Spent a couple years with Mark 7-8 grades in Glendora at Sandburg Middle School. No money, he would rip his sister's Barbie pink flex board at the Glendora Bowl. Always blew minds, on whatever and wherever he skated. It was late 70s, early 80s, and we got respect from all the older guys because of Mark's abilities, he pushed us, and made us better skaters too. We all knew his talent would get him to the pro level, even joking around that one day they'd make a Speedy Gonzales board for him. Good for all he's done and the trail he has blazed. Couldn't happen to a better person. Thanks for the fond memories Mark!
@zerofckz61583 жыл бұрын
I thought he grew up in South Gate CAL?
@TheWallygatorca3 жыл бұрын
@@zerofckz6158 think it was a separation or divorce of his parents that he had to live in Glendora for those years. Still have the yearbooks with him in there. He dropped by one our friend’s house for a visit a few months after he had moved back to Fountain Valley or South Gate, I’m not sure. My friend had built a ramp, just one sheet of thin plywood, up against a cinder block wall that was about 7-8 feet high. It was wicked and narrow, had the toughest tightest transition with a couple feet vert where end of plywood met the last couple blocks near the top. All we could was fakie from close to vert. Mark shows up and within minutes has it wired and destroys it…dropping in from top, rock and rolls, etc…our minds blown again as usual watching him do his thing. Always did it with ease too.
@zerofckz61583 жыл бұрын
@@TheWallygatorca 👍👍
@zerofckz61583 жыл бұрын
@@TheWallygatorca he had a ramp at the South Gate house. It was a corner house. The side back yard had no wall,so me and my friends would skate down and catch him on that ramp. Good times. 🛹 👍
@diegoz.8329 Жыл бұрын
@@zerofckz6158 what street corner was this house at?
@paulrevere29284 жыл бұрын
Gonz was once asked in some interview what was his favorite feeling about skateboarding and he promptly replied “When I almost fall... and I don’t!”
@AllhailtheUS5 жыл бұрын
Way back in 85 I was knee deep into skating. Living in Ohio at the time we didn't have ramps around so it was just about street skating for us. Gonz was our hero...the guy that made street skating cool. So they had a contest downtown at the convention center and tons of pros were there but I was just there to watch Gonz tear it up. So I'm sitting in the stands and who comes up and sits RIGHT NEXT TO ME? Yeah, Mark Gonzales. Man...I was gitty. He was so cool and laid back...wasn't a stuck up prick like so many of the pros of that time...he sat and chatted with me for about 30 minutes and drew a Gonz original piece of artwork on my board per my request. I'm sure he would have rather been sitting elsewhere instead of getting pummeled with questions by me...but he never showed it if he did. Definitely one of the coolest pros I ever met...I know he wouldn't remember that conversation but I was on cloud 9 for quite a while. Thanks Mark👍
@Scarecrow-skate-racing-videos3 жыл бұрын
That's the best story man, I honestly want to meet him the most out of any pro that I haven't talked to yet which I've only said a few words to some but either way. Also jason dill for sure, him and I would get along great.
@WALDENSOFTWARE3 жыл бұрын
Cool story. I have a quick story too. I didn't get to talk to him like you, but I saw him in SF when I had just graduated high school and on my way to Junior College one day (circa 2001). Lucky I was actually wearing a REAL skateboards (his team at the time) t shirt that day instead of my usual metal shirt. I turned right at the corner on my way to the subway, and there he was on a bike in front of me. He caught a glimpse of my shirt and looked back at me for a quick moment as he rode away behind me. He probably read in my surprised expression what I was thinking... "whoa! that's Mark Gonzalez!" I have told that story probably over 15 times.
@DavetheChimp6 жыл бұрын
The yellow deck he's riding throughout this video is one I designed (shape and graphic) for Natas a few years back. Can't believe I get to write that sentence!!! skateboarding rules!!!!!!!
