It's A Mad World

ultra-rare ~ have never seen another one ~ ever.

1985 Corrosion of Conformity - "Animosity" tour t-shirt

From the end of 1984 until late spring of 1986 three guys from Raleigh North Carolina of all places, forever changed the musical landscape by combining their love for Black Flag and Venom. C.O.C's 1985 release "Animosity" stands today as one of the heaviest pieces of vinyl you could have in your collection.

Remember these guys created this sound 25 years ago. Amazing! All thrash bands since can be traced directly back to this brief but brilliant artistic maelstrom!

Mike Dean of C.O.C delivering a crushing mix of punk and metal (later known as thrash metal).

Shade

Amazing find!

Early 70's Carl ZEISS sunglasses from West Germany

No scratches, frames are solid and best of all they fit perfect! These would easily fetch up to $500.00 on eBay. Not bad for a quick trip to my local thrift store with 5 bucks in my pocket.

Boot

Very nice Zeppelin bootleg I picked up today. Not too many of these floating around the ether.

Soundboard recording July 28th 1973 Madison Square Garden. New York, New York.

Bootlegger: Turtle Records

Sound quality: Excellent

Cover grade: VG++

Vinyl grade: NM

Sleep In Safety

Extremely rare 1983 Promo tee for 45 Grave's only studio album "Sleep in Safety".

Another gem from my personal collection!
Unless you were a punk living on the west coast in the early 80's, at first glance you'd think this was just another obscure band t-shirt from days gone by. How wrong you'd be. In reality this is an extremely rare piece of music history from one of the early pioneers of the L.A. punk scene. As budgets were small to non-existent in those days I'm sure only a very limited number of these tees were printed in 1983 by Restless Records to promote 45 Grave's one and only full-length studio album. Safe to say only a handful have survived after 27 years.
45 Grave were born from the ashes of the Los Angeles punk subculture and ground zero, The Masque club between 1977 and 1979. By 1980 they were at the forefront of L.A.'s second wave of punk rock. The band included members from some of L.A.'s earliest and most infamous DIY collaborations such as; The Gun Club, The Screamers, The Bags and The Germs. 


Along with bands like Social Distortion, Bad Religion, The Circle Jerks, Black Flag and T.S.O.L., 45 Grave helped established a west coast punk scene in the early 80's that rivaled that of London and New York. 30 years later these artists and their band's contributions to the punk lineage are of mythic and legendary proportion.

45 Grave promo shot.

"Sleep in Safety" promo tee graphic.

1983 "Sleep in Safety" album artwork.

The lovely Dinah Cancer of 45 Grave.

Great memories of gigs at the Whiskey A Go Go!

The band on stage early 80's.

This flyer hung on my wall for a long time back-in-the-day.

Iconic Dead

It seems strange this 1986 Grateful Dead Tour shirt would be as rare as it is considering how often The Grateful Dead played live in the early to mid-eighties. The only thing I can figure is that it wasn't considered "cool" by the Dead Heads to buy the mass produced concert tees.

What makes this more than just another rare concert t-shirt is the artist who created the iconic image. None other than the much loved and ultra-talented Rick Griffin. For those of you who might not know Griffin was one of the original psychedelic artists responsible for some of the most well know rock posters of the sixties. 

Rick Griffin's amazing art -1986 Grateful Dead Tour Shirt

The original artwork on paper.

The artist (RIP) - 70's

Credit: www.rickgriffinink.com

1970 Movie poster for "Pacific Vibrations"

Don't Die of Ignorance!

Sham 69 - First American Tour 1988

Probably one of the rarest in my personal collection. Like the 1986 Lords tee, I've never seen another one of these anywhere, ever. Granted by 1988 the Sham 69 line-up had changed and the early days of punk were long gone, this still remains a very rare and collectible tee. I picked it up a few years ago for a buck at a thrift store. One of those "No way!!!" moments that only come around maybe once or twice a year, if that. It was originally white but obviously 21 years ago the owner didn't think twice about a little tie-dye action. What a shame. Thankfully it was done in a cool gray and not a bad dye job at that. Can you imagine if it was some horrendous multi-color monstrosity? If it had been I might have left it hanging on the rack, instead this gem is tucked away in the collection safe and sound for another 20 years.

Brief Sham 69 history

Credit: www.punk77.co.uk :

Sham 69 were quite simply one of THE top punk bands of the late seventies. Led by the charismatic and irrepressible Jimmy Pursey they produced a stream of catchy, populist, short and sweet punk tunes including 'If The Kids Are United', 'Hurry Up Harry' and 'Angels With Dirty Faces' that made the British charts.

What makes Sham 69 even more interesting though is their arrival on the scene when Punk began to move from the more elitist fashion driven art scene to a rougher, more working class ethic. While some original faces on the scene perceived this as a dumbing down, others saw it as a breath of fresh air on a moribund scene. Add in a skinhead revival, frequent violence at their gigs and the Sham 69 one is a fascinating story.

But above all Sham 69 were a fantastic, full on punk band with great tunes, a top singer and a dynamic live act. 

Black Cat Bones

1970 Free - Fire and Water

Picked up this gem this afternoon for a steal. NM condition.

Classic.

Paul Kossoff's guitar work is sublime.

Paul Kossoff - R.I.P. (gone at the age of 25)