Written by Katie McNeill
December 11, 2006
www.Blogcritics.org
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I must have almost 200 mostly black T-shirts advertising different bands stuffed into drawers, in the bottom of my closet, and probably still at my parents house that I forgot to pack when I moved out.Every concert I go to I buy a T-shirt. The T-shirt with or without the concert dates is just as important as the bruises you pick up in the mosh pit. Plus the shirt lasts a lot longer.
There is just something about wearing a T-shirt with your favorite band on it. It tells the whole world who you listen to and what you stand for. A rock T-shirt is who you are and the best part is that even if you don’t have the guts to scream it to the world, well hell, your shirt can to that for you. As the authors of Rock Tease attest:
Vintage rock T-shirts don’t have to strive to represent what makes rock and roll exciting and inspiring; they were there as it happened. In fact, they helped it happen. The energy, creativity, the camaraderie, the fashion, the celebration, the sex, the drugs, the theatrics, the music: Everything you need to know about rock and roll is writ large on rock T-shirts.
But as Erica Easley & Ed Chalfa further point out, it is no longer about having the concert t-shirt. It’s about the art on the shirt. The art of rock 'n' roll has become an unshakable part of fashion just as important as your favorite pair of Levis or low-top Chucks.
Rock Tease covers the golden years of rock from 1970 to 1995. From a light blue limited run T-shirt featuring Jimi Hendrix in 1973 to the instantly recognizable yellow smiley face Nirvana T-shirt from 1993, this book covers some the best and most identifiable T-shirts of rock 'n' roll art - the kinds of T-shirts that both fans and collectors lust for.
This book, however, isn’t just another pretty face; full of facts about the budding rock T-shirt art, it guides you through the years of hand-drawn pictures done in limited runs to the screen printed mass productions of recent years. But whatever the era, the song remains largely the same, and wearing your heart on your sleeve has never been out of fashion:
There was a time, thirty or so years ago, when rock T-shirts were new, incredible things. They let fans connect with their heroes in a radically imitate way. And they still do. The enduring popularity of rock tees testifies, in a way record sales never will, to the extreme connection people have with their favorite music and the continued appeal of rock iconography.
It makes me wonder if in another 10 years my own collection will be worth anything. The classic Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, or Weezer. Maybe not since I’ve worn them ragged, but that’s what a rock T-shirt is for: to wear ragged and proclaim to the world who you are. It’s better than giving the finger, but hey, you can do that too.
You call yourself rock 'n' roll? Prove it and get the T-shirt.
I spend all my money on books, if there is anything left I buy cat food for my two cats or ice cream for myself.