What does Michael Jackson have to do with Surfer going bankrupt? I think it’s pretty f’d up to diss on the king of pop at this time, not to mention Surfer mag.
http://randominium.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/surfer-magazine-bankrupt/
All I see is a pretty straightforward, factual piece. Not that Surfer Mag doesn’t deserve to be “dissed”. Anyone who’s read it since the early days will attest to the fact that it is no longer relevant and a sad testament to surfing as it’s known in today’s world. The writing is absolutely terrible, most of the time. The semi-literates who run it frequently commit factual errors, especially when it comes to historical items.The last really good editor was Pezman. That’s what, 30 odd years ago?
There was a time when Surfer Mag was actually pretty hip. Edited and written by folks who had a firm grasp of English and a good feel for what surfing is really about. It has since become an advertising organ for the corporate dog and pony show known as pro surfing, and caters to a juvenile readership who think pro surfing is actually worth paying attention to.
John Severson should make them change the name. The current day version is an insult to his legacy.
Well said Sammy !
What Sammy said. Exactly!
Mike
I think a huge portion of its readership “grew up” but the mag didn’t. It’s still pretty much geared towards teen and preteen surfers.
I know it’s a horse that’s been beaten to death but the spirit of surfing has kind of changed- I was out yesterday at my local beachie, small windswell , dawn patrol. And then about 7:30 the high school surf team shows up. They descend on the peak I’m at ( like 25 of them) and it was like all of a sudden there was all this hassling and hopping going on. Then they started running “mock heats.” that’s when they really started trying too hard. Some kid snaked me and when he paddled back out I told him, “That’s what’s known as shoulder hopping.” And his response, “Yeah, but I’m in a heat.”
I felt like telling the kid to go smoke a joint, chill and walk down to a less crowded peak, but he’s obviously more interested in points than joints. The times they are a changing…
Is it cause or effect? I don't even bother looking at Surfer anymore because I can't relate to it at all.
Contest Crap and loud ugly graphics......
But I love looking through my OLD ones.
What if the magazine changed it's entire vibe and became more like it was in the late 60's and early 70's?
Intelligent, Esoteric, Soulful, not just surfing photos but great arty comics and terrific fiction.......
Would the grommets behavior change with it ?
What if the magazine changed it's entire vibe and became more like it was in the late 60's and early 70's? Intelligent, Esoteric, Soulful, not just surfing photos but great arty comics and terrific fiction....... Would the grommets behavior change with it ?
Nah, some Wall Street surf company would just hire a crew of martial artists to kick the shit out of old guys for not being mellow enough...
;-)
im 26, i totally agree, surfer mag is A joke, just like the thousands of kids who are “trying to make it”… surfings not a sport, forcing it in that direction only makes it look pathetic…
“Let it die.”
Charles Bukowski
He might have been talking about the city of Los Angeles, but I think it may apply here…
You’re probably closer than you realize.
A quick historical note “L.A. Basin”…Los Angeles has had smog problems since the days of the old west and indians building their fires and the smoke collected in the basin on windless days. Fast forward to today’s times of people living on top of people living on top of…well, you get the picture.
You can’t change topography in Los Angles with all those buildings there.
As far as the pro surfing and Surfer Magazine editorial direction and contributing writers and such, back in the day, Drew Kampion could offer up some great writing as well as some pretty counter culture guys livng in tree houses on the north shore or a cave in Kauai or some obscure surf locale…articles got printed from these guys because there wasn’t a hidden agenda where everything had to be motivated by the almighty buck.
Probably the pro surfing mentality in America came when “The Bronzed Aussies” arrived from OZ, stating that American surfing had stagnated and their intent was to bring respectability and big business to stateside surfing. You can take that for what it is worth from either side of the fence, but just keep in mind that there are at least two sides to it, and perhaps “Bustin Down the Door” could mean they were f-cking up your house.
As far as Severson having any say in Surfer Magazine’s name…he gave up that right when the check was handed to him, not unlike Charles Shaw did when he sold his name and it became ‘two buck Chuck’ at Trader Joe’s. This is capitalism and the free enterprise system at work. The rest is rhetorical…
Picture the surfing scene in France around 1966 when I started: a few hundred surfers, most of them knowing each other if not by name, at least by eye. Back then, the only way to get any info about what was happening where it had started (i.e. Hawaii, California…) was THE HOLY BIBLE, Surfer Mag. I was living in Paris at the time and I would go to the only bookstore near the Opera to buy the latest issue (which, usually, meant at least two months late…), when they had received it, that is…
I must say that I actually learnt English reading Surfer, not at school. Something in the sentence “…a giant green cathedral and I’m in there…” was much more appealing to a surf hungry grommett than the “John and Betty Wilson are cutting the grass in the garden with the lawn-mower” of my so-called “English book”…
And, yes, Deadshaper, there were guys like Drew Kampion who set up some kind of standard by which all surf-related articles would be judged later… You could actually feel the vibes of an Hawaiian winter reading pieces like “Last winter” in the 1970 January issue.
