10.08.2009

chrome ball incident #360: henry and the purple crayon








I often get asked questions like who do I think are the most important and/or influential skateboarders of the 1990's...

and if they don't recognize this name when it comes up, I usually just quit talking.

thanks Seb for the nosegrind tailgrab scan that I forgot I had.

alright chrome ballers, I'm taking the next week off as my lady and I are going here for this. stoked.

thanks for all the support.

bye.

39 comments:

Old School Sammy said...

That first Thrasher cover is freaking awesome--I'd say more about it, but why?

Keith said...

fakie inward heel to bs tail. crazy. And that first Real ad... nose grind tail grab on a rail... so good.

jason from oz said...

Doesn't get much better than that, nice one Chops!

smorales said...

Have a blast at the MOMA. I'm expecting some sort of report, or at least a sentence that encapsulates it. Henry is just, Henry...

JayCee said...

There was a time when people were talking about Henry in the same terms as they would Gonz. That sounds somewhat blasphemous, but if you were able to see the progression (and aggression) at the time, you'd understand. It wasn't bullshit. He wasn't just pushing the envelope, he damn well tore the thing apart. A lot has been said about Henry and his impact on modern street skating, but I don't think he'll ever get his just due. There's different reasons as to why and he's talked about them on different forums (Epicly Later'd, etc.). But as an old friend, and someone that witnessed a lot of his skating firsthand, I just wish he got a little more shine than he did.

It's definitely another case of your favorite skater's favorite skater. At the time when all that footage for Tim and Henry's Pack of Lies was filmed, he was on another level. Literally, another level. I remember seeing him learn multiple tricks in one day. HARD tricks that no one else was doing. The climate was definitely different at that point in time for skating. There was so much room for creativity. That's basically what he did. He was creating. And we were all witness to things that would blow our minds on the daily. I won't kid myself and think that maybe it wasn't as special as I think it was and that maybe Henry wasn't as good as I remember. No way. He was better than any story I could ever tell about him or his skating. I just finished watching the Jason Jessee documentary and someone said "Hero Status lives on forever in skateboarding, but unfortunately it's not worth a damn". Wow. I just wish that more kids knew that the reason some of them skate the way they do is because of Henry. Here's hoping one of them'll set that envelope on fire like he did.

peel said...

Thank you for the great story, JayCee. As always, priceless!

NY, here we come!

Anonymous said...

So tech and so aggro and so, so rad!

Anonymous said...

Pioneer. so agro. An sf week would be sick with like marcus, karl, lavar, s.j., tete, all the o.g.'s. wow, what a great post, henry needs more credit. be rad to see a full part from him with a good company backing him.

dedleg said...

I agree - what a sick Thrasher cover.

Tim and Henry's Pack of Lies was an awesome, awesome video. What a great time in skateboarding - and it is sad to see how many kids don't know of the guys that really paved the way for where street skating is today.

Also, enjoy that show at the MoMA! Wish I was still living in NY so I could see it.

Skate Nazi said...

Fucking A right!
Tim and Henry's Pack Of Lies was and is one of the most influential and groundbreaking videos of the early 90's.

Henry's part is UNFUCKWITTABLE basically.
The song.
The speed.
The tech.
Everything.

Dude gets a bad rap because of his attitude/personality that rubbed some people the wrong way but in terms of skating, sheeeeeeeeeeit...
Fucking legend status.

I was hyped on his Marcus shared TWS part as well and also footage in Chomp.
If Guy can do it, Henry could mount a full scale comeback as well if he wanted to, but chances are he's been over it for a while now.

Anyway, the blog is killing it as usual, keep 'em coming.

Anonymous said...

It's pretty unfortunate that a young kid today may not have even heard of him. Total pioneer. I remember how many times I had to watch Tim & Henry's just to figure out everything he was doing.

Switch bigflip, over a hip, hauling ass, in 1992...unreal.

