Blender skateboarding circa 1985

[Angryjazz]

This is the single greatest contest run in the history of skateboarding...

[dialga9812]

my dad put on this video cause he said when they were in 6th grade he skated with tony hawk and neil blender

[frankensteinmoneymac]

This is the type of attitude that modern skateboarding lacks....Its just become another sport to most kids... commercial...no soul, no artistry. And yes I am an old grumpy cuss who thinks yester-years where better than the modern age *grumble grumble*

PS oh yeah, and classic Goth music is great, but the new EMO stuff sucks.

[andyweuling]

cute

[bearcubun]

=))ха

[stashews]

what a charmer

[canderson]

Blender is one of the greatest artists/skaters of all time

[OPTIKPRODUCTIONS]

THIS is REAL "streetstyle". Fuck that maloof money cup bullshit

[rebusd]

hahaha! the tag run!

This is the guy who influenced everybody; Natas, Gonz, Vallely, even Hawk on street. I think him and Lance Mountain are cousins, lol!

Most of the early street guys were basically punkers who got kicked out of the parks and decided to hit the curbs out front. Certainly the kind of kids who get kicked out of baseball and start bands; not the captains of the squad. And Mullen, why he's just god, or at least Godel.

The raised fist was priceless!

[Mcrankfan]

The Mullen remark made me literally laugh out loud.

[rebusd]

@Mcrankfan lot of that going around... :)

[jkthemod]

I have seen him around here and there... sometimes skimming @ the beach, or skating/fooling around with his friends. He is a person (same as you and me) but he seems unaware of his "legendary-cult" status. It would be cool to be friends with him... but that would be impossible, as I would be too "star-struck".

[muskie1969]

I need to find some of his art or a T-shirt or anything. He is a legend. I'd pay a thousand bucks for that plywood he spray painted on. I used to have his coffee t-shirt and wore it til it was a rag.

[shermanfunk]

0:52 when he kicks his board into the wall again is awesome

[AndrewKaz]

This made my day

[TrashCanSchool]

I love Blender's irreverant style in this but what's more, HIS ART!!! he stops to do a spray can throw up and it is the absolute pre-cursor to a thousand TWIST characters! Barry McGee MUSt have seen this thing in his youth.

[doctrap007]

I was in college in the 1983 at Texas A&M and my roommate and I were heading home to San Antonio for the weekend. We stopped to skate in the empty swimming pool of an abandoned hotel in San Marcos, Texas. We were skating for a good hour and this truck pulls up pulling a trailer that says "Thraser" on it. Three guys get out. One guy is a photographer and two guys are skaters. They come and ask us if it is ok if they skate with us. Of course we say sure. It was Neil Blender and Jeff Phillips.

[MyNoseIsBroken]

So awsome. Two best guys in skateboarding

[sonofagun73]

Neil Blender was a fav of mine. I remember watching this video and being an INSTANT fan. I love the "dont give a shit about this contest" that he demonstrated. Sad to see that a lot of people seem to be skating more for money and fame nowadays than for actual love of the sport... The "trick:" at :20 says it all!!!

[thekillerbees1]

I actually met Neil... Well, sort of. My art professor and his best friends grew up with Neil, Lance, John Lucero, Rick Spidey, Gator, etc. Anyways, my professor took us to the Bergamot Station. He ended up bringing another guy with him to the trip. I didn't know that the guy with him was none other than Neil Blender himself! Sadly, I didn't know until 2 days after the trip, when my professor's friend told me it was him... :(

[bunghole4you]

man if we went back in time the way we skate everone would be sponser it crazy the way we use 2 skate like back then and now with danny way

[gordonshitybum]

I really hope you nostalgics out there are still sustaining fucking slams or you're not worth you're salt. (skateboarding is about learning a new trick or 2 as well)concrete body surfing flip your board bish

[gordonshitybum]

"must be joking" ? I don't think so skatboarding used to not be a sport . (he did a nose grind with a clean re-entry on that piece of shit) A big nobody did those back then same with the "certain death" (axle to fakie) Like it or not thou Neil made skating parcialy what it is today all that you hate and love

[Vanderkitten]

Well, G&S was the original ultra-polished team back in the 70's, so it's funny to see the transformation to sponsoring Neil Blender... I had 3 Blenders in the 80's, great shapes, great artwork!

