Old T-Shirts Means C-Notes for Rock Fans

[Zoneboy]

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NEW YORK - Once relegated to the backs of roadies and the bottoms of closets, the rock and roll T-shirt is hanging around some nicer venues these days — like Christie's auction house, where they're expected to sell for up to $4,500 apiece.


A collection of 30 vintage T-shirts goes on the block this month at the Rockefeller Center locale, featuring gear from the biggest bands of the '60s and '70s: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors and Pink Floyd, among others.

Several performers at the Monterey Pop Festival have not survived, but a Yardbirds T-shirt from the event did. Rock journalist Greg Shaw wore the yellow shirt to the famed 1967 concert, and it's expected to bring up to $4,000 at the Nov. 30 auction.

"The fact that these T-shirts exist in such pristine condition is remarkable because most people didn't keep these shirts. They were worn out and thrown out," said Simeon Lipman, a specialist in entertainment memorabilia for Christie's.

The shirts, all featured in the Johan Kugelberg book "What Comes Around Goes Around: Vintage Rock T-Shirts," were displayed Friday for a crowd that included former 'N Sync singer Lance Bass.

The shirts, while lightweight, come freighted with historical significance. A classic "Rock and Roll Lives" T-shirt was sported by New York Dolls bassist Arthur "Killer" Kane for a shot that appeared on the back cover of the trailblazing band's second album, 1974's "Too Much Too Soon."

A long-sleeved sweater, designed to promote the Stones' 1973 "Goat's Head Soup" album, was expected to sell for $4,500. It's believed to be one of only a dozen produced.

A 1979 T-shirt immortalizes the New Barbarians, a band that featured Stones Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards; the group formed, toured and disbanded within the space of a year.

And a short-sleeved white shirt with green sleeves celebrates John Lennon's foray into holiday music, with the words "War Is Over! If You Want It" — a lyric from his song "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Its pre-sale estimate: $2,000.

Updated versions of classic rock T-shirts — tops with the CBGB or Rolling Stones tongue logo are two prime examples — remain popular, and tour shirts are ubiquitous at any music show. But the shirts for auction are originals from an era before mass merchandising, when the shirts were often available only to the tour crew — such as the maroon Led Zeppelin 1973 shirt, expected to fetch up to $1,500.

The shirts came from a variety of different owners, said Sara Fox, a Christie's spokeswoman. Auction house officials believe it is the largest collection of rock T-shirts put up for auction.

What compelled the T-shirt owners to keep their classic clothes, while other gear of the same vintage wound up at garage sales or turned into dust cloths? Fox said it appeared to be nothing more than chance.