This blog has inspired the creation of yet another t-shirt series.
A few years back Japanese label Peel + Lift used one of my posts as the launchpad for a contemporary design.
And now US t-shirt company Rock Roll Repeat has produced a new range inspired by my 2011 piece on rockin’ Miriam Linna’s legendary JD-zine Bad Seed.
After reading the post last year, Rock Roll Repeat’s Joshua Shame contacted Linna and their discussions resulted in the new collection of five fine shirts each showing a Bad Seed cover.
In white on black and black or crimson on stone, the shirts are packaged with a history of Bad Seed and its links to Linna’s other activities on her own and with her husband, the late and very much lamented Billy Miller.
Rock Roll Repeat has done a bang up job with the tees; check out The Bad Seed Collection at the label’s online shop here.
Linna and Miller’s label Norton Records, the world’s wildest record company, continues to thrive. Visit the Norton website here.
I’ll finish as I did with the original Bad Seed post eight – eek! – years ago, with a blast of Chico’s Girl, as recommended by Bad Seed 2:
Mario
February 22, 2019 at 3:31 amPaul, I respect your role as meticulous historian and serious , scrupulous author — most ‘rock n roll’ books are poorly written, dreary star struck amateur hagiography, or simply, made up — I remember speaking with a respected publisher ( who shall remain nameless ) who admitted to me in an unguarded moment that their editors and ghost writers simply invented whole chunks of text on a well known, now deceased American punk rock musician.
When is your McLaren book going to be available? I really look forward to reading it since I know it is going to be a serious and well researched text.
If I may, I’d like to ask — what is your opinion on the Fred Vermorel book on Vivienne Westwood? Is it a serious and well written text?
( The Ian Kelly book was simply dreadful, peppered with typos, historical error, poor syntax, and, it also shamelessly plagiarised chunks of your research. One wonders why Vivienne approved it )
I appreciate your views. Thanks.
Mario
Paul Gorman Author
February 22, 2019 at 5:13 amHi Mario
Thank you for your kind words about my work.
Fred Vermorel’s book on VW is a clever take on a fascinating subject. I like it. Jane Mulvagh’s life remains the definitive text on Westwood.
Fred and I have spoken many times – he has been helpful for my McLaren biography; there were periods between 1963 and 1981 when he and MM were particularly close, but of course by book spans the entire life – 1946-2010 – so takes in much more than the period from art school through 430 King’s Road and Punk to Worlds End which may be familiar to some people.
The Kelly book is not worthy of comment (though I wouldn’t mind being reimbursed the legal fees I accrued in establishing his and VW’s grievous copyright infringements). Career-ending in terms of him being considered as a serious author. Every publisher will be wary of a writer who can commit such serious errors (not least the libels), though the editor and publisher in that particular case shoulder a share of the blame for allowing it to go to press.
My book is published on the 10th anniversary of Mclaren’s death in April 2020. It will be extensive. I aim for it to be clear-eyed, and not just about him. I hope it justifies your interest and thanks again for writing.
Best
PG