I decided to watch Jeff Parker and Stefan Jeremias’ 2009 surfing documentary “Echo Beach” again and while I am not from Newport Beach, I was one of those grommets who read “Surfer” and “Surfing” magazines and often would see Danny Kwock sporting awesome Quiksilver shorts that I wish my parents would buy me, but were too expensive.
But what does Quiksilver have to do with the surf documentary? Well, first let me first put things in context..
Quiksilver is no doubt one of the consistently exciting surf brands.
Founded in Torquay, Australia back in 1969 and in 1973, the well-known wave and mountain logo was created by company founders Alan Green and John Law, which was inspired by the classic 1847 Japanese woodcut “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai.
Quiksilver has always been a popular surf brand that you would often see on a surf mag growing up.
Perhaps known to the surfing community of having a 23-year relationship with the greatest surfer of all time, Kelly Slater, has no doubt helped popularize the brand.
Granted, things have changed a lot since then. Former Quiksilver employee Richard Woolcot (which produced “Kelly Slater in Black and White”) moved to Volcom as their CEO and Volcom is owned by Kering, and Slater has moved on to Kering.
For me, Quiksilver was a brand I respected even before Kelly Slater and one can credit the surfing marketing of Californian Bob McKnight (responsible for obtaining the US license rights to Quiksilver and popularizing the brand in the US) who really kept the brand strong from the ’70s on.
And of course, Danny Kwock during the fluorescent Echo Beach years during the ’80s, which had people in Newport Beach and California all wanting to wear Echo Beach-inspired surf gear.
OK, now how does this related to the Echo Beach surf documentary?
Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, at Newport Beach, right between 52nd and 56th Streets is known as Echo Beach.
Surfing in the area were surfers Danny Kwock, Preston Murray, Jeff Parker and John Gothard. These kids loved to surf and dreamed about being on the surf covers, wanted to be different and stand out… but they also got into some trouble. While they saw how popular Quiksilver was, they were a brand they couldn’t afford, so Kwock and Parker ended up seeing a shipment come in to Quiksilver (which was then based in Newport Beach) and the kids stole the shipment.
Problem is, they got a size that was way too large (ten sizes too large) and tried to sell them. Well, eventually it got back to Bob McKnight and while he could have called the cops and these kids could have gone to jail, he made them work at the shop and doing the time doing odd jobs as an exchange for punishment and not going to jail.
After they were released, Bob McKnight offered the kids a chance to wear Quiksilver gear by sponsoring them.
But these kids wanted to be different, they wanted to get away from the basic black colors and feature bright colors on their wetsuits, shorts, surfboards. Surfboards with pink rails, polka dots, diamond patterns, blue wetsuits, red wetsuits, fluorescent shorts?
Well, it happens that those bright colors coming from Australia to Quiksilver would be sported by these kids and not only that, they painted their surfboards to match.
They had crazy hair styles, were seen having fun, seen partying and “Surfer” and “Surfing” magazine covered them more than the pro surfers who were kicking ass at the surfing competitions.
Needless to say, these kids from Echo Beach change the surf culture of the ’80s as many clamored to want Echo Beach style and people wanted photos and autographs with the kids (more than the pro surfers themselves).
Jeff Parker, having been one of the surfers, was able to showcase a lot of classic photos and footage from that time, but also score interviews, not just people who worked at Quiksilver and people who knew the guys, but also from pro surfers who couldn’t stand the Echo Beach culture, so you get to see both sides of things.
Granted, as there were pro surfers who were resentful of the surfing magazines covering the Echo Beach surfers, it attracted other surfers who wanted to hang out and surf with them, such as Australia’s Cheyne Horan and also how Richie “Skeletor” Collins, would beat Tom Curren at the 1989 US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach and was one of the top rated surfers of the ’80s and ’90s.
As a Tom Curren fan, I had to chuckle because I remember this really well and was so bummed out when Richie won, that for years, would root for other surfers to beat him in competitions. But hey, even the mags contributed to that, as Richie was often portrayed as the punk and loudmouth punk.
(Side note, as I recently found some old surf clippings back in the day, you can read what was written about Richie Collins back then):
In a way, watching this documentary in 2020, it’s no doubt nostalgic for me but also quite a bit of fun because I remember those times and it’s a pretty cool timestamp of yesteryear, whether or not you loved it or hated those Quiksilver Echo Beach surf fashion or the guys from Newport Beach.
The DVD contains a lot of deleted scenes and making-of, so after the movie’s done, definitely check those out!
Overall, “Echo Beach” is a surfing documentary worth watching! For the most part, the pacing of establish Quiksilver’s emergence to the US market (can’t believe that they were just sent a snap button, velcro strap, Quiksilver label log and a note from Quiksilver in Australia of “Here’s your starter kit, good luck boys”).
Then focusing on the guys who made Quiksilver and Echo Beach popular in the ’80s and how it all started because of theft and then how they wanted to make a name of themselves, showing that they can win competitions and where they are today (today as of 2009).
But those were the days and if you want to be nostalgic of the late ’70s and early ’80s surf culture in California, give the “Echo Beach” surf documentary a try!
Watch excerpts from the documentary here!
