All About the T's

I love t-shirts, and I love music.
A couple years back, I was going through boxes at my parents house and found a box of t-shirts, mostly from concerts. I wiped a nostalgic tear from my eye as I saw my personal music history in cotton...Eric Clapton--I think it was the second time a blues tour in LA, Depeche Mode in Philadephia, Madonna with Lone Justice, The Eagles with Melissa Etheridge at Tiger Stadium (and Bob Seger made a surprise guest appearance), & REM at the Palace when my sister and I got to meet the band! My other sister took my David Bowie shirt from my '87 Europe trip and made it into a costume for Halloween. There were plenty of "new wave" shirts: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Erasure, Duran Duran, and INXS. Plenty of others: Sting, Jimmy Buffett, Phish, Rolling Stones, The Smithereens, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Barenaked Ladies, Elton John, Yes, Chicago, the Grateful Dead's last show at Soldier Field, Dave Matthews Band too many times to count, and even, yes believe it, Barry Manilow. So when Daily Candy's email came today, I thought this was great news. Here's what DC said...

"Check out Rotter and Friends at rotterandfriends.com.
Rotter, a New York-based artist and music obsessive, started the company to showcase musicians underrepresented in the T-shirt world. The current collection features her trippy, hand-drawn tributes to Linda Ronstadt, Roky Erickson, Willie Nelson, and (honorary Shakespearean rock star) Falstaff — the latter done by guest artist Ron Paolillo, a.k.a. Welcome Back, Kotter’s Horshack.

For fall, Rotter will pay homage to Link Wray, Judee Sill, and Bob Seger. If the shirts whet your appetite for the musically obscure, check out the Fun section of the site, where buddy Zach Cowie (Turquoise Wisdom, Small Town Talk) handpicks mixes for your listening pleasure.
All of which should have your spirits — and your wardrobe — rising from the ashes."

I'd also like to plug Threadless at http://www.threadless.com/product/917/I_Listen_To_Bands. Yes, I was that person...in my late teens into the new wave scene. My old boss used to call them "wear black, act bored." Ask my siblings about the dancing guy at the wedding in "So I Married An Axe Murderer." Although my music taste really spanned all genres, when it came to going dancing, I wanted the new wave songs. I thought my music made me too cool for school. So when I saw this t-shirt, it seemed to say it all.

Concert ticket for your favorite band: $75
Concert t-shirt you'll never wear: $25
Memories of all those concerts: Priceless