There are legends and there are rumors. Talk had it that the much dreaded J-Boy, aka Adams, was dead or in jail.

What's your occupation these days?
Doin' night work for the L.A.P.D. Hey, what's that thing? What are you doing?

It's a tape, this is an interview.
What are you doin' that for?

Why not?
That's a good enough reason, I've been cooking in a restaurant the last couple of months.

How is it?
The money's fair and I eat good.

Where have you been skating?
Wherever, around town for transportation, at a pool by my house, good banks, whatever.

You were at the pinnacle of the professional skate scene, yet you bailed. Why?
I was tired of being lied to and cheated. I was sick of doing my part and not having others live up to their word.

Do you think you were exploited?
(Laughing) Everyone's exploited. I was just out to make a good time. I got no complaints.

Do you ever regret that you didn't get more out of it?
I had fun, what else is there? I guess I could have been some nice boy like they wanted and got more money…but I couldn't and I didn't.

Now for the standard would you do it differently question.
Man, it always comes out the same.

Have you ever considered re-entering the pro scene?
Send me some money, then we'll talk about it.

Heard you were a Christian now.
Where'd you hear that? That's Billy Yeron and Ty Page. I saw a bible once but that don't make me no Christian.

You seen Ty lately?
Saw him the other night. We were talking about our skate off for first place in the Del Mar Nationals. It was a trip.

What did Ty think about it?
Obviously,…he liked it, they said he won.

What do you think about it?
It's cool, I had fun…it's a long time ago. You were there, what do you think?

I reckon you got burned. You did bank and vertical stuff while Page did standard '60's tricks. The judges didn't know about modern skating 'cause they'd never seen it.
Well, the boys changed it around, I guess.

Do you ever think about the old times?
What old times?

What we're talking about.
It's okay to remember, but you've got to live.

During the whole Dogtown vs. The World scene, you were at the epicenter. What was it like?
That was a mag trip. I just skated. We were different than the southers though…Now I should talk about the secret Z-boy skate park where we only skate at night…waiting for the takeover…now if you print that crap, some idiot will probably believe it.

Probably…what equipment set-up do you have?
You should know, you just gave me some.

For the record.
Peralta gives me some decks, Indy gives me some trucks…Tell that guy to get me a couple of other T-shirts though. I wear 'em to gigs and they keep getting torn up.

You used to go through a couple of boards in a session. How 'bout now?
It used to depend. If a board was shabby it was gone, now I just use 'em till they're worn out. They last pretty long but after the tail is scraped off up to the trucks or something, I'll usually get fronted another one. Stacy's pretty cool about it.

Do you ride for him?
Not at all, we're just friends.

What is this cult of the Z Men?
Naw, we skate some, 'bout it.

What do you look for in a skate setup?
Nothing…one that will do whatever I want it to do.

You've got this rowdy reputation…
You mean, am I one of those "punk rock" bad boys running around causing trouble? No man, I'm an average citizen. John Q. Public, whatever.

Is your reputation important to you?
What reputation?

Does that mean next question?
Shine.

You have been obsessed with swastikas on your personal equipment in the past. For once and for all, let's dispel the skate Nazi myth.
I had a couple of 'em on my boards.

Well, are you a Nazi…for the record.
No, I don't hate Jews or anything like that, it's no political trip. A skate Nazi is just, like, dedicated completely to skatin'. It's not about killin'.

Why do you put swastikas on your sticks?
I guessed it looked cool…

Were you aware of the way certain German military symbols tend to outrage the mass populace?
I'm not a philosopher. I did notice that they did sort of upset some people, if that's what you mean, we just like the way they looked. It's sort of like a tradition.

Like surf Nazi's-skate Nazis.
Yeah.

How about the much dreaded Val. You've also been labeled as the definitive, consummate local.
The pit, huh? I've got a lot of friends from the valley. A Val is more an attitude, just a goon, you don't have to be from San Fernando or wherever to be a Val. I know some total Vals from Dogtown.

Is the Dogtown trip still strong?
If you mean Mutt and Jeff, the twins, I heard they're bankrupt, and Muir and Humpston are gonna sue 'em. The skate party trip is still there. I see the boyz occasionally; the skatin' goes on…maybe different people but same trip. I guess there's a lot of little dogs coming up.

What do you think caused the downturn in public acceptance of skating?
Why did it go out?

Yeah?
They took the fun out of it by trying to make everyone skate parks and do their trip.

Who do you mean by they?
You know who they are, the same ones they always are…

The controllers?
Yeah. They took away the fun…sneakin in to backyard pools, downhill runs…you know, what you might call its illegal nature.

I think just skating on the sidewalk around here is a legal violation, but even the cops know there are bigger crimes.
So they tell me…The people who let it die are jerks; 'cause skating is just too much fun to go out. We were pushing everything so far and getting more and more rad. Maybe it was too radical for 'em.

Do you think it's gone back to the same as, say around '75?
A lot of people are skating around having fun, so, in that way, yes.

You still go to a lot of gigs?
Naw…out of it. Haven't been for three days.

You have any future plans?
Yeah, I'm gonna go cruise in Scheliga's new Mercedes with Angel. Later.