Anonymous said...

get ty evans to track this dude down for a full blown mariano comeback part for chocolate video. grown men would be brought to tears if this happened. nobody skates with as much aggression as sanch when it comes to getting tech.

Old School Sammy said...

Seems like everyone wants to see a Henry comeback--does anyone know what he's up to and where he is these days? It would be a frickin' shame if he wasn't working in the biz in one form or another...

Anonymous said...

sammy, he had an epicly later'd a while back that was really good. he was skating in it and everything, he didn't look rusty at all, back tails back blunts at 3rd and chop. i think he said he was working on hot rods and stuff and was enjoying it.
agreed though, a comeback would be just so proper.

Keith said...

yeah... the Henry epicly laterd was awesome.

To tell you guys the truth, I thought Henry's comeback pre-dated Guys. I always viewed the Sight Unseen shared section with Marcus as his comeback part... so good... then he unfortunately disappeared shortly after.

Are we gonna see comback, part deux? Doubt it but you never know!

Another observation. Henry's rocking flat bolts on that Thrasher cover... nov 90. I didn't start using flat bolts until I visited SF in the summer of 91! There were 2 options... Real flat bolts and FTC Basic bolts. Remember all those terrible bolts before flat ones? Standard round heads, bridge bolts, thunder bolts (notched bolts you hammer onto the top so no screw driver required). Terrible shit!

Anonymous said...

That tws part is so balls out! Oh my, he kills every ledge in SF and absolutely shuts down that rail at the end with the back 180 fakie 5-0 down it. Hardest lines too, with absurd tricks in the middle (tre-flip 5-0 in a run??!!), I think people would back his return, especially after that epicly later'd, he seemed very humble and mellow.

Anonymous said...

Fakie Heel-fakie wheelie UP the pier. WOWSERS!

Anonymous said...

One of my all time favorites since I started skateboarding. Fucking Legend! Tim n Henrys part is just insane, sight unseen part was too dope, he told me that he liked making that part the most because he did a lot of stuff people didnt think he could do.

That part kinda was his comeback back then, then he quit and came back in about 2007, he worked on cars and had a lil t shirt company going I bought a few shirts off him, I like em, he had the epicly latered that was dope.

He had some new park footage with a few street clips was amazing to see but he didnt come through with a part or a sponsor. Who knows I know that he's living good though but he really does deserve any bit of credit. I really like this part

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv4xBFSTIUo

his "ICS" part ,with the track and everything its soo fucking raw.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkDVzQSPMsI&feature=related

This was the latest shit he put out. Not bad for not skating for so many years.

Lui said...

Hey JayCee, I created this a while back & if your on Facebook please repost your amazing words on Henry as a wall post!
Henry Sanchez Fan-Site:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60469823270#/group.php?gid=60469823270

chops said...

nothing gets more hyped than that Pack of Lies part and everytime I watch it, I find something new to get stoked on about it. This time around I'm feeling that hardflip over what I believe is the 7th St gap... am I correct in saying that's the second hardflip ever filmed? And when comparing it to Daewon's first from Love Child that was released only a month or so prior... forget about it. Its almost comical.

Thanks for all the comments fellas. Jaycee, I was hoping to bait a comment out of you on this one. Always a pleasure homie.

Thanks everyone.

JayCee said...

Ha! You got me with this one, Chops. I had to. Hope you have a good time at the MoMA!

Lui-I joined that group. I'm not sure if I'll put this exact comment on that wall. Just seems more appropriate on here. But I'll definitely put something up on the wall since Henry and I are already friends on Facebook.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ofUtE52lZo

I'm so glad the opportunity has risen to post this, for HENRY--> 2:43. check the front blunt shuv.
I think 411 really was rad for a while, they did some good stuff, I think I was like 16 or 17 when I got this one and when I saw this I was fucking scared! A good time for SF and a good time in skating.

Henry said...

To me, he represents the best and the worst of the 90s.

