Birthplace: Fullerton, California, USA.
When did you go for your first 540 and what happened ?
Josh White: The end of 1984. I read that Andy Patterson (racer) was doing 360 on a quarterpipe. I said "No way !" I kept trying it and trying it and I couldn't do it because I couldn't land backward. I knew it'd be easier if I landed forward. So I tried it, spinning a little harder. Surprisingly, it took me about five tries to pull one off because I'd been trying 360's for so long.
So far as you know, you were the first to do a 540 ?
Josh White: As far as I know yes. However, you can never claim a trick, because someone else could have been trying it in some other part of the world at the same time.
David Griswold, www.vintagebmx.com, september 2004: I remember the first time, late in 84, that I saw him do a 540 on a quarter pipe. He wasn't getting above the coping at the time, but I recall that I knew I was witnessing something that no one else had ever seen before.
Drew Lamb, september 2008: I rode in the Concrete Commandos with Josh White after David Griswold left for the Air Force. Josh dialed in his 540s on my 1/4 pipe. That ramp in the '84 photo ended up at my mom's house in west Medford. Josh was pullin' 540s above the coping.
Drew Lamb, september 2008: Josh hit it big at the Venice Beach, CA freestyle contest. People were freaking out over some unknown kid from Ashland, OR doin' 540s airs. At the time he was going by the name Josh Eisenhauer. I really wanted to ride in that contest, but my mom wouldn't allow me to go. I was 15 at the time. I don't know if I was that good, but Josh claimed that I could have won the flatland competition. I doubt that I could have won, but Josh was always a positive, encouraging kind of person.
This is the first record of a 540, before he learned to do them above the coping. Josh had been pulling them for about 2 months.
David Griswold, www.vintagebmx.com, september 2004: That winter and the next spring (1985), we and a couple of other friends formed a team called the 'Concrete Commandos'. We put on shows at local schools and businesses. It was some of the most fun I have ever had in BMX. I was the promoter/announcer/sometimes rider, and Josh and my other friends Scott and Jerrid were the talent. Josh continued to get better. The Concrete Commandos lasted for about 6 months, and then we were all off in our own directions. Josh got discovered at a contest in SoCal later that year or the next, and his career took off. I was off, in the Air Force, to Omaha, and got back into racing.
Drew Lamb, september 2008: Sometime around '85 the Concrete Commandos consisted of Josh White, Scott Shafer (Flaming Dragon Tattoo in Tacoma, WA), and myself (Drew Lamb). Scott was in the Army and we used his fatigues for a show that we did at Chuck E Cheese in Medford, Oregon. We put masonite on that ramp and painted it lavender. During the Chuck E Cheese show we put the ramp inside of the "pizza time theater" and Josh was almost scraping the ceiling! It was a tough gig. The tile floor was really slippery and we kept sliding out into the kids during our landings. Didn't matter, Josh had 540s dialed and was sticking them perfectly.
David Griswold, www.vintagebmx.com, september 2004: Josh was skipping school to hang out with me, telling his mom that he hurt his back, which he really had. So, we are riding the ramp, and Josh was about 3 months more advanced than in the photos, starting to get his 540s closer to the coping. This photographer from the Medford Mail Tribune shows up. Takes some pictures, asks some questions, and leaves. Josh goes home that night. The next day, I call Josh, after school, to see about coming down to Ashland to ride, and he is grounded. Turns out the photo made the front page of the newspaper, and his mom and the school officials saw it. He was in trouble for a few weeks.
Steve, www.vintagebmx.com, september 2004: I met Josh in Fall of '85 as I was going to College in Ashland. He tried to tell me he just got picked up by Dyno, I blew it off thinking "yeah, right, some kid in Ashland, OR is factory Dyno" needless to say, he was right and I was stupid, one year later he was on the cover of Freestylin'.
The Concrete Commandos (and a few extras) - February 1985.
When Josh White came out you would have thought someone from outer space had arrived, the excitement level jumped so much. With only two-and-a-half minutes to the routine, the photographers were all scrambling wildy to get the best possible angles on every aerial. Josh never did reach the extreme altitudes he had achieved in Saturday's practice, but he still beat Tony and blew the doors off everybody else in his class with eight-to-ten-foot aerials.
