Top 10 Classic Rock T-Shirts

Deciding who would make the Old Skool Hooligans' top ten list of Classic Rock T-shirts was never going to be an easy task because it's so subjective and personal. Everyone has their own opinions of who are the true legends of classic rock and why they should be included in our top ten T-shirt list.

So with the whole office having an opinion, deciding who was going to make the final top ten Classic Rock T-shirt list was going to take time and some serious thought. With this in mind, we did the only sensible thing we could think of: go down to the pub, where after several pints and much healthy and, in some instances, heated debate, we agreed on the criteria we would use to select our Top Ten Classic Rock T-Shirts.

The decision was made up of a mixture of the artist's credibility, the overall T-shirt design and graphic representation, along with the shirt's long-term street cred appeal, and so with all of that in mind, this is what we came up with. 

Presenting the Old Skool Hooligans Top 10 Classic Rock T-Shirts - In no particular order.

Dino's Bar & Grill - the immortal line taken from the classic 1976 release 'The Boys Are Back in Town' by Irish hard rockers Thin Lizzy. It featured the late Phil Lynott on bass guitar and was the first single from the band's iconic Jailbreak album. 

Ace of Spades is the unofficial anthem of every heavy metal rock fan and headbanger globally. Motorhead, fronted by English rocker Lemmy, are often considered to be one of the biggest influences on British heavy metal rock in the 70s and early 80s.

Cum On Feel The Noize - strap on your Doc Martins; it's time for some serious dance floor stomping. Initially considered a skinhead band, Slade were, in truth, just four ordinary blokes from the Midlands who liked a drink and a good time. This track was later covered by Quiet Riot and featured on their 1983 album - Metal Health.

A Night At The Opera - Queen had to be on our list one way or another, so it was just a case of deciding how they should be celebrated. A Night At The Opera was the band's fourth studio album and featured the sentimental ballad 'Love of My Life' written by the late Freddy Mercury for his long-time friend Mary Austin.

Let's Dance - Serious Moonlight Tour - this is the only tour T-shirt that made our top ten list. It celebrates the 1983 Serious Moonlighting Tour, performed by a true music icon David Bowie; the world tour was in support of the Let's Dance album and played an incredible 96 shows that sold out at every venue it played, making it one of Bowie's most successful tours ever.

Sign O The Times - from the troubled soul or one of the world's greatest musicians, depending on your point of view, it was a tough choice regarding which Prince Rogers Nelson or Love Symbol as he was to be known in the early 90s, was going to make our top ten list. But after serious consideration, Sign O The Times just pipped Purple Rain.

Our Price Records - we appreciate you might be thinking, how does a record store make the list of Top 10 Classic Rock T-Shirts? We will explain - you see, in our minds, the Our Price Records logo is, without a doubt, still one of the most remarkable design pieces from the '70s and will remain in the heart of every classic rock and music fan of a certain age forever. 

Greetings From Asbury Park - no top ten classic rock list of any sort would be complete without featuring the 'Boss', and our list is no different. Produced in June 1972, this was Springstein's debut studio album, and although it wasn't considered a commercial success. A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band of ‘Blinded By The Light’ went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February 1977 and was also a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada.

The Smiths - love or hate them, you've got to admire any band that doesn't take themselves that seriously, despite Morrisseys best efforts. Plus, anyone that is happy to go out wearing a T-shirt featuring Mel Smith and Dame Maggie Smith and two other people called Smith has to be alright with us here at Old Skool Hooligans.

The Number Of The Beast Red - for a lot of people (but not all), wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt is a bit like having a tattoo on the face; you need to be 100% committed. The design of Iron Maiden T-shirts always makes a statement - usually quite scary- so it was easy for us to include them in our top ten list of Classic Rock T-shirts.

Conclusion

We appreciate that this list might not be everyone's choice, and by no means it is meant to be the definitive top ten Classic Rock T-shirt list. But having said that, and after taking the criteria, we used to make our selections into consideration, we think we’ve pulled together a fairly eclectic and diverse mix of both artists and designs.

However, if you think we've missed your favourite classic rocker off the list or have any contributions you would like to add to our Classic Rock Top Ten T-Shirt list or any of the T-shirts we offer here at Old Skool Hooligans, please get in touch with us at info@oldskoolhooligans.com.