When I listed to The Line Up Podcast, host Dave Prodan always has a quick fire round of questions for each guest. From "Tea or Coffee", "Burrito or Pizza" (I definitely have thoughts on that), to "Best Surf Film of All Time", the responses are always interesting.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that if I had to name the greatest surf film of all time, The Endless Summer would have to take it. But that's what a lot of people would say. It's truly a classic and did as much to bring surfing to the mainstream as Gidget probably did. But those are all thoughts for another time.
Because today, as I'm wrapping up work for the week and getting ready to head down into the 805 for Spring Break with the family, we're going to talk about a surf film from the Fall of 1990 that I've become something of an expert on...
O'Zone, for me, really encapsulates everything I identified with in surf culture as a teenager. Literally, the whole aesthetic of the video just captured me. The tweaked font sizes, the color palette, the oddly tribal drawings...when I first saw it in the O'Neill Surf Shop on 41st Ave, I absolutely had to have it. And that was no small investment at the time. The hour long film came in at a solid $49.95! For a VHS!!
Inside, the film work of Tony Roberts...from the footage to the editing to the soundtrack...is fantastic! Locals like Richard Schmidt, Gally, Nate Acker, lots of Santa Cruz locals and O'Neill team riders...Richie Collins at his most downright seriousness. Mike Stewart, not surprisingly, showing off his bodyboarding prowess set to Consolidated's "Message to the People". All of it was just a big surf-themed music video that fired all my neurons at once.
The soundtrack (which will get its own post sometime later this month) was an all-IRS records affair of rock, funk, reggae, rap, and more. Shockingly, as someone who lived a solid 40 minutes from the coast (yeah, the valley...the silicon valley), I found the soundtrack in The Wherehouse (it was a record store, kids) on cassette that same year. I was blown away that this surf film I bought in Santa Cruz had an actual soundtrack that was released on cassette and CD! Like, only Hollywood films got that...right!?
I still have that cassette today. Along with the original VHS from 1990. Along with the CD that I later found on eBay (so I have really clean mp3s because one of those tracks...you can't find it ANYWHERE today). And then I also found a promotional poster for the movie on eBay (yeah, that's framed and by my desk at home). Anyway, soundtrack deep-dive another time.
I loved that this surf film featured Santa Cruz. It's really a sort of spiritual home to me. I could look at this film and go "Hey, I've been there!"
Now, in the middle of this surf film is something of a music video. And, in all honesty, it's a little goofy. It's reggae artist Pato Banton strolling down West Cliff Drive by Steamer Lane with a bunch of local kids (kind of attempting to) dance along behind him. Frankly, I love it for its goofiness. I love that they didn't take themselves too seriously. A movie review segment in the June 1990 issue of Surfing Magazine had other feelings.
But, really, who listens to the critics?
I spent decades hauling the O'Zone VHS around in a box of other things until I finally got it in myself to find an old VCR, a bit of computer hardware, and convert the damn thing to a digital format. This was the mid 2010s and to see the video again for the first time was, honestly, quite overwhelming as all those memories of watching this as a teenager came back to me. It set me on a path to want to learn more about this film and reach out to the people who made it. It kind of started developing into an idea for a documentary...and then kind of fell apart.
I reached out to Tony Roberts, who was now living in the Dominican Republic, and we traded Instagram messages for a bit before I arranged to interview him over Skype. It's not the greatest quality, but he had some great stories and I eventually released it as a podcast episode. You can check that out here: Tony Roberts Interview
Tim Ward, who did much of the art direction for O'Zone went on to become a popular local artist whose stickers you've probably seen in shops and on cars all over the place. His Life at Sea series of stickers celebrate locations through art of marine life, nature, and more.
If you want to watch O'Zone, Tony has it up on his YouTube channel (though not necessarily with all the original music...thanks DMCA takedowns) so you can at least see all the action that I became obsessed with as a teen. O'Zone Video on YT
Okay, you all enjoy that. I've gotta go pack, do some laundry, and get my surf gear together!