACED THE 1ST EVER FRONTSIDE POP SHOVE-IT TO ONE HE DID AT A DEMO IN VENEZUELA (OVER A 3” PIPE) IN ‘79. AS I BEGAN MY DAY YESTERDAY I GOT A RANDOM EMAIL FROM STEVE.
Rocco: Hey Mackenzie, it’s been a while. I just got this video from Tony Guerrero from the 1978 Northern California Championship when I was 18. I guess I was doing frontside pop shove-its before ‘79 in Venezuela. I think I never counted it as a trick until I did it over something. Anyway, I remember how much work you put into that article so seeing this reminded me of you. Hope you are well.
Attached was video of his ’78 contest run and right there at 1:21—an unmistakable FS pop-shove. I assume Steve did the trick before this run but this is now officially the first footage of the trick on flat, and a full four years before Rodney Mullen unveiled the flatground Ollie! The one in Venezuela still stands as the first shove-it (backside or frontside) over an obstacle.
If you missed the original article, give it a read below with contributions from Rodney Mullen, Alan “Ollie” Gelfand, and Jim Goodrich. On the occasion of this new clip, I asked Steve a few more questions to update the record:
This new Berkeley contest clip would place the first FS pop shove in ‘78?
It’s the earliest one I’ve found. It was actually filmed by Ray Meyer’s younger brother Maurice. Ray is the guy in the beginning of the video.
Do you remember what place you got?
I got first. But I can’t remember what song I skated to. Maybe the Ramones “I Wanna Be Sedated.” But then I updated the routine by 1980 to “Planet Clare” by the B-52's for my Oasis showdown with Rodney.
Can you name off all the tricks in your routine? Looks like a nollie pressure flip a few tricks before the FS pop shove.
Naming the tricks is the easy part. Whether I am skating switch or not is a lot harder to tell. I kick turn goofy-footed so that makes me look goofy. Count how many times I am doing tricks regular-footed. People were impressed that I could do so many tricks “switch.” Except for Rodney. He was the only one that noticed how messed up I was. He once famously yelled, “That’s not switch! He can’t even do it the other way!” Best insult ever!
When did you first see Rodney skate?
I had seen Rodney skate at the Oceanside contest when he was around 12. I was a judge in the contest and remember it well because one of the guys he beat was my brother Anthony. After the contest I was trying to learn fakie Ollie to tail on the stadium steps and he came up to me. He couldn't really talk that well back then. He sort of barked when he was happy. Thus the real origin of his Mutt nickname. But he was, as he is now, very soft spoken and polite. Four years later, when I skated against Rodney in the 1982 Magic Mountain contest I pretty much gave up freestyle and only street skated. Rodney was still scared to kick flip off a curb back then.
Who else competed in this Berkeley contest?
Dan Ewell, who was considered to be the top skater in Northern California got second.
How did you find this new footage?
I got a text from Tony Guerrero (Not Tommy). It actually started at the SHoF (Skateboarding Hall of Fame). I was standing with Natas (Kaupas) and Tony came up and showed us a small part of the video where I am doing a Casper and, unbeknownst to me, a 15-year-old Tony was doing the same trick. So I asked Natas to judge which one was better. He picked mine. Later Tony joked that Natas insulted him. Actually, Natas was probably trying to insult me but picked the wrong one. Anyway I would like to personally thank Tony for taking the time to dig this up and send it to me. It meant a lot.
When did you notice the FS pop shove?
When I got the full video. I was having lunch with Guy Mariano. I had never seen this video before and Guy wanted to see it. So we watched it and he asked me what year it was filmed. When I told him 1978 his first reaction was, “Oh my God, I didn’t know you were better than Rodney!” To be fair I told him Rodney was only 12 the time. And I think Guy might have been barely out of diapers so he wouldn’t have been around for that. Ronnie Creager’s reaction was even better.
Footage of the full contest run. Filmed by: Maurice Meyers and unearthed by Tony Guerrero. Berkeley, CA Nor Cal Skateboard Championships 1978
On a separate note, we had some very serious news last week too. We lost Marc Johnson. You and Rodney were obviously close to Marc during the A-team/enjoi years and he always credited you with the humor he wanted to bring to his own companies (enjoi, Back 40, Business & Company). Can you give me your thoughts on Marc and what he brought to skateboarding?
Rodney was a lot closer to Marc than me. And the news hit him pretty hard. I texted him right after it happened because I was a bit worried about him. I do remember vividly some of his early ads on enjoi and actually laughing out loud. Thinking “Oh my God! Marc is brilliant!” I really had no idea he credited me with any of that. And I doubt anything I can say is enough to do Marc justice. But I will leave you with this. When I texted Rodney that night, I wrote, “I hope he is in a better place now. If there is a Heaven he certainly deserves a place there.” Rodney replied, “He certainly does deserve a place.” One not need look beyond the quote “The praise of the praiseworthy is above all reward.” So indeed this must be what Marc brought to skateboarding. —Steve Rocco
Related: Origins of the Front Pop with Steve Rocco, Rodney Mullen, and Alan Gelfand