Hardcore in Skate Videos

As NOTE's resident mosher, I was saddened to hear the recent news of Eddie Sutton's (Leeway, Merauder) unfortunate passing after his four year battle with cancer. After hearing this I thought of Cyrus Bennet skating to Leeway in Stussy's 2020 video "How Original", and inspired me to make a top ten (in no particular order) of my favourite skate parts featuring hardcore (ish) tunes. Our thoughts go out to Eddie's family and friends at this time. 

Cyrus Bennet - Stussy "How Original" (2020)

Leeway - "Stand For"

Perfect NYHC tune for Cyrus Bennet to skate to.

Wade Speyer - Think "Damage" (1996)

Cro-Mags - "Down But Not Out"

The first of two Cro-Mags tunes in this list, there's nothing better than watching Wade Speyer skate transition and send it over dirt jumps on a motocross bike to Best Wishes era Cro-Mags. 

Jeremy Wray - Blockhead Skateboards "Debbie Does Blockhead" (1992)

GBH - "Knife Edge"

I guess GBH aren't really hardcore but fuck it who doesn't want to see Jeremy Wray skate in ludicrously big trousers to GBH.

 Bam Margera - Dan Wolfe "Eastern Exposure 1" (1993)

Quicksand - "Clean Slate"

Carrying on with our ludicrously big trouser theme is a young Bam skating to post-hardcore pioneers, Quicksand. 

Zak Anders - Chase Walker "Respectfully" (2021)

Skourge - "Condemned"

Skourge are a current favourite of mine, as are Chase Walker's videos. Zak Anders skating to the Obituary/Celtic Frost stylings of Texas' Skourge is a great pairing.

Various - Lotties Skateshop "Lotties Skateshop Must Be Stopped" (2019)

Dag Nasty - "Circles"

Just when you think the video is finished, you're met with a whole host of heavy hitters (including Spanky and Andrew Reynolds) skating to my favourite Dag Nasty tune. 

Various - Church of Skatan "Wild in the Streets" (1998)

Cro-Mags - "We Gotta Know"

Circle Jerks - "Wild In The Streets"

Slightly cheating with this one, but the intro was too good to ignore. "We Gotta Know" is an absolute belter of an album opener, and is just as sick as a video opener. Going straight into the video's namesake, "Wild in the Streets", Circle Jerks kick off the Santa Barbara shop's first section featuring Chad Muska and Steve Olson amongst others.

Anthony Pappalardo - Lakai "Fully Flared" (2007)

Bad Brains - "Don't Bother Me"

Bad Brains have been used many times in many videos, but Anthony Pappalardo's part in Fully Flared is a personal favourite of mine. 

Tony Dasilva - Foundation "Nervous Breakdown" (1999)

Minor Threat - "12XU"

Not our Tony Da Silva, but Foundation's Tony Dasilva, skating to Minor Threat's cover of Wire's 12XU (the lyrics of which later inspired the title of the influential "Flex Your Head" sampler).

Jim Greco - Zero "Misled Youth" (1999)

Black Flag - "Fix Me"

Similarly to Bad Brains, Black Flag have been used in various different parts. This is my personal favourite, with one of the best back three's ever done (in my opinion..).

Go to a show...

If you enjoyed any of these songs, I would implore you to go down to DIY hardcore shows in your local area; promotors such as Conviction Records (https://www.instagram.com/convictionrecs/) in Newcastle, Counter Culture Records (https://www.instagram.com/counterculturerecords/?hl=en) in Liverpool, and Busy Bodies (https://www.instagram.com/busybodiessheffield/) in Sheffield (amongst many others across the country) consistently put on killer lineups. DIY venues such as BOOM in Leeds and The Lubber Fiend in Newcastle are the backbone of the UKHC scene. Go down to shows and help support the venues! Check out Quality Control Records (https://qualitycontrolhq.co.uk/), a London based hardcore record label/distro for all the best current releases from UKHC and beyond. Beyond all that, use more hardcore tunes in your parts! There's plenty that are NBD...