BRING BACK THE BAD OL' DAYS

[spotty]

Back in the mid to late 70's surfing had a bad image. Beachside suburbs were much more under-developed, junkies & stray dogs roamed the streets, and as grommets, we lived in fear of our lives! Pedophiles loittered in car parks, the ocean was brown with faeces half the time, Children got flogged with a big @rse stick for the most minor infringement at school nobody really wore sun-screen properly. Bicycle helmets, dog leads, poo bags, scumbag lawyers, and political correctness were not yet invented.
The surf was still crowded then, (though not as bad as now i think). The big difference was that people surfed for pure thrills, not to be cool, and there was more of a sense of adventure & stoke. These days i see people gravitating to surfing for many different reasons, and i wonder to myself... how many of these people are doing this cause they love it ? At least back we all had a bit of room to move, we did'nt have to queue up to buy breakfast, and we could all afford to live near the beach.

[Dave]

and bring back the Sandman panel vans and Kombis

[Dave]

and while I am on it:

stubbies
lightning bolt
kb beer in steel cans
surf mats
mullet hair cuts
cigarettes in advertising
elite sportsmen & politicians holding drinking records
cold chisel

and disinvent the fukin boogie board.

[spotty]

Get rid of:
Yuppies discussing real estate options at the beach.
Noisy mothers groups.
Pilates classes.
Clubbie canivals with all the trimmings.
Helicopters, sky-writers, blimps, and those -uc-ers who ride round on scooters with bill-boards in groups of three.
Roller-blades, scooters, and motorized bikes.
Boost juice bars.
Trashy $2 shops.
Tight-@rse back-packers.
I will add to this list later...

[Rothers]

[quote="Dave"]and while I am on it:

stubbies
lightning bolt
kb beer in steel cans
surf mats
mullet hair cuts
cigarettes in advertising
elite sportsmen & politicians holding drinking records
cold chisel

[quote]

Mate ya hit the nail on the head. You can still buy KB tinnies, but unfortunately they are aluminium cans. Remember the old softie cans that didn't have a ring pull, they had a button that you pressed instead. And remember when beards and mo's were cool, and not just for porn stars. Sideburns were only for Elvis impersonaters. There was no such things as designer ugg boots or thongs - you just had "ugg boots" and "thongs" and they were cheap as chips. Having a gut was a sign of manhood. Ted Bullpit was a hero and PC was nowhere in sight.

One more thing, how bad are cartoons these days? What happened to Wacky Races, Astro Boy, Inspector Gadget etc. And the old school Masters of the Universe and Transformers.

[BB]

There are lots of places along the coast where nothing much has changed! All that has happened in Sydney is that the only people who have been able to buy houses on the northern beaches in the last decade and a half have been the wealthy offspring of eastern suburbs wankers .....welcome to New Bondi, New Coogee etc.

[stuey]

Boyz, ya forgot the elimination o the mini-mal. How many arsewipes are gettin demselves out there on doze thingz! Call 'emselves surferz too! Strewth! And whats with the beer can thing. We always drank straight out the bottle. And check the loot these prickz have these days. When I was at high school, I got 60 cents a day from the olds! That worked out to two jam donuts at recess, a twistie filled roll at lunchtime and one game o space invaderz at the chip shop on the way home.
I still have a pair o stubbies from me youth incidentally. But, I agree. Back then people surfed for all the 'right' reasons. Ya knew that as ya'd get better ya'd move up the peckin order, with more rights bestowed on ya. Ya could talk ta chicks at the pub instead o ya mates. Now therez a crew of wannabee surf starz, wogz, dagoz, and ohhh its just dreadful stuff.
And this political/social correctness is just killin surfin. Where have all the offbeat bastardz gone?

[matt...]

triple j HAS gone down hill - too much of dis nustyle R&B, ya know wat im saaiiyiiin! too much rap sh!t
dunno 'bout cold chisel, but the house of j's was heaps better when the latest GW Mclelland or pixies song came on....
that sexy voice tracy lee hutchison.......
& tony biggs saying: "see yas tomorrow" at the end of his shift.....
before mickey, before helen, before "danno", before big mouth spillane...
you get the drift.........

[cambo]

1. Sunscreen did exist then, only it was called "coconut oil" and worked in reverse.

2. Legropes did not exist, at least in the earlier days. For every ride that ended badly you had to swim in to get the board and paddle all the way out again. Not so many floaters, 360s and airs in those days

I reckon no legropes is what kept the numbers down - partly because the need to be very keen and reasonably fit meant most people couldn't be bothered, and partly from the fear factor of dodging the boards coming towards you (which is where the antipathy of clubbies probably originated).

[marcus]

i was only born in 76 so i dont know much about the 70's, but i love the old single fins, when i can get my hands on one.
i miss the days too when gromets had a ladder to climb for respect, it took years of torture, gromet abuse and letting the older crew have the best waves before you earned respect.
and they werent handing out sponsorships to kooks like they are in a packet of weet bix.
kids these days expect to get a photo in a magasine, send in some fake comp results and expect some free stuff....arggg pay your dues

[stuey]

Itz all so freakin predictably conformist. So called R&B is moronic and best listened to in mineshafts or down the S-bend of toiletz. There just aint any soul people! Its all so blase, and meaningless dribble-like me reportz. Geez, I remember when australia was clearly an entity of its own. Havin been away from Oz for so long, everytime I return its like a dinosaur with the same value set as 10 years or so ago. Being outside the system, its very interesting to see the way the media, etc has influenced everyone at home, how everyone has been picked up in the same flow. I doubt most people even make choices of their own. Subverted bysubmission-now there's a great song by????

[the kalakau kid]

Rusty nails on jjj.
He didn't even get to do a farewell shift. Just got shafted and then that bratty kid (whos name we've already forgotten) got a job cause his dad was in management.

and bring back sandman.

and Rose Tattoo,

and four on the floor 202 blue motors.

and radio birdman.

keep it comin' people..... get it off your chests. Tell it like it is.

[Dave]

dirty harry movies
dawn patrols without the mobile phone
black & white TV s with no remote
12c paddle pops
wax that came in a plastic cup
burning off ya grass clippings in the srteet
tracks mag that was funny
beachboys
paper shopping bags
surf shops that actually sell surfboards
toranas

want more...?

[the kalakau kid]

the torana is coming back. Seriously. Its all through the motoring mags..

bring on more dave....

[stuey]

And when ya could get a bag o mixed lollies thru choice, not pre-wrapped. hell, remember when mates were 2 for one cent? They'd rip the fillings right outa ya teeth.

[Dave]

bruce lee
heavyweight boxing that was watchable
aussies winning the asp/wct
caravan parks next to the beach
souths winning
north sydney bears - losing
cantebury being the berries not the bulldogs
drive ins
wooden tennis racquets
free carparking
wood burning BBQs
firecrackers at every shop
page 3 girls
intervals at the movies

[Larry]

even earlier

softening up a pound of wax over burning newspaper

shaking on some johnsons baby powder so's the rubber suit went on easy

peroxiding the hair and then adding some squeezed lemon juice for the look

teepeing up the boards so's a bloke could have a little privacy with the

girlfriend down the beach

straw hats - all painted up and beaten up
white jeans
stiff levis

wadding up a towel so's you could cushion your board on your head

playing handball at bondi baths
going to bells at easter - 4 in a vw bug
going to the florida at terrigal at easter - getting extremely pissed