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Memorial Day Weekend In 1983 Philadelphia, We Want You Back

It was a place where nobody wore shirts, the 300 block of Market St. was utterly desolate, gay rollerblade dancing was a viable occupation, and the debate of Punk Rock versus “Hamburger Music” raged in the streets. This utterly amazing video was shot and edited by videoblogger Jimmy CraicHead; but the sense of longing and lost awesomeness belongs to every last one of us.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 2:10 pm.

  • Ryan Vernon

    fuck Lisa.

  • http://djrobertdrake.com DJRobertDrake

    YAY FOR BIG AL! – I spent many a punk rock haze having ‘conversations’ with Al in front of New Market on 2nd Street – between his spoon performances, that is…

    I think that DJ was outside Middle East resaurant on 100 block of Chestnut – which was the epicenter for these annual street fests.

  • annie

    I need more men in shorts on rollerskates in my life.

  • sunnyonesotrue

    Neither one of those skaters were(are) gay. The black skater(no rollerBLADES back then, btw) is Master Jay and he’s still a prominent fixture on the house music scene. He also has two daughters. One of whom is a grown woman. He and his buddy still do skating demos around town.

    Saw them do pretty much the same routine in Rittenhouse Square a few years back. Short shorts were the style for every dude back then. Come on Philebs. You’re old enough to know that!

  • tips

    You can be straight and still engage in the art of Gay Rollerblade Dancing. How do I know? Because I’m doing it right now.

  • Dr. Ward

    Those are roller SKATES, Sween, not rollerblades. In 1983 nobody really ever heard of rollerblades, gay or not.

  • http://lordwhimsy.com/ lord_whimsy

  • http://www.myspace.com/sarasherr Sugar Town

    I miss the 80s.

  • shawnkilroy

    i was there that day. i remember it clearly.

  • Hovering

    Regarding Lisa and her anti-Clash friend: You can just barely, beneath the feathered hair, the big glasses and the beer vapor, see the beginning stages of these Northeast girls’ Curious De-Feminization.