[sibco96]

Blender and Gonzales were some of my faves back then. Both funny, easy going, good artists. No stuck-up glam BS.

[K3NARM5TR0NG]

tempe diablo contest!

[hero25]

OMG 20 secoonds in that is the funniest thing I have seen in forever. I know he was not serious.  He had to be joking. Man that was great, to do that in a contest. WOW!!!

[jwxSYB]

Blender's keepin it real. Skating isn't the way to used to be, for sure.

Most kids just care about being sponsored n gettin free shit

[poopbreak]

blender is in a class all his own

[nuffaction]

That was awsome...too bad the young ones nowadays take it so seriously...and no drips...great can control..OG for sure!!! Go G&S go!!

[sweatyspaghetti]

O.G.

[tahoeclimber]

WORD!

[THEGUYSTOKECHANNEL2]

"brightening our lives just a little bit"

[spunkchug]

hErO

[vinewalkerfox]

very well said johnqdarwin

[johnqdarwin]

love some of the comments on here about the daft skating.

.....he's taking the piss , you see , he's in a competition.

and he's a skateboarder.

not only did he invent tons of tricks we still think of as gnarly.

he took the piss and showed up a lot of stuff being done at that time, as not realy skateboarding.

and made me think, why learn tricks anyway? when you can just skate?

there is too much b.s. in skateboarding culture. we love guys like niel cos' they open our eyes.

[mentalrevenge]

he's...taking...the piss?...come on john, are you telling me he didn't win the comp with this run? really?

[johnqdarwin]

silly boy. he didnt want to win. its quite obvious.

[viciousk1d]

its not even that he didnt want to win, he just could care less.

[mentalrevenge]

no way man, he was in it to win it

[mentalrevenge]

ps thanks viscouslid - do they have sarcasm in america  ?...

[djy2k1979]

WHAT THE FUCK WAS HE UP TO rolling around on that floor and then halfway through graffing the wall then continuing his run crazy man

[Kiddster]

nice to hear the stranglers playing in the background. i remember Neil from my days skating as a kid, amazing times!!

[oicasey]

most foulest skating boarding eva serious i almost vomitted on that shit

[menkins74]

Neil Blender IS skateboarding!!!

[pdclenton]

An absolute bloody skateboarding deity. Thanks for putting this up.

[mrcowsy]

Check out the Nollie over the spine at the end!

in 85!!

We will never understand what this guy gave us.

[anarchyforme]

love that he stopped to bomb the wall at the end of his run

[grafittiaccount098]

i love you

[blaz63]

nice art

[oldirtyrod]

mug

[agostinho079]

The guy is a legend full stop!

Anyone that says any different is a mug.

[steelers29angel]

hhahah at 00:23 hes looking like a shit haha

[m500]

Still one of my favorite video segs. Blender is the man.

[imexiled]

By far one of the coolest people I was privileged to skate with. I sucked, but the guy always made time to come knock on my door when he was in town Super laid back, and did the best graphics for boards ever. The crap I draw on my board even now is just a mere shadow of the masterpieces Neil created. Go ahead and say what you want, Neil will just laugh.

[txsk8st8]

00:20 hahaha! look at that sht, what if skaters today did that weirdasz trick as often as they do kickflips hahahaha! like if it was all mainstream an sht hahahahahahaha!

[socomskater]

so many memories

[hater2nd]

Skateboarding has lost almost all personality since then. Younger kids that skate are mostly jock mentality now. I'm only saying that because some of these comments are really fucking ignorant. Learn your history, just because you learned to kickflip before you could ollie doesn't mean you have style. I wish skateboarding was still in touch with art.

[uhhhnthony]

@hater2nd more like kids learn kickflip before they even learn how to ride their board.....

[fredynek]

I think skateboarding has realy evolved sins then

[kenoad]

lol just a bit :P

[shreddez]

Yes, skateboarding has evolved in many ways thanks to people like Neil Blender. In many other ways it has also devolved thanks to shrinking numbers of people like Neil Blender.

