Review
WL Rating
When I think of Newport Beach in the 80’s, I have two memories. The first, and probably most important, is ably bodysurfing huge waves at the Wedge courtesy of the a solid south swell. The other memory is of watching Danny Kwok in polka-dot Quiksilver shorts tearing the hell out of small waves on a short polka-dot board. It was the 80’s, a period of crazy, loud prints on the side panels of your boardshorts, equally loud neon zinc oxide, and high performance surfing in small California surf. Geographically, Echo Beach itself doesn’t really exist. It’s just a fictitious name someone conceived for the area between 52nd and 56th streets in Newport Beach. But man, that was the spot to be if you surfed in the early 80’s. Mike Moir’s new book, The Eighties at Echo Beach is a small time capsule of great pictures from the era. Many of the pictures will be familiar to anyone who was an avid Surfer or Surfing magazine reader in the 80’s. All the usual suspects are present including Kwok, Jeff Parker, John Gothard, and Preston Murray. Candidly, you’ve got to be a surf history junkie to buy this one. It’s a very focused story on a very small stretch of, granted, influential beach. On the other hand, if you were a media viewing SoCal surfer in the 80’s, then this will most likely bring back some good memories. It certainly did for me. (October 2011)
The Eighties at Echo Beach - Michael Moir
