Vintage 1983 Def Leppard Rock Till You Drop Tour T-Shirt

file under: classic NWOBHM

hard to find original Def Leppard - Rock Till You Drop tour t-shirt
year: 1983
tag: screen stars
material: 100% cotton
condition: excellent vintage 
value: $250
note: a really nice addition to my collection acquired this year from the original owner. for some reason I've only seen this particular tee in the 100% cotton version. my guess is they were less expensive to print on when the order for the tour shirts was made by Def Leppard's management. I definitely prefer the Screen Stars 50/50's as they've aged much better than the 100% cotton tees but if you can find an XL like this one that hasn't been worn or washed too many times, which is very rare, it will still fit today. Def Leppard's concerts were some of the best I attended back in the day and their first 3 albums still get heavy rotation on my turntable!

the band live in 1983

New Wave Of British Heavy Metal

Vintage 80's Generation-X Bootleg T-Shirt

file under: early british punk

rare Generation-X bootleg t-shirt
year: 80's
tag: long gone
material: 100% cotton
condition: pretty thrashed
value: $175
*note: no provenance for this tee. acquired last year at a second-hand clothing store in Los Angeles. definitely a bootleg printed in a garage years ago. Gen-X were one of the coolest early British punk bands. Billy Idol and Tony James wrote some of the catchiest punk anthems of the late 70's. The Sex Pistols sang about "no future" but Gen-X sang about having fun and getting laid. Their albums were always in heavy rotation in my car stereo and all those great songs have stood the test of time.

rare live 1977 footage shows the full energy of the band

Vintage 1984 Scorpions - Love At First Sting Tour T-Shirt

file under: when metal ruled

rare original Scorpions - Love At First Sting Tour t-shirt
year: 1984
tag: too faded to read
material: 50/50 cotton-polyester blend
condition: excellent vintage
value: $300
*note: the Scorpions were one of the hottest tickets around back in the day. we never missed a show when they came to town. this tee is from one of their longest world tours, lasting almost 2 years from 1984-1986 in support of their biggest selling album in the U.S. to date "Love at First Sting" which went triple platinum in 1984. of course in those days i spent all my extra cash on beer instead of t-shirts (plus it wasn't really cool back then to buy the tour t-shirts, only dorks did that). so in my obsessive pursuit to collect all the t-shirts I should have bought i acquired this last year for a fair price. condition is excellent for being almost 30 years old. no stains, holes or rips. original size was XL so even after god knows how many times through the hot washer and dryer by it's original owner the fit is still perfect today! a favorite in my collection.

the good ol' days!

Vintage 1985 Ratt Tour T-Shirt

file under: when we were young

original hard to find Ratt Invasion of Your Privacy tour t-shirt
year: 1985
tag: long gone
material: 100% cotton
condition: distressed
value: $250
*note: I saw all of Ratt's big tours back in the day. it was always hit and miss with them. one show in particular at the L.A. Sports arena the band was so wasted they could barely play and other shows they just killed it! Ratt's songs and Warren DeMartini's guitar licks were some of the best of their time. Unfortunately like so many of us from the 80's, all that excess took it's toll and founding member Robbin Crosby didn't survive. All these years later I look back with great fondness on what were some of the best days of my life. Rock on!    

the band in 1984 

DeMartini's lead rips

1973 Vintage Lite Beer Promo T-Shirt

file under: iconic

rare and original Lite Beer promotional t-shirt
year: 1973
tag: too faded to read
material: 50/50 cotton-polyester 
condition: distressed
value: $300
*note: there was a time back in the 70's when all major beer labels produced promotional t-shirts like this with the iconic flower motif. this piece dates back to the original launch of Lite Beer by Miller in 1973. Most likely handed out at bars for a very limited time. a rare t-shirt for sure.

popular Lite Beer TV ad screen capture

Vintage 1970's Primo Beer Hawaii T-Shirt

file under: favorite era

ultra rare and original Primo Beer Hawaii t-shirt
year: circa 1974
tag: Hanes
material: 100% cotton
condition: faded and distressed
value: $400
note: acquired earlier this year from the original owner who was going to throw it out when she found it in her storage that hadn't seen the light of day for over 30 years. thankfully it's now a part of my collection until the day it's passed onto the next collector. Aloha!

   

Ellis Applebaum's graphics. 

Pipeline North Shore 1976

Vintage 1985 WASP Tour T-Shirt

file under: in the beginning

rare original WASP The Last Command Tour t-shirt
year: 1985
tag: touch of gold (barely legible)
material: 50/50 cotton-polyester
condition: excellent (except for pit stains)
value: $300
note: acquired at this years Inspiration show in Long Beach, CA for a nice price.
Their 1989 gig at the Celebrity Theater in Anaheim California was one of the gnarliest shows I've ever seen. the Celebrity was a small venue so of course we were right down in front. It was loud as f*ck! My ears were still ringing the next day as we nursed our hang-overs. Ahh...the good ol' days. *sigh*

Ticket stub from '89 Show

1984 Capitol Records Promo

Song still kicks ass almost 30 years later