There's a sequence from an earlier Sanchez post, of a frontside 180 switch crooked grind / tailslide fakie across a ledge at Embarcadero. I can remember seeing that sequence at the time. It was so f*ckin' gnarly, and difficult, and new (this must have been like, fifteen years ago).

But it was also the time of Rocco era-excess, and vibing ("We were assholes"), and attitudes. I thought it was ironic that Jamie Thomas, who used be picked on / made fun of, is now an absurdly successful pro-turned company owner (Zero, Mystery, Fallen, Black Box Distribution). At one time, Henry Sanchez might have been the best skateboarder on the planet. I know everybody does dumb shit when they're young, and for all I know he's a great guy. But when all is said and done, you wonder what might have been.

Anonymous said...

One sick thing I always liked about Henry footage was how much he packed into it. On some of those lines skating through Pier 7, he hits four ledges in a single line, so close together.

Anonymous said...

I've liked how Henry never had any fake after steeze. Never any weird squats or freezing. Just plowing through ledges.

cheaps said...

The master.

Keith said...

The comment about fitting lots of tricks into a small area... he was rabid pitbull-like in his early days... just raw attacking everything in sight.

Henry said...

I don't think I've ever seen so many comments about one guy. If people are still talking about what you did- fifteen years later- like, "Holy shit! That was amazing!"... that says a lot.

Anonymous said...

He needs to see this. Respect to the fullest. Henry brought it. Brings it? I bet he's still got it.

Anonymous said...

great skater bad bad bad attitude...
didnt he punch rocco in the face????

also im pretty sure in one of the old h-street videos someone does a hard flip off of a curb cut or somethin....

Anonymous said...

^above:
People grow up. Maybe at one time he had a bad attitude. Watch his epicly later'd maybe you'll change your mind.

Anonymous said...

Rocco wasn't the nicest guy either. Hasn't Henry earned legend status at this point? If Hensley, deservedly so I must add, still has a signature deck without having to continually prove himself against the youngins', Henry should too. Maybe Girl could have a Emergency style team. They're halfway there already.

Anonymous said...

Henry had a guest krooked board which im gonna get one day. Wish I could afford the whole collection. Muska and Tae etc.

Lui said...

Coals to Newcastle-I totally agree with you "fifteen years later-that says a lot" really more like 17 years but who's counting lol.
I made the Fan-site (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60469823270#/group.php?gid=60469823270) on Facebook for Henry & have gotten to know him in some time & I can say Henry is as a person just like his skating....Amazing! Everyone has made decisions they wish they hadn't followed through on & Henry is no different-he was just in the spotlight so it was made a bigger deal. As for Rocco's so deserved punch, out of respect for Henry I'm not gonna go into details on why but BELIEVE me...if any guy went through that you would have reacted the same...personally I would have kicked him a few times too but that's just me. Obviously the REAL friends & fans would kill for a final back to stay comeback but even if that never happens I KNOW Henry deserves a signature deck without having to really show & prove as he's done in the past!
Henry...once again thanx for making up most if not all of today's tricks, having to shin as you did & becoming part of all those childhoods who still know today who really is the KING!

Anonymous said...

This guy was an incredible skater, but the couple times I encountered him, his ego was out of control

Anonymous said...

jaycee is dead on. that guy was blowing peoples minds back in the day. i know that if he shook the rust off like guy did, he could be back on top. i have no doubts about that. he is and was a natural. great style too. look at that fakie 5-0. shit.

Anonymous said...

fuck yeah, 'after the gold rush'/pre-'modus' era sanch skating the late foothill high school handrail. never saw that a.

Noltae said...

Rad - pure radness... The Sanch was and will always be next level... Shame the article didn't actually feature the Real crayon graphic that I'm assuming was the influence for the title of this article - I have the T Shirt !- gotta a few holes in it these days just like my Ron Chatman Experience World T and my H Street Sal 23 t ... But hey when I need to feel stoked nothing beats throwing on a classic garment !