Vintage Rock T-Shirts: Irony & Credibility

I'm sure you've seen it before. Some teen or 20 something with a concert t-shirt circa 1980s or a t-shirt with some clever-ass saying on it. I have to bring this up because the examples have become more and more outrageous.

Number one on the list: Justin Timberlake wearing an MC5 t-shirt on the cover of Vibe (or was it The Source) magazine about a year ago. All I'm gonna say is what the hell is that all about? No....not allowed. Wayne Kramer of the MC5 took note of this and said that Justin probably thought it was a logo for a band called the "Mick 5". Thank you Brother Wayne, couldn't have said it better myself. Saw this same t-shirt on Jennifer Anniston on 'Friends' not a show I'm a fan of (like you didn't know that).

There are other examples. One specific to all of us here at Tiki Central is something I saw the other day. Some girl walking down the street with her ironic-vintage Jimmy Buffet concert shirt. Ok...that one just backfires right outta the universe. It's hard to say what could be a worse example, because one idea of this fashion statement is to wear something so uncool that it looks cool, ie. a Journey or Air Supply t-shirt. That's perceived as cool because the bands are so bad.The other is that it's so cool, that it's mind-blowingly cool re: the MC5 shirt. Buffet...I don't think that could ever be cool on either level. Oh and before I forget one more for ya: Rob Thomas wearing a vintage Van Halen (first record) logo on a black t-shirt. No way Jose'. Somebody should have arrested him for that.

Finally, and this one is very current example, Sean William Scott wearing a black Led Zeppelin/Swan Song t-shirt in the promo poster for "The Dukes of Hazard". Okay..who am I to criticize? My blathering cynicism reaching new heights and going way outta control? Poop I say!! Poop!! If I'm not mistaken, I think I saw this same T-shirt on Ashlee Simpson. No. Not aloud. Sean William Scott, Ashlee Simpson, Avril Levigne with your clever-ass 'Gettin Lucky in Kentucky' t-shirts....grasp for your crediblity somewhere else without diluting the coolness of previous generations. Thank you.

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2005-07-10 21:58 ]

I am very disappointed to learn that Journey is not cool.

I know. It's a tough thing to realize especially since Steve Perry was just a small town boy..born and raised in South Detroit.

When I went to the "Inland Invasion" event last year (or was it two years ago?) it was the "punk" line-up. There were two stages and unfortunately all of the old-school punk bands were delegated to the 2nd "small" stage. Anyway, Dexter (lead singer of The Offspring) had a shirt that read "Even Jesus Hates Creed". I thought that was pretty cool.

Kelly Clarkson came into my store and tried to buy my vintage Whitesnake and Saxon concert t-shirts. But I wouldn't sell em to her. I did talk her into buying some authentic Tiki Kneepads though. You'll be able to see them in her next video.

Keepin' it real.

Kneepads

My wife went to see Journey a few weeks ago and came home wearing a Journey T-shirt (BTW Steve Perry wasn't with the band!?!) The first time I went to see Patti Smith I wore a Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt 'cause I read somewhere Patti liked BOC (what can I say...I wuz jus a young punk).

I think Patti Smith and BOC had a close association of some kind. Even though BOC wasn't part of the New York?CBGB punk scene at the time, they were a New York band. I guess they were friends or something. went out for sushi.....

Kneepads-is that a fact? she came in there and wanted to buy those shirts? Not surprised. What did you tell her when you wouldn't sell them to her and how did she react?

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2005-07-11 00:06 ]

So far one of the coolest baby presents we've recieved is a Ramones bib. I don't recall ever seeing one of them at any of the Ramones shows I saw growing up. Although maybe it should have been...

Our baby doctor told us a funny story, she's probably a few yeas older than Mr. P and I, that a Cal student in her 20's came in with a Ramones shirt on and she was kind of amused to realize that this kid didn't even realize who the Ramones were, it's just cool to have a Ramones t-shirt.

When I was a teenager I went out and bought an English Beat record, because I saw Sting wearing a really cool Beat shirt in a Police video. I also bought a shirt, later, but by then I really liked English Beat.

On 2005-07-10 21:55, donhonyc wrote:

Justin Timberlake wearing an MC5 t-shirt

Perhaps he's the new Minister of Information for the White Panther Party.

could happen.

-Z

"Perhaps he's the new Minister of Information for the White Panther Party.

could happen."

-Z

More like the Minister of the White Poseur Party

Justin Timberlake wearing an MC5 shirt is so very wrong, it's kind of like me wearing an N'Sync shirt, excpet IF I wore an N'Sunc shirt, it would be with knowing irony of how very NOT N'Sync I am.... I don't think he's smart enough or creative enough to be making an ironic statement about his own credibility as a ROCKER, and I can't even imagine him even knowing what MC5 is about. I think some stylist picked it out for him on Melrose and told him it was cool. My brother-in-laws first ever concert was MC5. When I was a teenager, he turned me onto good music!

I still can't get over the fact that Journey is not cool.

Ok..I over reached on Journey. They do have some cool songs. 'Any Way You Want It'...that's a good one. And so are the other hits that Greg Rolie sang lead on.

I should have said bad bands like Air Supply, Ambrosia, Orleans, and the Little River Band. Those guys sucked!

Yesterday's Little River Band =Today's Dave Matthews Band.

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2005-07-11 10:13 ]

I feel much better now. Thanks Donhonyc.

I do have to laugh when I see some (notice I say "some") teens & 20-somethings wearing these shirts. I want to ask them to name one song by the band that they're sporting on their T-shirt.

