When Steve Douglas asked filmmaker Winstan Whitter to document last year’s London Calling event, nobody really knew what the result would be, because an event like this in the UK had never happened before.
Originally created to showcase and celebrate the heroes of seventies’ UK skateboarding with a gallery show and party, London Calling expanded exponentially throughout the planning stages, and soon came to include the opening night of a three-week show at Shoreditch’s Pure Evil gallery, a 76-page zine, an era-correct Vans shoe and t-shirt, a forum discussion at University College London, a reunion skate at Southbank, a trip across town to watch Devo, and a closing session at Crystal Palace skatepark.
Thanks to the work of the core crew of Steve Douglas, Bod Boyle and Dan Adams, almost everyone who made that era of UK skateboarding so important showed up, with attendees including Jeremy Henderson, Marc Sinclair (both of whom have recently been inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame), John Sablosky, Tim Leighton-Boyce, James Cassimus, Simon Napper, Tony Alva, Steve Van Doren, Alex Turnbull, Sheenagh Burdell, Ben Liddell and Kadir Guirey.
Such was the excitement and enthusiasm around the event, with so many classic (and unseen) photographs of the time being displayed together for the first time, the logical next step was to bring the show to the US, and it’s currently on display in the Skateboard Hall of Fame, Simi Valley. The opening night party was the perfect time and place to host the US premiere of Winstan’s documentary, to help showcase to a wider audience just how important and influential the skateboard scene in seventies Britain has been, and the night went off.
As well as the movie showing, Tom Knox received his Skateboarding Hall of Fame induction award, many beers were consumed, new cross-generational friendships were made, and everything good about skateboarding was celebrated.
Mike John was on hand to document the proceedings, and what follows is a selection of the moments he captured, on a night rich with stoke…
The show will remain at SHoF until the end of August, and the Vans are available here.
https://www.read-and-destroy-archive.com/vans-reorder/london-calling-vans-jtxe5-6tytx-2dkln
For a limited time, you may view the London Calling doc exclusively on JuiceMagazine.com HERE.
Also check out ‘Rollin’ Through The Decades’ which is another documentary by Winstan Whitter, released in 2005, featuring more UK skateboarding history from the 70s to the 2000s.
https://colourfilms.vhx.tv/products/rollin-through-the-decades-1
Words by Neil Macdonald and photos by Mike John.
One Response
Superb simple as chaps, thank you 👍👍👍👍