Skate, Sax, and Videotape
An origin story, Max Palmer, and the song that goes
Background Know (the) Ledge
On the first day of middle school, the band teacher came to our class with a sign-up sheet. I signed up to play the drums, and I was stoked. Around the dinner table that evening, I informed my parents that I would soon begin my musical career.
Laughter erupted, followed by an enthusiastic no. Following many tears of a twelve-year-old, they said I could play the saxophone. I went back and told the band director, and he handed me a case nearly as tall as myself. He let me know they had more than enough alto players but needed a tenor player. Once again, pain.
I never brought the thing home because it was too heavy to transport on the bus. However, I had a natural gift and made first chair in no time. I tooted circles around the one other tenor player with a rendition of Scarborough Fair.
Around the same time, I was paying attention to skateboarding. Skate videos started teaching me about music far beyond the reach of my peers.
In seventh grade, I joined the jazz band. My recent discovery of the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest inspired me. I thought we were going to get funky, but to my dismay, our middle school jazz band repertoire included “Riders on the Storm” and the Star Wars soundtrack.
By high school, I’d had enough and quit. Being in band in high school required you to do marching band. I said nah, but I would still get to school an hour early to noseslide the ledge in the tennis courts. My soundtrack? Marching band practice.
I hadn’t thought about my band career much until I rewatched Paymaster the other day. While Max Palmer was firing off, I started thinking, “Is Max the most saxophone dude when it comes to video parts?”
The sax solo song is a bold choice. In skating, you better bring it if somebody’s going to let the horn blow. Without getting into the trenches of jazz and related music supervision, here’s a handful of skating finest moments elevated by the saxophone.
Sven Kilchenmann-Project of a Lifetime
For some reason, in 2001, Monkey Business had a stronghold on me. My mom still has the riser pad monkey cut-out on her keychain.
Project of a Lifetime is notable for several reasons:
Robert Lim teaches you how to build a box
PJ Ladd
Yellow tee Chris Cole
A photographer section
Enrique Lorenzo
Up to that point, I was hardly familiar with most skate video songs, but when Sven puts down the front crook over the water and “Our House” starts up, I felt like I was in on what was up.
Sven rules. He murdered ledges throughout the part, but the tech Swissman drops a handrail hammer when the Madness sax solo hits. For a moment, this fun little part gets serious. I’m not highly nostalgic for gear, but those grey and red Koston 1’s are sick.
Nathan Fantasia-Stakes Is High
Two things about the inclusion of this song:
In my research, multiple listicles mention this sax solo was noteworthy.
Nate is the homie, and I well up a bit every time I watch this part or hear the song. His downhill kickflip front tail would come up in my Rapid Fire on The Bunt. Dude threw it out first-try and did it multiple times.
That late aughts brand of pop/electronic/festival music dominated the soundtrack of my peak party years. You couldn’t walk into a skater-friendly bar in 2009 without being slapped in the face by MGMT.
I’ve mostly let those musical memories fade away, but I’m glad a Google search reminded me of this song. It’s a potent reminder of the magic a good skater and editor can produce.
By this time, Nate was undoubtedly a legend around town, and having him open Stakes Is High with a line—and basically, a whole part through downtown Denver was pretty special. The song and the skating are pretty dramatic and deservedly so.
When the sax starts hitting in this one, he throws down on the local version of JKwon, leaps into and out of a bar patio, and hops a barrier to hit a slappy curb. Insanity.
As serious as the part is, the after-black ender fires shots at Kirchart. Hell of a balance.
![2001 Lexus LS 430 [UCF30]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c1c9c7c-571a-47e1-a20c-67bab46a8b4f_480x359.jpeg "2001 Lexus LS 430 [UCF30]")
Tony Hawk-One Step Beyond
I’ve long wondered what the most-watched skate video is? With distribution in places like Sports Authority, Borders, and Best Buy, One Step Beyond has got to be up there on the list.
Full disclosure I was too loyal to éS to pay attention to OSB back in the day. Double disclosure, the Birdman snubbed me at a signing, pre-900. However, the baritone saxophone in this one is interesting to go over. Now watching as an adult, I have to pay my respects to the Birdman.
I hypothesize the Radiohead may have given audiences something familiar to hear while also discovering Hawk beyond the X Games. Maybe? Maybe not, but it works.
Skating doesn’t always do a great job of explaining why something is gnarly, but those Jose Gomez graphics let viewers know precisely how far Tony travels:
A 12’ nosegrind
An 18’ 540
A 24’ frontside air
The song is a cacophony of harshness, and when the sax starts riffling off, tensions rise, the ramp gets a remodel, and hearts start beating faster. That scarry baritone gives Hawk an ender-ender before he flexes the big body Lexus.
Wes Kremer-The SK8MAFIA AM Video
It used to be a lot of fun sitting around and gossiping about what kind of performance-enhancing drugs Wes was on in the opening line. Pete Rock and CL Smooth is dope, but the Tom Scott saxophone is what carries this tune from generation to generation.
I finally heard the original tune on one of my first ventures out to a bar following pandemic lockdown, and it blew my mind.
Wes has the gift that he can probably skate better than walk. The dude did a wallride on a chainlink fence. Nothing particularly striking about the skating and saxing in this one; it’s just incredibly chill.
Dylan and Alex-Cherry
“Skateboarders are so hot to me. It’s so hot the fact that you can do all that,” says a bystander to Dylan Rieder, a mere seconds before the heaviest land-on-beat hits in this Strobeck opus. We weren’t ready for this part.
The INXS break-out album Kick featured a Vision PsyhcoStick on the cover, rumored to have been given to them by Gator. They’ve been down for skating since back in the day and even filmed a video at the Venice park a few years back.
INXS always seemed like corny 80s music, but it reached cannon levels in Cherry.
We mostly get Dylan throughout the part, but when AO shows up in the Palace hoodie and one-foots the driveway bump, it’s a speculative surprise. When the spot gets a double-dip in the following clip, he cranks the wind-up, and the sax solo goes bonkers along with the back three. It was simply meant to be.
It was so hot the fact that he did that.
Maybe there’s a bit of an Olson to Palmer pipeline that could be drawn out and theorized, but I think we’re good.
Did all of this reignite my passion for the saxophone? Nah. But if a marching band shows up at the spot while I’m nosesliding, I would’t be mad at it.
That’s five instances of the saxophone adding to the culture, mixed with a bit of an origin story. Go out and get yourself some clips worthy of the woodwind accompaniment.