Zebra

September 30, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

The headbanger’s vintage poly-cotton headquarters.


Shirt #27: Zebra

Availability: Currently Available on eBay

Album: No Tellin’ Lies

Date: 1984

Fact: Zebra got their start as a Zeppelin, Moody Blues and Rush cover band.

Approximate value: $75

Image Courtesy of: In Vintage We Trust

Category: Metal


Deep Purple

September 29, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

A gallery of vintage rock & roll torso toppers.


Shirt #9: Deep Purple

Availability: Currently Available on eBay

Year: 1987

Album: The House of Blue

Fact: Smoke on the Water is true tale about a fire in 1971 that destroyed a Switzerland casino. A Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino’s theatre which caught fire when a fan fired a flare gun into the rattan covered ceiling. Smoke from the fire spread across a lake that separated a hotel (where Deep Purple were staying) from the casino. DP watched the destructive blaze from their hotel room.

Approximate value: $100

Image Courtesy of: wyco_vintage

Category: Rock


Bad Otis Link Part 7: Moshing With The Stars

September 27, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

Interview with Greg Link aka Bad Otis Link continued from part 6.

What famous faces were familiar to the scene?

Well, we kind of avoided the celebs. In the early ’80s, punk was not considered cool in the mainstream. I would see Emilio Estevez, David Lee Roth and the like at shows. We would usually poke fun at them though. Danny Bonaduce came to a “DOA” show at the Starwood one night (late 70s.) We kept calling him Danny Partridge, he finally got frustrated with us and left.

I know there was others, Madonna used to come into the LA store but I really wouldn’t have noticed. The celebs didn’t hop on until it got much safer. More at the “Peppers’” shows, later on, the Hollywood kid stars like River Phoenix, Drew Barrymore, and people like that would hang around. A lot of my friends back then have become celebs though as you can imagine. Some are still friends, some have become distant.

  • The Bad Otis interview continues with part 8.


Over The Shoulder

September 26, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

A gallery of vintage tee relics from the company formerly known as Blue Ribbon Sports.


Shirt #8: Jordan Sneakers Over the Shoulder

Availability: Search eBay for Vintage Nike T-Shirts

Tag: Blue

Era: 1984-88

Fact: When Jordan saw the prototype for his shoe he protested, “I’m not wearing that shoe, I’ll look like a clown.”

Approximate Value: $250

Image Courtesy of: supervideo

Category: Nike


Bad Otis Link Part 6: Locations, Locations, Locations

September 26, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

Interview with Greg Link aka Bad Otis Link continued from part 5.

Tell us about the Otis & Biscuits operation?

There were four stores and many separate print shops. The first store was a small place at Pacific Coast Highway and 7th street in Long Beach, Ca. It had a crappy little apartment in the back with a kitchen, Chuck moved from the shop to the store, so it served a double purpose. We would use the kitchen to boil, dye, and custom make shirts. Chuck’s Dad would work the store for us while we were at the shop in Signal Hill printing. He was also a welder and he loved hanging around the shop and building contraptions for the shop. The store was more customer based.

I sold shoes, for Mike Roche from “TSOL”, at the store. He had a small punk store in Huntington Beach called the “Electric Chair”. The bands and friends hung around the print shop much more. We all rehearsed there and other friends moved into the area and also set up music studios and art studios around my shop. The print shop was far more of a scene than the store, it was bigger, and touring bands would stay there a lot. I let Mike Vraney live there, too, as kind of a home base when not on the road. Mike Vraney was the manager of “TSOL”, “Dead Kennedys”, “Tex and the Horseheads”, “The Accused”, and others. I also rented a part of the shop to Gary Tovar and he ran Goldenvoice Concerts between the shop and his house in Huntington Beach. We set up a xerox machine and designed flyers for all of the LA shows. So the shop was always full of bands, crew, concert crew, skaters, and others.

It was kind of a functional party place. I could write a book on the stuff that went on around there. Concerts were booked, tours were booked, and we produced the art, shirts, and posters, all from there. Bands were always coming and going from all over the world. I developed a reputation for being able to keep bands stocked with merch while traveling. There were not many other people doing shirts for the punk scene on any level back then. The only guy I remember even coming close to what I was doing was Steve “The Human T-Shirt”. He did amazing punk stuff, early “TSOL”, diamond design, and some of the coolest screen printed Olympic Auditorium Posters, etc. Steve was also the bass player in the “Vandals” and later “Detox”. But we were more consistent at the t-shirt stuff. We even ended up doing stuff for his bands. The stores closed when I got bored with it all and the Punk scene was slowing down as we knew it by the end of the 80s.

  • The Bad Otis sage continues with part 7.