Over the years, so many great issues…
And then, the downfall. So sad. I wish you could say it’s just us growing old, but it’s not. A whole spirit has gone by, and yes it coïncided, somehow, with the first babblings of professional surfing.
As someone who was hoping to get a job at this supposedly dying magazine, I can say that I usually skim through most of the articles. I read nothing of the pro surfing contest reports. These days you can watch half of them online. Reading about pro surfing is 4 times less fulfilling than watching it, which is pretty unfulfilling as it is.
I wish I could have been a subscriber way back when, but I guess I’m stuck. The highlight of the last few years has been Dave Parmenter’s short stories. They were the first thing I would read. And the irony was amazing. A well written story about the surf world that sells its soul, printed in the magazine that sold it’s soul with bad writing and huge ads. Every once and awhile there’s something decent, but the quality has definitely dropped.
Balsa, reading your words below I actually could the smell the ink they used to have when you felt the exileration of opening a new issue of THE SURFER.
I was living in Paris at the time and I would go to the only bookstore near the Opera to buy the latest issue (which, usually, meant at least two months late...), when they had received it, that is...
Got to live in Biarritz Summer of '68, what a time! Nat, Dora, Diff, Le Steakhouse Bros, So long ago I have forgotten how to spell the names,
Sickdog
i agree completely with the sentiments about the current state of product at Surfermag...
on a completely different note, did you know that the word "gullible" is actually not in the english dictionary?
Sickdog, glad if I brought back some sweet memories…
"Those were the days, my friend…
We thought it’d never end…"
**Source Interlink , parent company of Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder and
72 other mags declared bankruptcy. They killed their common stock,
brought 18 creditors down with them, and forced lenders to cancel 1
billion in debt. The CEO had this to say… “We couldn’t be more
pleased”. Hopefully none of the bros we knows have taken a hit on this.
**
What llilibel said. I'm not part of their target demographic anymore.
I get my subscription through the MADD magazine drive. I don't read it unless there is something unusual. The Irish surfing thing in the last issue was interesting. I don't save them like I did as a kid. Just recycle the paper. I don't remember the writing ever being "great." The stories were good, Kevin Naughton and all that. Pictures were great on the glossy paper. Good to decorate the walls in my bedroom. Do kids still do that? Mike
Although I agree on the most part with all you other old farts like me,...... At least we still got publications on surfing,... and ones that have stood the test of time. This all sure is not real nice towards Evan. I would imagine,... he does the best he can with what he gets,... and I can say for myself,.... I still get stoked looking through a new issue of any surf mag,..... even if it is just once these days,...
By the way,...... R.I.P. Longboard Mag. Sorry I didnt do my part to keep you alive by keeping a subscription coming to my house over the past two years
This all sure is not real nice towards Evan. I would imagine,... he does the best he can with what he gets
I don't think anybody has any complaints with production values of today's magazines. Generally the established mags and most of the others are first class productions if not world class. The people who work at them are also generally doing a good job, but they are plate spinners like most of us. Only now with Er and Ing they have major corporate masters and production schedules that are probably soul-killers.
The problem - and yes, there is a problem - is that they are less about reflecting surfing than they are about reflecting someone's limited focused version of what surfing should be. I doubt that this "someone" is even listed on a masthead. If you question this notion at all, go back and look at a couple of years worth of Er and Ing and ask yourself where longboarding fits into surfing...and go to your local beach and see what people are riding.
Currently the "shorty" surf media is about "divide and conquer", as in conquer the teenage dollars.
The good news is that it all could chage within about 4 issues of inclusive vision in the boardroom, publishing suites and editorial offices.
Nels
I sure do. As do others, it seems. Did you not read the other posts, at all?
They may be slick looking and all, but the content is pretty low rent most of the time. The people (writers/editors) are doing a TERRIBLE job. While the mags of previous decades might not have been written at levels rivalling Faulkner or Steinbeck, at least they didn’t sound like Jr High dropouts. Most of the writing in current day surf mags is borderline illiterate.
Someone mentioned Kampion, earlier? He did his best stuff after he stopped trying to mimic Bob Dylan. That particular fixation dragged his writing down a few notches.