I had this same discussion with my wife after we passed the young ladies department at Nordstrom. I spotted shirts with KISS & Black Sabbath on them and cracked up. Brand new shirts with faded logos like they were vintage. I was afraid to look at the price.

selling a $2.12 t-shirt with a $1.40 image on front and back to a pop celebrity for between $40 & $110 is a good thing. when the margins are good you may not laugh, but you certainly may smile.

I wish more people would wear MC5 and Ramones T-shirts, actually.

Otherwise, how would thoes poor little Justin fans ever hear the word?

If someone gave me a Sinatra T-shirt from when he played John Ascuaga's Nugget, I'd be ecstatic. I'm sure there'd be some 75 year olds that would call me a poser as I strolled past their park bench, but so be it.

Cab Calloway's zoot suit would rule, too. Even though I'm probably more suit than zoot. :wink:

Heck, some Don Ho toss aways from the 60's would rock!

Those kids probably look at us in our aloha shirts and wonder about our tolerance for rayon.

I don't like Weird Al so much, but I don't feel that my aloha-shirt-street-cred is being threatened by his look.

You think their is a forum somewhere where people from the first age of Tiki talk about us modern wannabes stealing their look and sound?

Someone told me that rock shirts were an easy way to make money on eBay. I took a bunch of old concert shirts and sold them for big money. I couldn't believe it, I started them at $2 and one Rolling Stones '82 tour shirt sold for $82!!! Seriously it was so faded and thread bare it barely had two washes left in it.

I'd like to see Justin Timberlake do a choreographed dance number to "Kick Out the Jams" It would be straight out of "Napoleon Dynamite!"

My nephew's friends all wear Kurt Cobain, Misfits and Ramones tees. They wear them because they think they are cool and because the other cool kids in their school are wearing them. One kid wore a Varukers tee, I asked him if he even knew who the Varukers were and he told me, "Not really, it's my brother's shirt. I just borrowed it."

Damn kids!

Man if I could only find my Lionel Ritchie t-shirt I'd be really cool! A bunch of years back I was able to find some old stock decals at a t-shirt shop and I immediately had the Lionel transfered to a nice purple t! Oh the puzzled looks I used to get when I'd wear my Li-Nell! A friend of mine had the holy grail of lame concert shirts - he actually had a Barry Manillow concert shirt that he begged and pleaded his mom to buy when she saw Barry way back in the mid-80's! Sadly the Manillow had a run-in with an oil spill in his garage and was never the same again! Damn, if I only had the time to find a DeBarge or a Juice Newton I'd be a real trend-setter!

Phil Collins - Sussudio, the orange glowing head...

Sadly, I must admit, Phil Collins was my first concert. It got better after that...I swear!

Now if you could only adhere iron-on transfers to your kneepads, you'd be all set.

Justin Timberlake in an MC5 shirt is both sad and necessary. If he isn't truly a fan of the 5, then he or someone who dresses him is aware of their rock'n'roll street cred. Plaster it on a fading boy-idol and therefore bring him up one hip notch.

True fans cringe because we hate to be in the same boat as JT. But the ignorant masses (those who love JT) see the shirt and are suddenly curious about this "MC5". Maybe this will help a few of them branch out into the realm of "good" music. So, grin and bear it. For the kids.

Meanwhile, I've just started getting new reproductions of some of my favorite band shirts. High-quality prints for under $20 from places like (god help me) Hot Topic. Problem is, I'm 32 now, I'm bald, and when I actually wear these things that I've coveted for 20 years I feel like a damn fool. Some fogey geek trying to hip himself up. Dang.

it's just not fair,
-Joe

Problem is, I'm 32 now, I'm bald, and when I actually wear these things that I've coveted for 20 years I feel like a damn fool. Some fogey geek trying to hip himself up.

Hey man, only real men go bald. I would rather see a bald 32 year old guy wearing that kinda shirt than some lame identity-less Owen Wilson douche-bag clone wearing one. Besides...look at Robert Quine. One of the best (bald) guitarists of all time.

http://www.robertquine.com/

And speaking of the MC5, Wayne Kramer AND Dennis 'Machine Gun' Thompson have both lost alot of their hair. What can you do? This stuff happens to real men. Shit....did you see David Gilmour on Live 8. Hello!!!

I had the cheesiest sweatshirt-like thing for sale at Rose Bowl with Salt N Pepa on it! It was my "I can't believe that sold" entry for the month but my friend and fellow dealor liked it so much he bought it...and my Dr. Spock beach towel, too. hehehehe Now that's good cheese

I wouldn't mind seeing kids in Misfits & Ramones shirts if the bands were getting paid for'em. I think most of the latest incarnation of the Misfits work in a machine shop with Jerry & Doyle.

...look at Robert Quine. One of the best (bald) guitarists of all time.

and Elliot Sharp!

Oy! Thanks for all the affirmations re: baldness. I started thinning at age 20, so I've learned to embrace my condition. No time wasted combing/styling/mousse-ing/or even drying, the list goes on. Plus I've got a nicely shaped skull, so there's that.
But if I had hair, I'd grow it out all shaggy like a classic rock god, and wear denim and leather and tattoos and rock shirts until I was old and grey. But there's something about MPB that flies against the rock and roll esthetic. Sad and shallow, but true. I still rock on the inside. Hell yes.

Good point about the artists probably not getting any money from the new flood of shirts. That's the real shame.

-Joe

PS Also, in sci-fi, the advanced people of the future are almost ALWAYS bald. Even the chicks. Word.