Speed Freaks
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Speed Freaks was a 1989 video from Speed Wheels, the wheel brand under the Santa Cruz umbrella, and it plays like a louder companion to the Santa Cruz board videos of the same era. The late-80s Santa Cruz crew skates pools, ramps and streets at full speed, with a punk soundtrack that includes JFA.
Its most talked-about moment isn’t a trick. Jeff Grosso shaved off his eyebrows for the video, a stunt he later said was inspired by Plasmatics guitarist Richie Stotts. It fits the tape’s attitude: loud, punk and a little unhinged.
Speed Freaks is less famous than Streets on Fire from the same year, but it captures the same Santa Cruz world with the brakes off, and Grosso’s eyebrow-free appearance became part of his legend.
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