morning of the earth

[tuffy109]

hey man, that's far out [/chong]

if that wasn't the best singlefin riding, cockfighting, hippies livin' in the woods, sharkcatching in tahiti, aussie aussie aussie surf movie ever, then i don't know what is.

can anyone let me know where they were surfing besides general aus/tah/haw?

[cc]

http://www.morningoftheearth.net/

first film to show surfing in Bali.... They discovered Uluwatu.....

[tuffy109]

thanks cc.

such a cool film. the weird thing is that i rented this and bought singlefin yellow within an hour of each other. didn't realize the youngs (father and son) were in both of the films.

d

[Downhill Slid]

I hope you paid attention to the surfing of Micheal Peterson. he may vary well be the best under rated surfer ever. If you like the down the line feeling of the old 1970's era boards try a boozer. they have the drive of a single fin, with out the drew backs of a tri fin.

[tuffy109]

you mean a "bonzer", correct?

beau young busts out a replica from "morning" in singlefin yellow. been seeing a lot of those style boards (short singlefins) this summer. look fun.

[cc]

For Michael Peterson fans-

Check out the film Super Session by Hal Jepsen for good footage as well as We Got Surf.

There is also a book on him-
Sad start to life of 70s surf champ

By DanielleTeutsch
April 11, 2004
The Sun-Herald

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Troubled: Out of the water, the champion surfer turned to drugs.

It was the dark secret that surfing legend Michael Peterson and his mother never planned to disclose. Peterson, the unchallenged champion of the waves in the early 1970s, was conceived during a gang rape.

His mother Joan was 19 when she was dragged into a boarding house in the inner Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley and attacked by three men in December 1951.

"Any one of them could be his father," she tearfully recounts in the recently released book MP, The Life Of Michael Peterson, written by Sean Doherty.

Doherty, editor of Tracks magazine, had spent two years interviewing Peterson and his mother before the startling admission was made.

"She had hinted all along that there was a secret to do with Michael's father," he said. "She had kept it close to her chest all that time."

Already abandoned in a convent as a child because of an alcoholic, gambling mother and absent father, Joan Philp gave birth to her baby, alone, and with no help. Baby Michael's first years were spent in a Catholic refuge before his mother married and the family moved to Coolangatta.

Royal North Shore Hospital's sexual assault centre director Susan Kendall said that in the 1950s there were no services for a young woman in that predicament.

"It was incredibly brave of her to keep her baby, as young unmarried mothers were still being pressured to adopt their babies out in the '50s," she said.

Since the book was published, Mrs Peterson has received flowers and messages of support, Doherty said. "She has had a really positive response," he said.

Michael "MP" Peterson is still a cult hero in surfing circles for his breathtaking manoeuvres, lightning speed and his dominance of pro surfing in the mid-1970s.

After cutting his teeth surfing at Kirra as a teenager, his appetite for competition quickly became apparent.

Among his swag of trophies, he won the 1972 and 1974 Australian titles, the Bells Beach Pro three years in a row, from 1973-75, and the original Coke Classic in 1974. He also starred in the hit surf movie Morning Of The Earth.

With his large hands that were made for paddling, and a lean, coathanger-like frame that belied his strength, he mastered the art of executing multiple cutbacks and surfing the barrel on his single-fin board.

As Doherty puts it: "For three years, Michael Peterson was the best surfer in the world, hands down." Mark Warren, runner-up to Peterson in the 1974 Australian titles, said the lanky Queenslander set the standard in the water.

"We were often scratching our heads going, 'What do we have to do to beat this guy?'," he recounts in Doherty's book. "He just dominated surfing like no one since."

But in between blitzing his opponents in the water, Peterson was leading a frenetic life of drugs, women and trouble with the police.

His penchant for marijuana and LSD grew into a full-blown heroin addiction and his behaviour grew increasingly erratic.

He reached his nadir in 1983 when he was arrested at gun- point after a police chase involving 35 cars. He spent time in jail and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Today, Peterson lives in a Tweed Heads unit with his mother, who is still fiercely protective of her son. An overweight, "Brando-esque" figure, he no longer surfs. But in typical enigmatic fashion, he hasn't ruled out a comeback.

[Downhill Slid]

cc ,Thanks for posting that up date on MP. In his day his surfing was light years ahead of what the rest of the surfing world was doing. I also remember Hal Jepsons films of MP. And yes i did mean Bonzer.

[cj001f]

Good shit.

[SoCalTele]

much of the morning of the earth film was shot on the gold coast. the entire section of MP was filmed at Kirra, before the jetty was put in the and sand banks were twice the size than they are today. there is also a great section of Rabbit and Nat at the Pass in Byron Bay and the two of them at Lennox Head. back in the day the burleigh heads was a place to be seen as well. those gatta kids would fly up to burleigh and tear it up. for those of you who don't know, coolingatta is home to snapper and kirra. back in the day the hot surfers were known as the gatta kids. today they go by the cooli kids.

for those of you who want to read a great book. check out MP:the life of michael peterson. it is not the most upbeat read, but it flows really well and really documents what surfing was like in the late 60's through the early 80's in australia and in hawaii. it depics what pro surfing started as, and how is has moved into the arena it is today.

MP was one of the best in his prime. maybe the best. he could out paddle anyone and surfed deeper in the tube than anyone of his day. if it were not for the demons in his head MP could of been even bigger. he's a legion in aussie surf lore and deserves the upmost respect. he could out surf and out pysch anyone of his competitors. even if it was his best friend rabbit or PT (peter townan).

I agree that Morning of Earth is a classic classic film. makes bruce brown's shit look like something for the moms and dads at disney land. the sole is in that film.

[TBski]

morning of the earth is an awesome movie, super cool vibe, great surfing,
although I'll admit I turn the volume down and put on other music and enjoy the surfing even more.
It's great to watch MP, I'll have to check out those other movies you guys mentioned, thanks.

[SoCalTele]

morning of the earth is an awesome movie, super cool vibe, great surfing,
although I'll admit I turn the volume down and put on other music and enjoy the surfing even more.
It's great to watch MP, I'll have to check out those other movies you guys mentioned, thanks.

the music sets the mood to the entire film. sets the vibes for the late sixties early seventies surf/hippy/pot smoking/grassroots culture. Learn to love it.

[TBski]

I prefer it with Michael Franti and Spearhead....
who happens to be a pot smoking grassroots kinda of a guy,but more activist than laid back....so it goes.