Its the final day of Punk Week here at The Captain's Vintage. I know that it says it is day 6, but on the 7th day, the Punk Gods Rested.
Today we feature the most legendary band of the straight edge movement of the 1980s, Minor Threat!
When Teen Idles broke up in 1980, Ian Mckaye and Jeff Nelson decided to form a new band. They recruited Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker, and played their first show in a basement to about 50 people. It probably looked something like this live show, recorded at Buff Hall in Camden NL
Embracing the DIY spirit, Nelson and Mackaye used the small amount of money they generated from Teen Idles to form their own record label, which released all of the music of the Teen Idles, Minor Threat, and numerous other DC Hardcore bands including S.O.A. fronted by Henry Rollins, The Necros, and Government Issue.
Henry Rollins with Ian at the Haagen Das (Henry was the manager)
Minor Threat became the most well known hardcore band of its time, and through its DIY touring and distribution, reached all over the United States and the world. Without the internet, this is a pretty amazing accomplishment, with modern bands still struggling for the level of exposure that Minor Threat attained.
Unfortunately due to arguments about direction of music and the band, as well as disgust with the hardcore scene in general, they broke up in 1983, but all members moved on to new musical endeavors, most notably with Ian forming Fugazi and Brian Baker going on to join Bad Religion.
The shirt that we have are featuring today was purchased at an east coast show in the early 1980s, however, it features the logo of Zed's Records, a legendary punk and rock record store in Long Beach California from the late 70s to the early 2000's.
This shirt features the cover design from the Salad Days EP, from 1983. The photo, by Glen E Friedman, is one of the most iconic punk photos of all time, and it shows the members of Minor Threat sitting on the porch of their collective house, aptly titled Dischord House.
This shirt is very rare and original, as it was actually made in 1983, and survived to now, 33 years later.
Its been a great week visiting punk music of the 1980s at The Captain's Vintage through t-shirts, please take a moment to read our other blog posts and to check out our special Vintage Punk Rock T-shirts Collection. Thanks for reading!