[VorteXFilmZ]

this is sooo fuckin NICE ... nuff respect for upload

[soulrebel4c]

I loved Neil Blender!...does anyone know if he has a website or anything these days?

[GunPoor]

theheatedwheel (dot) com. It's all one word, but youtube doesn't let you link. sells his art, has photos and stuff

[shreddez]

ask jeeeves

[tmfiore]

Sick man, niel blender is a legend.

[SkateAllCities]

And people thought that skateboarding & graffiti never went together?! Hahahaha, goodshit!

[brokensaddled]

contests like those shown in the video are for tools. wait a minute. maybe that is what mr blender was saying. oh - damn. WAIT, if you are a pro you should go all out at every contest, get 0 money from your sponsor and go through the rest of your life with shot knees, wrists, hips and back. that makes sense right? 'cuz you'll be rolling in all that dough!

NICE...

[wickedlick]

i always had a Neil Blender board last one was stolen. still to this day i look to find one to hang up on the wall. Neil is one of a kind. hope he is living the good life.

[ohio1968javelin]

neil blender was great met him in dayton ohio.neil your great!

[disizjim]

Stulgang, I am with you.....

[minimonark]

Its from NSA Contest in Tempe AZ. 1986 I think. Definately one of the most memorable contst runs ever. Look deeper, theres a hidden message.

[chickenflip]

I heard he did a 1080

[Stulgang]

best skater I've ever seen. robshere2006 I wanna rip your fucking head off for that comment you fucking idiot. I think you know a shit about skateboarding, fuck off and start rollerskating you gay ass

[robshere2006]

If that was good back then, id hate to see what a bad skater was like....Id love to go back in time and start bustin tre flips, id probably be rich

[gorillabiscuits]

you obviously don't know who Neil Blender is.

[jerahmayah]

Thats true. Only a real skater from back in those days would know who the blender was. Even if you KNEW some Older real skaters they would tell you. That guy is a punk kid. Tre flips werent knew they were FREESTYLE.

[jerahmayah]

NO. You wouldnt be rich. Mullen was already doing triple flips and any flip trick you can come up with. Eventually freestyle tricks were brought to Vert, and Street, and Vice Versa. These contests were about style, and in those days high ollies. Can you ollie a ten speed? NO.

[Jonasp89]

He's still my hero ;D

[ohio1968javelin]

neil blender is great he totally dosent take contest serious and effortless cool tricks.NEAL ROCKS from dayton

[Dannygutt]

This was sooooo big back then, but every kid on the block can do this now, and better! That's the sick stuf.... But yea, he's cool.

[grakker]

Damn, I haven't seen this footage in so freaking long. Thanks. The ignorance in many of the comments is funny as well.

[Mcrankfan]

I love this so much.

It's just so fucking random, especially the end.

Who else but neil blender could pull out a paint can and just start painting a wall at the end of his run?

[TheBlehBlehBleh]

wow sickness. I love the part where he rolls =)

[antuboy]

wow that sucks. he doesnd do any cool tricks and cant paint well.

[coneyislandrocket]

Classic!

[Demonz89]

it looks like he is figure skating. fag.

[rugga]

F/S rocknroll 85, nice

[bubbledumb]

True skateboarding. If you don't LOVE Neil Blender, you SUCK.

[ILoveHannahalot]

No, you do, that guy is way tooooooooo cocky, and he and he sucks crap, you probably don't even sk8, jerk

[xSPUNKBUBBLEx]

just the coolest.

[nolanprs]

YES THIS IS THE BEST LOLOLOL

[jozzmer]

fully

[gorillabiscuits]

what a pimp.

[HonestMedia]

man that was corny

[bondpaulbond]

best contest run ever.

[xthirtyonex]

That was just way cool!

[AtomFlyer]

Neil is awsome...plus he likes the stranglers.

[chout]

I remember this run...Streetstyle In Tempe video right???

Shoot, probably haven't seen this since the 80's!

[junkhop]

Yeah man, Neil Blender is the F'in epitome of personal style...just a cool guy

[GunPoor]

This is why he should be every skater's hero. Neil Blender is the most irreverent and creative skater of all time.