@Legoequalsfun6 жыл бұрын
Send one my way. Thanks :)
@Air-buds5 жыл бұрын
Thanks amazing! Great job man! I’ll look for you on Instagram
@Patch_6165 жыл бұрын
Nice dude
@isai.13676 жыл бұрын
"Not everyone [has] access to a vert ramp or [can] skate a vert ramp, but everybody has the streets", such a great quote by Templeton
@Ed.die6666 жыл бұрын
You gotta push down to go up.
@franckmarronier1302 жыл бұрын
Or push up to get strong
@davidbelanger76964 жыл бұрын
Rodney may have invented most tricks, and Mark didn't do a majority of them, but he breathed life into skating unlike ANYONE else... love you, man.
@diosgengar4 жыл бұрын
I can't not love this enough. First pro I ever met in 91. Blessed
@nepttune7104 жыл бұрын
Wow they got Raymond Pettibone to do an interview? That's awesome.
@duanescot6 жыл бұрын
The Gonz is the epitomy of what skateboarding is and should be, along with Lance Mountain, him too
@JoseSantos-gl3vk6 жыл бұрын
Zack Morris x
@SlickRick4EVER4 жыл бұрын
Don't forget Neil Blender!!
@danielkinn7824 жыл бұрын
Natas hands down.
@duanescot4 жыл бұрын
@@danielkinn782 Natas and the Gonz, the 80's street combo, man, looked up to the skating of those two like nothing else...
@danielkinn7824 жыл бұрын
@@duanescot I got into skating around 87. I was from NorCal to. I skated with Gonz once in SF. He was so rad. He barreled down a hill and ollied the distance of a crosswalk. Easily 13ft from white line to white line and cleared it with room. What a great time to be a kid.
@chrisknebel15415 жыл бұрын
The best at Gonz is his mentality, there is no difference between he's 10 or 40 years old...he got a big gift, to be a child inside...the body is grown and the mind become older, but his heart is the same of an 6 years old! The most of us lost this gift! He is one of the good guys...
@Surfmus5 жыл бұрын
This Mexican is awesome. Gonz for president.
@yOGlo5 ай бұрын
He's got my vote forsure
@filipdemeyst88424 жыл бұрын
I know nothing about skateboarding, but this seems to be a real extraordinary individual.
@Scarecrow-skate-racing-videos3 жыл бұрын
This dude is the god father of street skating along with natas the long haired dude.
@crazyralph63862 жыл бұрын
He’s a pretty unique dude
@funktripunk5 жыл бұрын
The greatest of all, his frontside ollies are the epitome of style. Gonz is skateboarding and skateboarding is Gonz. I love you man, you are one of my very few heroes.
@silverladderAZ4 жыл бұрын
Gonz is such a character. Always enjoy hearing what he has to say. He and Mullen have been my favorites for ages.
@ER_aka_RAM5 жыл бұрын
This is the best bio collection I’ve seen on Gonz. Possibly more inspirational now that he’s the crazy ol dude terrorizing NYC ... just a gift to the this little world we’ve been blessed to exist on. Much love & thanx
@Allentox4 жыл бұрын
My first board was the yellow Gonz, Gullwing trucks, and Blurr wheels. 80s ruled
@pan-jw2wf7 жыл бұрын
3:50 I forgot how much I loved too see these guys rip he had the instinctive thought to touch the ground before he hit a rail. You will never see that today. Gonz was one of the last skaters that understood the ground was cool to touch at high speeds.
@styles37324 жыл бұрын
'The blues paid off'.. 😉
@panchowheeler41226 жыл бұрын
The blues,,, that's beautiful man,,,,,if you know the blues then you know,,,if your sad or lonely , angry then you play the blues n you feel all the negative shit wash away n the good happy blissfull feeling start flowing through you ,,, I feel it when I play me harmonica or the bongos ,,,I try to play guitar but I'm still shitty at it but it's passionate stuff so your flowing positive vibes out into the universe,,,then ,,,,! .? ,,,AINT BORED NO MORE N ALL THE BLUES HAVE FLOWED OUT THERE, DO WAT U LOVE N UR DOING WELL,,,Failing that crab ur board n go skate
@SPGRAMPA14 жыл бұрын
Mark is such a Legend to this Sport!!This sport wpuld not be the same without him!!*Respect frm San Pedro,So.caL
@phlidd3 жыл бұрын
Whenever I'm down I'll watch a Gonz vid and right away things are better. Thank you Mark, you're the best
@1800kook3 жыл бұрын
Thank you Mark Gonzales Skateboarding is nothing Without you.
