The Los Angeles punk and skate scenes of the mid-1980s produced a brief, shining moment of total badassery in the form of The Hags, a now-legendary all-girl skateboard gang that prowled Hollywood and West LA. Bust magazine takes a loving look back.
Sevie Bates sat down with Emily Savage to tell the origin of the group, which got a bit of media coverage in 1983 and 1984 before slowly fading away:
Bates officially launched the Hags when she created club patches for 9 or 10 of her friends so they could all go out skating together in uniform. Former Hag Michel Miller, 53, who met Bates when she was about 19, remembers seeing pieces of fabric pinned up to an easel while Bates began airbrushing. “She started telling us how she wanted to start a punk rock skateboard club,” says Miller.
For the imagery, Bates took the heavy metal band Iron Maiden’s “Eddie the Head” mascot and modified it as the foundation—then each Hag added embellishments, including their nicknames. Bates’ had rhinestone eyes and hypodermic needles drawn on it. Another member’s patch had fluffy pink fur coming off of it. Others had musicians from the punk scene sign theirs.
The article has several more examples of their patches, and follows up with a lot of the members, now in their 50s. I recommend putting on the Repo Man soundtrack while reading.
• In The 1980s, This All-Girl Skateboard Gang Took Over The Streets Of LA (Bust)