DOGTOWN SOUND + VISION: A SEA FOR YOURSELF + GO FOR IT

  The Captain and Tenille meet The Surf Punks vs. Wilt Chamberlain vs. Tony Alva.....wait what?

     The story for me begins years ago at a flea market in Rio where picked up the 'A Sea For Yourself' sound track and took it back to my friend's vintage store and played it as he opened his store. It was our morning ritual; cleaning records, coffee, talking to customers, checking out the morning scores. We were blown away by the record. It covers a lot of styles - from instro stoner rawk - to wild latin-y percussive speed jazz - to cosmic countrified blues-ish west coast pop. A killer.

     It is a various artists joint but it turns out The Dragons on the LP are brothers Dennis Dragon (The Surf Punks) and Daryl Dragon ('The Captain and Tenille') and were behind the sound track, along with some friends/musicians. I still haven't seen the entire movie, though I FINALLY just bought it on DVD. I recently found the videos with some footage on youtube. It features the best surfers of the day tearing it up from Peru to France.  It was directed by Hal Jepsen and released in 1973. Buy the DVD

PEEP THE FOOTAGE. DIG THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDZ!

     A few years later, Ninja Tune turns up with a compilation of The Dragons:
READ THE STORY> The Dragons BFI.
I think like one or two songs from the compilation are on the 'A Sea for Yourself' soundtrack. Same groovy madness!

  LISTEN HERE:
THEN GO BUY THE WAX!

Digging deeper into the story of the records I come across a video for Drainpipe (off 'A Sea For Yourself'), but it lists the sound track as Wilt Chamberlain presents (?!)  'Go For It'. Another sick 'Dragons' sound track to chase.

Lo-and-behold youtube footage! Surf, ski, skate, wait...!!!!! Dogtown + Z-Boys. Tony Alva, Stacy Perralta, Jay Adams et all -  '76 STYLE. The scenes in Lords of Dogtown bio-pic written by Stacy Peralta, are lifted right from here! More wicked chunes!

DOGTOWN STYLE!



GO FOR IT - INTRO Y MAS...



The movies and music capture a moment and feel that is distinctly California, a golden state in the golden state. Cool cultural intersections, with surf, skate and music made where it all came together. LIFE. STYLE. Dope artifacts, dope jamz. Ah! Digging...!

Dollar A Shoe. Man, I need Vans.

When I was real young my dad used to take my brother and I to hit the sidewalk sale. Big ol' pile a Vans out on the sidewalk. All lost soldiers in need of a match. At that point you had two colors; white or black. Maybe Navy. So we'd tear into the piles looking for our size. It was a buck-a-shoe...
Later on we had the two color lace-ups, slip-ons, and high-tops. Custom kicks and all that. We collected the 'Off the Wall' stickers and covered an entire door with them. They are OG skate shoes. Good in earthquake weather.

Company History - From Wikipedia

On March 16, 1966, at 704 E. Broadway, in Anaheim, California, Paul Van Doren and three partners opened up their first store. The Van Doren Rubber Company was unique in that it manufactured shoes and sold them directly to the public. On that first morning, 12 customers purchased Vans deck shoes, which are now known as Authentic. The shoes made that day were ready for pick-up in the afternoon.

The company continued to grow into the 1970s. During this period they also produced wool lined canvas and rubber mukluks under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force. Skateboarders who liked Vans rugged make-up and sticky sole were seen sporting Vans all over Southern California in the early 1970s. In 1975, the Vans #95, known today as the Era was designed by Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. With a padded collar and different color combinations the Era became the shoe of choice for a generation of skateboarders. In 1979, Vans introduced the #44 shoe, and with the help of skateboarders and BMX riders the Vans Slip-On became all the rage in Southern California.

Alva Rockes 'em!

Sweet Tim Kerr painting (More on him later..)

By the end of the 1970s, Vans had 70 stores in California and sold through dealers both nationally and internationally.

As the 1980s rolled around, Paul Van Doren began to take a lesser role in the companies’ activities. Over this period, Vans started to create shoes for a number of sports from skateboarding, wakeboarding, motor cross, to surfing in an effort to compete with large athletic shoe companies. Vans Slip-Ons gained international attention and appeal when they were worn by Sean Penn in the 1982, iconic youth film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Although Vans core shoes were selling well, the wide range of products that the company now offered had drained the companies’ resources, and with Vans not able to overcome its debt they were forced to file for bankruptcy in 1983.

After three years, Vans had paid back all creditors and emerged from bankruptcy. In 1988 Vans original owners sold out to an investment banking firm. The company has been sold several times since; most recently for $396 million in 2004 to Greensboro, N.C.-based VF Corp. Steve Van Doren, the son of co-founder Paul Van Doren, is still with the company, as is his sister Cheryl and his daughter Kristy. Vans closed their Orange, California factory and began manufacturing footwear overseas in 1994. In 1994, Vans sponsored the Inaugural Triple Crown series which developed into the Vans Triple Crown series. In 1998, Vans opened a 46,000-square-foot (4,300 m²), indoor-outdoor Vans Skate park at the Block in Orange County and in 2002 an enclosed skatepark was opened in the Festival Bay Mall on International Drive in Orlando, Florida. In 2000 and 2001, Forbes recognized Vans as one of "America’s Best Small Companies." In 2004, Vans launched the Vans Customs on their website. This allowed customers to log onto the Vans website and design their own pair of Vans Slip-ons, mid-cuts, or high-tops. Nowadays, it allows for the design of custom Era, Slip-On,Old Skool, and 106 Vulcanized shoes.

Old school ad

"Isn't it OUR time?"