@MrJPEzra7 жыл бұрын
I love the gonz but I have to say I started skateboarding because of tony hawk. Being a teen in the mid 80's tony was everywhere even the tv show that's incredible. After seeing tony skate I wanted a skateboard. I got one and began skateboarding on the streets. Then I began reading Thrasher and transworld. That's when I really discovered Gonz. Then I discovered the Gonz Gap @ the embarcadero in sf.
@SkateSka7 жыл бұрын
Tell us more, your life is so fascinating!!!!
@JoseSantos-gl3vk6 жыл бұрын
I got into skating cuz if gonz he was always my favorite cuz he looked like me lol 😂 plus i love riding around nyc soho street full speed like him those were the days!!!...
@andybis32518 жыл бұрын
Love the Gonz...and as I know some of the London spots and knew skateboarding before Mark brought his stuff to the world and made it a better place and much funnier. Watch and enjoy and learn from one of the world's finest ever Riders of the Board. I love the fact that at this point in time of over 1,827 views no-one is naff enough to give this short film a thumbs down. for most it should not even be an option. Ride on... Boardie Gonzales !
@kwak1k4 жыл бұрын
I remember him ollieing the gap at Meanwhile wearing sketchy leather loafers on his feet😮
@nekro9t22 жыл бұрын
the shell centre!
@doncarlo56 жыл бұрын
Mark Gonzales is an ICON , that's for sure ... I hope he can carry on with what he loves most ... skateboarding
@natefeldhaus2 жыл бұрын
5:03 literal perfection on a skateboard
@henrychinaski78616 жыл бұрын
When he threw the sunglasses out the window I started cracking up
@omare96876 жыл бұрын
fr bruh looked like a cave man after he threw those bitches out
@elproductonumerouno80276 жыл бұрын
Spike jonez you was the shit in the movie 3 kings!! WE THREE KINGZ BE STEALIN THE GOLD!!!" ROFLMAO
@mess_noise3 ай бұрын
Such a great montage of creativity
@AL_KING7776 жыл бұрын
The club shirt scene down sunset is amazing. Real vid.
@lilfuego66133 жыл бұрын
My fav skater for a reason 🙏🏽
@fintanoclery26982 жыл бұрын
Mark and Natas, legends.
@michaeljohn8905 Жыл бұрын
My gawd ! Who jumps the Wallenberg Steps like that ! He looks like he was going so fast and he was. Blinding speed with a massive crail grab. Who does that ! I remember seeing a Vision add with Mark and something attracted me to his style . Little did I know I would skate for the next 30 years .. I loved it. Wish I could still skate.
@westyjah Жыл бұрын
Legend. Def makes magic!
@devinrodriguez35302 жыл бұрын
The way mark kick flips 🤌🤌🤌🤌
@Nothing-qq4hd4 жыл бұрын
Skateboarding is a glass of champagne....mark is the champagne
@bearhughes70095 жыл бұрын
Thank you Mark G.
@jamesradskijr.97453 жыл бұрын
BVD changed my life, started in 1986 East Coast locale, snowy parking garage days for me. Know them blues
@AtilioEscobar6 жыл бұрын
you're a stahh, i'm a sthaa, everybody's a star!!
@donswanick2373 жыл бұрын
I just watched this before I went to bet, then woke up and got on the computer, and I just realised i watched the whole thing again whithout even realising.
@djhakdabeat3186 жыл бұрын
big influence for me in the 80s.. Mark G always ripped !!!!!
