I’ve been spending a lot of evening hours reseaching old freestyle articles on the internet. Stuff from all the old mags. Trying to collect and organize all of it.
Found this on Tumblr. Skateboarder, from April 1980?
Matt Barden, M-80 kickflip. Apparently he invented the M-80.
Update: Steve Day, Matt’s former Howell teammate, tells me that Matt did in fact invent the M-80. The “M” is for Matt, and the 80 is because it is a kickflip to 180 kickturn, shortened to M-80, like the firecracker.