Rodney Mullen

Mutt Among Men
Man Among Mutts

There is a trend in skateboarding in particular and society in general - this gravitation towards a mentality of brand identity. Whether it's the kind of car someone prefers, the skateboard brands they endorse, or the celebrities they choose to root for in movies, music, tv or just in the areas of attitude and sexuality - it's really all the same. A lot of the time it's oddly baseless - people wear shirts advertising brands they don't use or have access to. They adore celebrities who have actually done precious little, product-wise. They align themselves with cultural icons and it becomes a part of their identity. I preface my Rodney Mullen page with this just to let you know that this is not the case here. I have never been the type to wear a logo, or take any blind fan-ship or allegiance to anyone or anything that I can think of, short of my own ideas and impulses. But I grew up skateboarding and still do it - and the whole time there has been out there this creature, this mad witch doctor genius named Rodney Mullen who has always been an inspiration, a role model, an enigma and always a source of endless awe and entertainment.

For someone who has left (and is still in the process of leaving) an incredible legacy to the world of skateboarding, Rodney Mullen's start with the sport was fairly inauspicious. When the second skateboard boom hit in the 1970's, Rodney was eager to ride a board of his own. He had been watching the neighborhood kids, envious of their boards. Rodney had asked his father for a skateboard on numerous occasions, but every time, had been told "NO". On New Years Eve, 1976, Rodney decided to ask his father for a board just one more time. In an article written for Thrasher (January 1996 issue), Rodney recalls his fathers response that evening: "He reluctantly made a deal: The first injury I got, or the first time he had caught me without my pads, I had to quit".

With his fathers reserved blessing, Rodney wasted no time and marched down to the local shopping mall on January 1st, 1977. He picked up a black Bonsai aluminum board with precision wheels and ACS trucks. Prior to this purchase, his father had been concerned that skateboarding was not a very safe sport. In hindsight, he needn't have worried. Quickly, Rodney began practicing and learning freestyle tricks - in full pads. About nine months from the time he received his skateboard, Rodney picked up his first sponsor: The Inland Surf Shop.

He started winning contests in his home state of Florida. In 1978, Rodney blew a lot of the California pros away when he reached 4th place at the Kona contest. In 1979, Rodney took top spot at the Oceanside contest in California and was immediately sponsored by Walker. With all this success, Rodney's father realized that his son had mastered skateboarding. The only problem was, now his father wanted him to try to master something else. What was the sport Rodney's father had suggested he pick up?: "Golf," say Rodney, with a tinge of disbelief. But Rodney didn't pick up the clubs and he kept training.

In August of 1980, he received a call from Stacy Peralta inviting him out to a contest in San Diego. Rodney remembers the time vividly. "This was to be my last fling." He was 13 years old and would be competing with top Sims freestyler Steve Rocco. The contest was extremely close and the judges kept on awarding the same number of points to both Steve and Rodney. Eventually, on the last runoff, Rodney won the contest. It was then that he officially started riding for Powell Peralta. "After this success", recalls Rodney, "my father was motivated to keep me involved in skateboarding."

In the early 80's, skateboarding was very much underground. The sport had peaked, just like in the 60's and now there was only a group of hardcore skaters who kept up with the sport. Rodney wrote articles for Thrasher magazine that explained, step-by-step, complex freestyle moves. He wound up in 1st place in almost every contest. In the mid 80's, the sport picked up again, primarily due to the proliferation of skateboard videos. The Powell Peralta and Vision Psycho skate videos showcased Rodney's amazing abilities better than any sequential photo spread found in a magazine. Viewers were in awe of his command of the board. As Peter Weldrake, owner of Toronto's famous Dogtown Skateboard Shop, recalled, "In the mid 1980's, I had a little black and white television hooked up to a VCR and crowds of people would jam the store in awe of what Rodney was doing. They had never seen skateboarding like this before!"

As the 80's progressed, Rodney became increasingly famous. He has some positive memories of the time: "There was so much opportunity. My friends were doing well." Rodney wrote in Thrasher "Skating blew up from around 86 to 91. I felt like a rock star. I flew on the Concorde." Despite all his success, however, Rodney recalled some painful truths about fame: "Each time I thought I got somewhere else, I realized I hadn't gone anywhere."

