8 Wheels and Some Soul Brotha’ Music

2003, Re-released.

R1 DVD

Indican Pictures

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

I must admit I approached this film with a certain amount of concern that I was about to waste another couple of hours of my life. A documentary about roller skating, where even the title features that spelling-and grammar-challenged style that seems to be popular today? I finished the film pleasantly surprised, and far better educated in the genre of roller skating than I ever thought I would be.

The first thing I learned was that roller skating went back as far as 1866 (that’s before the telephone was invented). The early skates clipped onto shoes and featured massive wooden wheels that could ride over the uneven board surfaces of the early mobile skating rinks. It quickly caught the imagination of the public, although it was mostly confined to skating around in a circle and keeping your balance. It was also a sport mainly for whites, since most blacks couldn’t afford skates.

Gradually the black skaters moved into the rinks, usually on nights set aside for them, and a range of styles started to evolve. A major step forward was the addition of music. Any previous musical accompaniment was usually someone playing the organ in the background, but soul music turned out to be the ideal accompaniment. Skaters started to experiment with a form of dance on skates called Jammin’. The rinks became social centers, not always popular with the locals. There was evidence that when a local council closed down a rink, say using noise for an excuse, crime in the neighbourhood went up as a result. It was partly offset as promoters took over some of the rinks and turned them into well behaved, moneymaking concerns. I had to laugh while watching promoter Big Bob seriously discuss the ethos of skating while counting a very large wad of money. These promoters, though, played an important role in opening up skating to intercity skate parties, competitions, and roller discos.

The skating styles continued to evolve. “Steppin’ ” appears to be line dancing on skates. Simple moves, synchronized to the music, easy for the whole family.

“This is something that’s really here” (OK, if it’s not “here”, where is it?)

By the seventies and eighties it seemed that roller skating had disappeared in the face of freestyle skating, open air skate parks and roller blades. It hadn’t really disappeared, it just wasn’t as public as the new styles. The newer inline skates were not allowed on the floor, just the old traditional 4-wheel skates which had by now evolved a long way from their wooden-wheeled ancestors. There is a certain elitism expressed by some of the older skaters. They tend to look down on figure skating, speed skating, and freestyle. “The young generation wants to run fast on skates, but they can’t skate cause they ain’t got no talent”.

Then a strange thing happened. Many of the young people started coming back to the rinks. Perhaps it was the music, perhaps it was that their styles of skating were readily accepted by most other skaters. Dixon’s film of a rink on a busy night shows groups of people just circulating on skates enjoying each other’s company, groups of skaters practicing and polishing their carefully choreographed semi dance moves, young kids taking their first tentative steps on skates, skaters well into their seventies, and attractive young ladies wearing their somewhat revealing best skating clothes. It could have been hilarious watching a group of portly over-sixties men doing synchronized dance moves on skates, but they all moved really well and looked absolutely graceful. And EVERYONE WAS SMILING. That seems to be the secret – you do it for fun, it is non-competitive, and you can look good on skates regardless of age and body. I can now see what the appeal is in skating.

Freestyle is widely accepted and appreciated, and there are even competitions occasionally. There is a clip on the film of one young guy doing Michael Jackson-type dance moves and Michael would have been jealous of his grace and smoothness.

As well as a detailed history of skating, Tyrone Dixon has given us a glimpse of the passion of the true skater. What started out as a sedate sport for white people has now become a serious cultural part of the lives of many inner-city black people. They have turned it into something truly amazing.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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