Mike Daily, espn.go.com, august 2010: I did 12 issues altogether. What I called the "First Ever" BMX Rag came out in '84. It was influenced by "skate rags" [Xeroxed mini-mags] that skateboarders were making, and by all the BMX magazines that I avidly read. I changed the name to Aggro Rag for the second issue. My English teachers encouraged the journalism I was doing. I graduated high school in '86 and went off to college at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. That's when my Hoods teammates started contributing more photos, news and articles, since I couldn't attend as many shows and comps.
Andy Jenkins: Daily's "Aggro Rag" was a mini-mag on the vanguard of BMX zines; irreverent, humorous and detailed in both content and layout-loaded with the minutiae of kids breathing exclusively from the thin air microcosm that was BMX freestyle.
Brett Downs ,www.notfreestylin.com: Back in the 1980?s websites were called "zines". They were mini-magazines put out by riders to represent their scene or viewpoint. Perhaps the most famous of these was one called Aggro Rag. While most zines were about ten pages, Aggro Rag was over fifty and full color. I used to work on the Rag with my buddy, Mike Daily.
Mike Daily, bmxsociety.com, august 2012: I made my first bike zine in ’84 and called it BMX Rag. Zorro and Ronald Reagan were on the cover, along with assorted cut-outs from BMX magazines. Typewritten content was original, heavily influenced by the Bob Osborn- and Len Weed-style school of gonzo BMX journalism. I also felt inspired by artists Bob Haro (who drew “The Grab-On Kid”) and Damian Fulton (creator of “Radical Rick”), so BMX Rag featured a six-page comic about “Moto Mike and Rad Loosky, two of the hottest BMXers on the East Coast.” The characters raced BMX and rode freestyle.
Mike Daily, bmxsociety.com, august 2012: I changed the name of the zine from BMX Rag to Aggro Rag! for the second issue, and printed it in late ’84.
Mike Daily, bmxsociety.com, august 2012: Before photocopying (Xerox) emerged in the mid-‘80s, teachers used Mimeograph machines to print classroom materials. The stencil duplicator machines were called “mimeo” or “ditto”. The ink was purple or lavender. My high school English teacher Amy Anderson (back then, “Miss Horvatinovic”) said in a recent interview for Aggro Rag 13: “The kids would love it when you’d bring ‘em because they would smell and they would be sort of wet and they’d love that. They’d sniff ‘em.” Everyone called her “Miss H”. She mimeographed the third issue of Aggro Rag in January ’85. Issue 3 marked the first time I had incorporated material from a letter received from a Pro freestyler to write an article for the zine. The Pro? Woody Itson.
Freestyle tips from Woody Itson:
Recently the intrepid journalists here at the AGGRO RAG were COMPLETELY stoked by a letter from THE flatland freestyle king, Woody Itson of the HUTCH trick team squad. We asked Woody for some exclusive tips on having a successful freestyle team. According to Itson, consistency is the key. Woody explains, “My best advice for your trick team is to practice on being smooth and consistent.” What about the let-it-all-hang-out hero type of freestyling? “It is better to do a couple of tricks smooth and be able to pull them off all the time,” Woody advises, “than to do a bunch of tricks that are rough and you can only do 50% of the time.” “Also, you and your friends should get together a routine and practice it for your shows,” Itson adds. “That way you appear more professional to the crowd. OK!” What Woody is influencing here is hard work. If you’re not absolutely positively serious about trick riding, then don’t go through the trouble of a freestyle team. But for you freestyle looney tuners, GO FOR IT!!! It pays off in ways of no
comparison to money-recognition from your sponsor and from the people who come to see your shows, and an incredible feeling of self-satisfaction. Thanks a lot, Woody!!!! Well, what are ya waitin’ for??!?!! START PRACTICING!!!!!!
Mike Daily, bmxsociety.com, august 2012: In March ’85 for Issue #4, I changed the name of the zine from Aggro Rag! to Aggro Rag Freestyle Mag! and created the logo that I used for all subsequent issues. Aggro Rag Freestyle Mag! was available from Bookland, Flying Feet Sport Shoes (a Vans dealer who later sponsored our “Trick Team”: The Plywood Hoods), and three bike shops: Ed’s, All About Bikes and York Cycle.
“From the big PA, this was a noteworthy rag in its day—good writing, cool pics, hot locations (like Thunderdohm—an abandoned skatepark), how-tos, you name it, you got it for 75 cents. Mike Daily did the work on this one, but moved over to work on SHREDDIN’, a higher-budgeted ‘zine, with Bill Batchelor and Kevin Foss—which was HOT but is now deceased. We have a feeling that if you bug Mike he may just start up Aggro Rag again. Aggro Rag, R.D. #5 Box 510, Red Lion, Pennsylvania 17356.”
Andy ran my Aggro Rag Freestyle Mag! logo smack dab in the middle of the spread, en-masse-impressing Aggro Rag into the minds of freestylers worldwide.
The March '87 issue is dedicated to actor Dick Van Patten, featuring Brett Downs' interview and "Pinky Speaks" with Gary Pollak.
Mike Daily, january 2013: This is my personal favorite issue of Aggro Rag (Oct. '87). It was 60 pages and featured a yellow card stock cover with pink interior pages--some printed with brown toner ink. Features interviews with Dizz, Grasso, Jason Parkes and Pete Augustin. That's John Swarr doing an upside-down decade (backsimple, a.k.a. Left Ear of a Dead Dog) on the cover. I shot the photo at Spinning Wheels Skatepark in Reading, PA. The full issue (remastered/reproduced in B&W) is included in Aggro Rag Freestyle Mag! Plywood Hoods Zines '84-'89: The Complete Collection.
48 pages
Contributors: Steve Giberson, Spike Jonze, Mel Bend, Greg Higgins, Lungmustard, Howdy Riggs, Jamie Smith.
On the cover: Craig Grasso, Howdy “T-shirt king” Riggs,Greg Higgins, Spike Jonze & Andy Jenkins.
Contents:
Escape from Planet of the Apes (about getting harassed by cops/security
guards)
Pool riding
Interview with Jim Dellavalle
Plywood Hoods history
Team Scrounge.
56 pages, Smokin' issue !
Contributors: Mark Eaton, Steve Giberson, Greg Higgins, Spike Jonze, Shayne
On the cover: Grassroots, John Byers, Kev, Mad Dog, Indian Lady
Karas, Lew, Maverick, Matt Pingel, Chip Riggs, Scott Towne
Contents:
King of Vert and Meet the Street – Woodward, PA
Chris Mad Dog Moeller interview
Perry Mervar interview
Craig Grasso interview
Greg Higgins art
Marty Stoyer interview
Plywood Hoods go bowling.