@peacetree5000 Жыл бұрын
He is the definition of what every skater aspires to.
@baksy0420 Жыл бұрын
That last part always so good😂
@Stewpkiddable Жыл бұрын
1:51 I think this is true of me and many other artists and or athletes, as much as we love to play our song we love to have someone to listen.
@seanthomasrauchert16954 жыл бұрын
Love the stars bit!
@MycoMatty4 жыл бұрын
How can you not know about Mark and not be completely inspired by him. He looks like he’s having so much fun and even with his success he is still playing in traffic and trying to kick flip his bikes lol
@lilspliffster886 жыл бұрын
Damn mark is a legend long live mark
@NickMaddox06 жыл бұрын
The ending is gold.
@coreyfisher25427 жыл бұрын
Gonz is everything. 2:09.
@clgraff763 жыл бұрын
Gonz if a fucking cat with a guardian angel on his shoulder. A normal human skater would be dead if they ripped like he does.
@garrytrinh306223 күн бұрын
Gonz, your favourite skater's favourite skater.
@MrPunch096 жыл бұрын
Loved Gonz growing up but in those days only vert was covered in the rags, so a lot and what I mean by a lot is MOST skaters skated street. For example we were placing the quarter pipe on a wall to wall ride, then we realized a hip ramp would do, then if you mastered wall riding and big ollie's you could do a mini wall ride.
@Machihekamake4 жыл бұрын
My first Thrasher magazine in mid 80s had a sequence pic of him ollie over a dry pool from one end to other. I haven't seen that pic since.
@MattKaaa4 жыл бұрын
My favorite too. I learned to ollie farther. I found it again in the Thrasher magazine archives online this month.
@Machihekamake4 жыл бұрын
Matt K do you know what that issue was?
@MattKaaa4 жыл бұрын
@@Machihekamake March "87. Blast from the past. www.thrashermagazine.com/component/coversarchive/covers/#1986
@Machihekamake4 жыл бұрын
Matt K that’s the one!!!!!step by step ollie over pool gap. That issue was my first thrasher and had ads for Animal chin, police academy 3, 720 arcade game, Hosoi 10’ air!!!!!! I was one year into skating at 11years old. One or the Best experience of my life. Thanks for helping me. Gonz I hope your read this fan mail. Hahaha
@crazyralph63862 жыл бұрын
The Gonz Gap photo is the best. The dude defied physics
@startedskating863 жыл бұрын
He makes a box of frogs look positively sane
@derekbullene38342 жыл бұрын
Go skateboard shop was on 42nd Ave San Mateo CA that s place we're wed listen to the grateful Dead live at the Frost amphitheater with Larry mike arco and my father loves that Olympic games type stuff!
@hugoanzola79266 жыл бұрын
Love the gonz!
@alligatorwine846 жыл бұрын
That made me feel good
@kevinallentoole15385 жыл бұрын
Awesomeness..........
@ParkerAnderson20246 жыл бұрын
Gonz and Natas came along and then there was this thing called a pro street skater. It was a new and fresh idea that would boggle my mind a bit. It was always the vert guys that got all the glory before.
@buckodonnghaile43096 жыл бұрын
There was Tommy Guerrero too but as great as he was it wasn't quite as innovative as those two (although him on a jump ramp was crazy good).
@secularspectator9 ай бұрын
I was born in 76 and the Gonz changed my life...
@preciousbash6 жыл бұрын
Love ya Gonzy baby!!! Keep rolling!!!
@eliasvaldiviezo43464 жыл бұрын
Hell yeah.....long live to the Gonz..!
@ryanjavierortega85135 жыл бұрын
“You have to know gravity, you have to know you have to push down to go up.”
@RodrigoOrlov-om2ql Жыл бұрын
Legend of street !
