An O'Dell-directed tribute to one of skateboarding's best.
October 14, 2009, 4:21 PM
By: Josh Brooks
In the Historics video, Heath Kirchart does his best Matt Hensley impression.
Patrick O'Dell enlisted the help of some of today's most recognizable skateboarders—John Rattray, Alex Olson, Braydon Szafranski, Andrew Allen, Heath Kirchart, Mike Rusczyk, Chris Pastras, Clint Peterson, Clark Hassler and Kevin "Spanky" Long—to recreate tricks from Matt Hensley's different video parts for the recently released Historics video. In it, the band covers "A Lot Less," the song originally by Sub Society, which Hensley skated to in H-Street's "Hokus Pokus" (3:49). It's a refurbished amalgamation of Hensley's old footage, with his famous cut-off cargo shorts, chain wallet and striped socks.
Although I got into skating just after Hensley officially retired, I can think back to the days when my older brother and every single one of his friends had his kit, fully recreated, right down to the pulled up socks. His influence on skating as a whole and the way skateboarders dressed from the late 80s to the early 90s cannot be forgotten and, in light of this recent video, it's a great way for a band to pay homage, allow older skaters to reminisce and let younger skaters get a look back at what came before them. Take a moment to be inspired (a great retrospective is the montage of parts from Plan B's "Questionable Video").
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Contributors
Josh Brooks
Josh is a skater and a scientist. He's written for Thrasher, lurks in Long Beach, has a mean tré bomb and isn't afraid to call your favorite pro to get perspective on the latest news.
Adam Salo
Adam is one of the biggest skate nerds you'll ever encounter. It can be a little frightening. He also really likes pushing fast in traffic and wallrides.
Mike Sinclair
Mike Sinclair is a man of many talents and skills. He's particularly good as a Skater, Dog Owner, Team Manager, Eater, Baller, Comedian, Writer and Friend.
Chris Nieratko
Chris owns three skate shops (NJSkateshop.com), writes for numerous skate magazines, has a column for Vice and is pretty great at making things funny, or awkward, or both.
Noah Johnson
Noah lives, writes and skateboards everyday in Brooklyn, New York. His favorite things are clean grip, extra crispy bacon and sweatshirt weather.
