(Volume one being the late pass on Chrome Ball’s Daewon interview.)
2013 had the odd distinction of being the first year when Girl and Chocolate weren’t indisputably the best skateboard companies in existence. That is not to say they weren’t still many people’s favorites or not among the elite — just that for the decade-and-a-half prior, it was them, and then everything else in skating following suit. A variety of factors are responsible: decreasing #relevance of the company video, a booming interest in smaller companies, and many of those who grew up with Girl and Chocolate adjusting to their favorites fading behind the scenes.
Those qualified to speak on the matter said Pretty Sweet was about the guys who never had Girl/Chocolate parts. Malto and Vincent Alvarez had been on for deep, and the video featured their first real parts, so it made sense. The thing that didn’t make sense is why Kenny Anderson, a dude who also never really had a full Chocolate section either, got relegated to shared part status. (Even though Hot Chocolate is great and has all the hallmarks of a “real” part, it’s still tempting to think of it as “Oh, that was a tour video.”) Lord knows Pretty Sweet was already long enough, but a “Kenny and Friends” part felt like an odd concession, especially given skateboarding’s current infatuation with handsomeness ;) ♥
Beyond being an antidote to anyone going through first and second generation Girl withdrawal, last year’s barrage of Tennyson remixes also remedied a lot of known issues with Pretty Sweet. They made a Kenny Anderson part, for one. (Plus they used an Al Green song straight out of the companies’ 1993-1999 “maybe” music supervision pile. Made it feel more Mouse than Pretty Sweet.) Snack Pack somehow got lost in the shuffle. Better late than never. Watch the full thing here. Follow the Tennyson Vimeo page, too.
A-list skateboard companies outsourcing reedits from fans is becoming less and less taboo. Is it really that unreasonable for Girl to mail this guy two hard drives of raw footage, a box of boards, and a few racks to re-edit Pretty Sweet in its entirety a la what DGK did earlier this week?
Onto more important matters…Who has recent history’s cooler post-trick turnaround maneuver: Kenny Anderson or Busenitz?