Money to Burn?

May 18, 2011 by Jimmy J · 1 Comment  

Defunkd’s exclusive collection of vintage t-shirts for sale at reasonably exorbitant prices.


Item #26: The JAMs, The KLF

Year: 1989/1990

Circulation: Probably only 23.

The KLF (also known as The Jams (Justified Ancients of Mu Mu) and The Timelords) were a British acid house, rave, electronica, hip hop, and/or techno outfit formed in the late 80s. But the duo were mostly avant-garde artists who utilized music, literature, film and publicity as their canvas to debunk the music industry. After producing the top selling single, Doctorin’ The Tardis they spit in the face of music by authoring The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way), a tongue-in-cheek formula to making a top single. In 1992 they retired at the height of their career having just been named Best British Group at the Brit Awards. Slated to perform “3am Eternal” the crowd got a horrific thrash version which the band concluded by unloading a machine gun (blanks) in to the crowd and announcing, “The KLF has left the music industry.” To their dismay the act was somewhat well received by the typically stuffy award show audience and bridges needed to be fully burned. That was quite easily achieved when they delivered dead sheep and gallons of sheep blood to the show’s after party. The press finally turned on them, claiming their outrageous behavior was just a publicity stunt to sell more records. In response to those claims The KLF burned more than just bridges – they deleted their entire back catalog of music and incinerated one million British pounds. They wont reunite unless peace reigns around the world.

Brand: Fruit of the Loom

Measurements: 20″ (pit-to-pit) 26″ (rear collar-bottom seam)

Condition: Excellent vintage condition.

Variables: None.

Price: $1,615,511 (1 million British Pounds)




808 State

May 11, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

Defunkd’s exclusive collection of vintage t-shirts for sale at reasonably exorbitant prices.


Item #23: 808 State

Year: 1990

Circulation: Rarer than a rave with no glow-sticks.

Originally a hip-hop group called Hit Squad Manchester, 808 State went on to became pioneers of the British electronica movement. With a name borrowed from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and penchant for digital production – ironically it was the soothing sounds of Graham Massey’s saxophone coupled with ambient nature sounds that scored them their first hit, Pacific State.

Brand: Screen Stars

Measurements: 22″ (pit-to-pit) 29″ (rear collar-bottom seam)

Condition: Near Mint.

Variables: None.

Price: $425.00 (includes expedited shipping w/tracking and insurance in U.S. and Canada)




Pure Energy

May 1, 2011 by Jimmy J · 2 Comments  

Defunkd’s exclusive collection of vintage t-shirts for sale at reasonably exorbitant prices.


Item #22: Information Society

Year: 1988

Circulation: Rarer than acoustics in InfoSo tunes.

Information Society (or InSoc, InfoSo) are an electronica outfit from Minnesota described as an American response to the second British invasion. The band is best known for their breakout hit What’s On Your Mind which hit #3 on the pop charts in 1988. The track contains two Star Trek samples – the beginning of the song Dr. McCoy is heard saying, “It’s worked so far, but we’re not out yet!” But you’re likely more familiar with the “pure energy” sample which is spoken by Mr. Spock and repeated several times throughout the track. The usage of both samples were actually authorized partly due to the pull of Adam Nimoy (son of Leonard) who was a fan of the band. Another cool tid-bit of info on the band is that they released a song called, 300bps N, 8, 1 – which was made up of modem tones that when connected to a computer revealed a bonus story about the band. They are reported to be the first band to do this high tech version of playing a record backwards.

Brand: Screen Stars

Measurements: 18.5″ (pit-to-pit) 30″ (rear collar-bottom seam)

Condition: Great vintage condition.

Variables: Extremely faint small marks lower front. Small hole/pull lower front

Price: $59.00 (includes expedited shipping w/tracking and insurance in U.S. and Canada)




Massive

February 22, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

Defunkd’s exclusive collection of vintage t-shirts for sale at reasonably exorbitant prices.


Item #18: Massive Attack Blue Lines

Year: 1991

Circulation: Rarer than a bad Massive Attack album.

This t-shirt is promo for Blue Lines, Massive Attack’s first release. It’s generally considered the first trip hop album ever and highly ranked on just about every greatest albums list. The track Unfinished Symphony really stands out on the album, it’s frequently described as one of the best songs of all time because it transcends genres. I have to agree and so better my buddies who I made listen to it on repeat one night for three hours in 1991.

 

Brand: Screen Stars

Measurements: 21.5″ (pit-to-pit) 26.5″ (rear collar-bottom seam)

Condition: Great vintage condition.

Variables: Tiny nick on lower front seam and two small holes lower rear.

Price: $650.00 (includes expedited shipping w/tracking and insurance in U.S. and Canada)



Deee-Funkd

February 11, 2011 by Jimmy J · Leave a Comment  

Defunkd’s exclusive collection of vintage t-shirts for sale at reasonably exorbitant prices.


Item #17: Deee-Lite World Clique Tour

Year: 1991

Circulation: Rarer than no dew drops in your garden.

Deee-Lite (with 3 e’s people!) was an electronic pop trio fronted by Lady Miss Kier and backed by Super DJ Dmitri and Tōwa Tei. Their trippy image was inspired by 60s and 70s psychedelia with Lady Miss Kier commonly sporting vintage Emilio Pucci pieces. I saw Deee-Lite rock an outdoor rave just outside of Toronto in 1994. Legendary. The band parted ways in 1996 but each member currently has a successful DJ career, because groove really is in their hearts.

 

Brand: Hanes

Measurements: 22″ (pit-to-pit) 27″ (rear collar-bottom seam)

Condition: Excellent vintage condition.

Variables: None

Price: $450.00 (includes expedited shipping w/tracking and insurance in U.S. and Canada)