Slowly, Rodney entered into the world of new school skating. He put away the traditional freestyle board and with encouragement from Plan B's Mike Ternasky and World Industries head Steve Rocco. Rodney started moving into street skating. His practice paid off and his subsequent revolutionary success can be seen in the 1992 Questionable Video, and the other Plan B videos to follow. His blending of new street style skating with his amazingly technical freestyle tricks set a new standard for street skating, and really gave it focus and direction.

There is no question that Rodney Mullen dominated freestyle skateboarding for over a decade. In today's world of street skating, Rodney is still a major force. Many of the tricks he invented in the 1980's are now the foundation of new school skateboarding. He is, however, extremely humble when asked about the tremendous influence he has had on skateboarding. "I was just doing my thing. I didn't think of myself as a pioneer." Rodney works full time in the skateboard industry, and nowadays, heads up a truck company called Tensor and travels with the Globe team. He also rides for Enjoi skateboards.

Legends - Lance Mountain, Lynn Cooper, Rodney Mullen

This is just simple biographical information above, however. It doesn't really tell you how revolutionary the man is.

A lot of times you can go into a skateboarding chat room, or hear some kids talking at a skatepark and they will talk about Rodney. Often it goes like this - Rodney Mullen is God vs. Rodney Mullen Sucks. There's always at least one of each in any group of people whether it be online or real life. Anyone who would attempt to deny what he has brought to the sport cannot be taken seriously, but then again, he is just a guy. He plugs away. Often full of self doubt, he almost gave up skating before taking it to the streets - the secret is that he's just like any other skateboarder, except that he has put in probably as many hours in life actually skateboarding so far than most of these people talking about him have spent sleeping in their entire lives. That's really all skateboarding comes down to - dedication, time and balls. Look at his career and his impact on the sport - he's got all three.

Maybe you have to have grown up through it like I did - watching one by one every Powell-Peralta video part as they came out every year or two - seeing him truly in the context of the time he was and is living in - and realizing everytime how far ahead he was of anyone else out there. The guy invented the ollie kickflip before most of us were born. He invented the 360 kickflips before then too for a lot of the kids out there- again, something hard to imagine. And it's not like he's some guy like...oh I won't mention names (MIKE MCGILL) who seemed to reach a pinnacle in skateboarding and then rested on his laurels for the remainder of his career. He has been a professional skateboarder for almost 25 years now. Think about that. An activity which usually only HAS a span in some ones life of a few pre-and-teen years and here is this guy - nearing 40, who totally blows minds, everyday and every time.

His influence began to spread like a virus away from freestyle to streetstyle (Mark Gonzales, Natas Kaupas) and vertical (Tony Hawk) skateboarding in the mid to late 80's. It started to become obvious to the upper echelon of skatings pro circuit what he was onto, what doors he was opening and what his accomplishments were making possible for everyone. You just watch the video parts and look at the magazines in chronological order - you can see it happen. Truly amazing.

There is a great line in Spinal Tap (I think) - the metalhead guitarist drones on in his cockney accent "I learned how to play stairway to heaven when I was 16, I mean, Jimmy Page didn't even write it till he was 23, I think that says a lot right there". It's a combination of ignorance, arrogance and irony that make this joke funny - and a lot of Rodney's detractors are just like that mindless, boring musician. They totally miss the point. Rodney LAID the foundation upon which a great majority of what they enjoy about skateboarding rests - they just haven't been around long enough to know it.

Rodney Mullen was and is ahead of his time. Street skating has come close to catching up to him, now that it's had 10 years to grasp what he started showing us when he started riding big boards - reference his protégée Daewon Song. Did I mention he basically single-handedly developed the modern skateboard shape as we know it? So to some kid who has only skated a few years - he might seem a little less spectacular now compared to the rest of the pack out there - but slow down his video parts, watch what he's really doing, look at history and realize what a treasure he is and you might get blown away.

End of love letter. Hey Rodney - CALL ME!

FINALLY!
The Best Of Rodney Mullen DVD
25 Years Of Video Highlights - $8.00

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