I’ll never forget that night in 1990 when I saw Propaganda play at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. I went to the show with my two cousins and some of our skater friends. We sat on the front row of the balcony, house-left. Before the show began, Stacy Peralta and Tony Hawk came out on stage and thanked us for coming out. The lights dimmed, the ripper video played, and then Frankie Hill’s section began. As the video played, we went completely out of our minds! I had never seen anything like that before. At the time, I didn’t know those tricks were possible on a skateboard. Then, the infamous Santa Barbara dirt gap. When Frankie Hill jumped that massive hill, the entire room erupted! We were cheering, clapping, pumping our fists in the air, and I side-hugged my friend. Even today, that is undoubtedly the most impressive trick that I have ever seen on a skateboard.
Here is the original Frankie Hill section in Propaganda:
Also, here is the trailer for a documentary that was produced in 2011 that tells the story of Frankie Hill’s career as a professional skateboarder. I predict this film will take the 2011 award for lowest production value. However, Frankie Hill was a childhood idol of mine. As a kid, after seeing him in Ban This and Propaganda, I did everything I could to emulate his skate style. These and other similar videos had a huge influence on me as young kid (13 years old in 1990). Because of this, I am more than happy to put up with the low production value in order to hear the stories behind some of the best skate sections ever produced.
Here is the trailer:
The entire film is available for free on YouTube in 10 parts. Pat Duffy sums up my feelings well in part number one:
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