The surprise of the 16&over flatland class was that the much-heralded Josh White proved to be a red-hot ground styler, too. In fact, Josh originally tied Rick Moliterno for second with his routine and ended up with third only after losing a squeaker of a tie breaker.
1st place 16&over expert ramps and 3rd place 16&over expert flatland @ 1986 AFA Masters round 3.
There was a run-off for second between Karl Rothe and Josh White. One minute, do-or-die. Karl edged out Josh for the win, but it wasn't because Josh wasn't trying. Josh didn't seem too bummed about his ground placing, though. Maybe his win in the ramp class helped. Oh, by the way ... he won the overall, too. Congratulations, Mr. White.
Cover and interview in Freestylin august 1986.
Josh White slams on a 12 foot air on the GT/Brittania Tour and cracks a Vertebrae in his Neck.
Freestyle's hottest up and comers in BMX Plus! october 1986: Josh White, Rick Moliterno and Karl Rothe.
GTV video.
5th place pro flat and 2nd place pro ramp @ 1987 AFA Masters round 1, february 1, 1987, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Dr Air, Josh White dans le ciel d'Huntington Beach en couverture du bicross magazine de mars 1987. Photo par Didier Coste.
Cover of Super BMX&Freestyle may 1987.
The GT World Tour with Martin Aparijo and Josh White in BMX Plus! may 1987.
1st place pro @ 1987 2hip KOV round 2, may 30, 1987, Flint Michigan, USA.
Super BMX september 1987: Killer no-footed fakies, one-handed/no-footed cancaner and cancan lookbacks are just a few of the mind-numbing moves that spectators and judges saw. Was Josh stoked with his first pro win? Are you kidding? If he keeps riding like this through the rest of the year there will definitely be more contest wins added to his list of accomplishments.
Josh White's inverted no foot one-hander on the cover of FAT issue 00.
Josh White signs a 3 year contract with GT.
Super BMX&Freestyle october 1987: Josh White's the boss right now in the pro ramp class ...
2nd place pro rampand 10th place pro flat @ 1987 AFA Masters 1987 round 5, october 3-4, 1987, New Jersey.
Josh started his run with an eight-foot basic air, hit an eight-foot one-footer for his next air, then a one-hand one-footed invert seven feet out, and a framestand air five feet out. He was ripping, but somehow the flair wasn't there. He did a fakie footplant and then a no-footed X up six feet out, a no-footed fakie air two feet out, a one-hand no-footed cancan five feet out, a cancan lookback five or six feet out, a fakie four feet out, another no-footed X-up six feet out, a cancan flyout, a one-hand no-footer six feet out, a basic air five feet out and a onefooted X-up seven feet out for his final air.
4th place pro @ 1987 2hip KOV round 4, october 23-24, 1987, Washington D.C.
Interview: American Freestyler november 1987.
GT demo tape video.
4th place pro ramp @ Megafree and 2hip KOV round 2, 13 mars 1988, Paris Bercy, France.
Routine classique pour Josh White 540° over the canyon, No footer cancan, ... le tout un peu moins haut que d'habitude.
Josh White unleases a cancan lookback at the 1987 AFA Masters finals on the cover of BMX Plus! march 1988.
1st place pro ramp @ 1988 AFA Masters round 2, march 19-20, 1988, Portland, Oregon.
Ron Wilkerson did a superman air, mass lip tricks, a 540, and even a nothing, but he couldn't beat Josh's high airs, insane variations, mega fakies, and some boosted 540 sickness.
On the August 1988 cover of American Freestyler, you have Josh White and under him it's Dennis Langlais on the General Hustler Pro test bike.
Covers: Freestylin november 1988.
5th place pro ramp @ 1988 AFA Masters finals, November 12-13, 1988, Wichita, Kansas.
Freestylin #48 april 1989: Speaking with Josh White, before his run it was revealed that he was in contention to take the Pro Ramp title for the year... IF he could pull off a win. Pressure got to him and Josh ended up finishing 5th.