@ineedmoney3969 Жыл бұрын
good shit man
@anhiirr2 жыл бұрын
hes the main reason i run a quiver and different trucks. Its fun to ride different ways and ollie the same things it does feel different on different trucks and board lengths. Even if its the same wheel shape or deck width. The older you get the more fascinating it becomes to ollie the same gap or transfer the same hip/gap with different setups. You realize you can skate the same obstacle at different speeds or air, and just flow around. Until each setup has to be truly ridden a certain way and you learn which tricks really bode well with shorter 31.5 lengths or 8.38x32.75" cadillac cars. I cant wait to add a 215 setup to the collection. Its probably going to be an egg
@iloks91777 жыл бұрын
Legend for sure
@kevykev555 Жыл бұрын
Most influential skater indeed
@bnose2026 жыл бұрын
But did he slide that 75 foot handrail and go to Benihana?
@Bazukosoniko4 жыл бұрын
Know gravity kids!!!
@BeachBumsk82 жыл бұрын
Gonz rules
@shaneturner93363 жыл бұрын
fucking love you Mark ! one of my heros for sure !!!
@curanderoverde4 жыл бұрын
Mark Gonzales & Natas are so cool
@Patch_6165 жыл бұрын
Mark is awesome. They could make one of these about spike too.
@larryjimbob3 жыл бұрын
F'ing love The Gonz! 😊🙏❤
@tomflores23706 жыл бұрын
The best!
@davidhitchFPV9 ай бұрын
I was a kid, 12 years old, and I lived on the next block over from Mark. We would build wood ramps, go up, turn around and that was it. He wasn’t any better or worse than the rest of us. What was different was that look that mark gave to the camera; we would be playing, and a minute later Mark would look at me exactly like that look he gave the camera; then start wailing on me with fists…only way to get him to stop was to either run or fight back. I miss those days.
@xOGxSE7ENx4 жыл бұрын
The Gonz is the Bob Dylan of Skateboarding!!
@apatheticmisfit47566 жыл бұрын
Legendary
@eduardomancini10906 жыл бұрын
in my mind for ever. abraco do brasil
@xedn4 жыл бұрын
Legend
@lilfuego66133 жыл бұрын
6:45 thank you mark for believing in us when we never did!
@kodeenkennedy10195 жыл бұрын
I hope I get to meet mark one day.
@angelbori5 жыл бұрын
4:45 is a beautiful clip
@Boric786 жыл бұрын
Respect.
@danielmendoza82376 жыл бұрын
World industries adidas active 💯🇲🇽
@TarnTarn-zv6cp4 жыл бұрын
Subbed
@nalveyna6 жыл бұрын
Mark is king of street skating hes the greatest artist & sk8boarding is artform....JayBoy is the "original seed" king of empty pools T.A. too🐶
@lynch7772 жыл бұрын
Coltrane of skateboarding
@Keaksgotbeats81822 сағат бұрын
🐐
@briancarter9098 Жыл бұрын
Lot of love for MG here. I'm surprised no one is speaking up for Rodney Mullen. Are they the same but different?
@NihilistGhost3 жыл бұрын
Gonzalez is like water, adapt to anything and creative like Richie Jackson.
@twojtwoj2051 Жыл бұрын
quiet quiet on the set... best scene to wrap up his approach to interview shoots.
@funkmasterandre4 жыл бұрын
What is the spot at 6:20?
@Scarecrow-skate-racing-videos3 жыл бұрын
Same spot as the beginning it looks like
@derekbullene38342 жыл бұрын
Sick boy's was Soo much fun those years skateboard ing 33rd Ave even with John Cardial and Julian and friends from H.M.B Samtans to Bart was $25 cents back then 85-86 I'm thinking about it good times Kieth cockrine joe Heckman and John Cardial the day s of old bumb bank in half Moon Bay and cotton Ross ramps way back!?
@keithparker95032 жыл бұрын
After I saw the photoshoot of the Gonz Gap at EMB, I wuz an instant Gonz fan. I had 5 of his boards. My first Gonz with my new Indy 159's and Rat Bones and I wuz ready to ollie up those school benches.
@youtumor3606 жыл бұрын
the dude fs wallrides almost parallel to the wall on the run up ??? no possible hombre