Brummy rockers Black Sabbath have topped the vintage printed t-shirt charts. The band consists of guitarists Tonny Iommi and Geezer Butler, Drummer Bill Ward and The Prince of Darkness himself Ozzy Osbourne. Sales of the US Tour Shirt from 1978 have also been helped thanks to Avengers Assemble star Robert Downey Jr wearing the garment in his latest blockbuster film.

Vintage rock shirts have to be one of the most enduring clothing items. They are often worn by teenagers who were born long before many of the bands split. They are also often worn by models and young popular music acts. Retailer HMV compiled a list of the best-selling classic rock t-shirts and Sabbath finished in Number One position at the end of 2012. Led Zeppelin were just behind; taking second and third spots. Surprisingly The Beatles only made it to number nine in the list with a printed t-shirt featuring their Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album over. Incidentally this is my favourite album cover ever (see previous blog).

HMV's top 10 best-selling classic rock T-shirts for 2012:

1. Black Sabbath - US Tour 78

2. Led Zeppelin - USA 77

3. Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day

4. David Bowie - Smoking

5. Bruce Springsteen - Sand Tour

5. Foo Fighters - Gold logo

6. AC/DC - Angus And Brian

7. Metallica - Skull Explosion

8. Rolling Stones - Union Jack Tongue

9. Beatles - Sgt Pepper

10. Guns N'Roses - Appetite For Destruction

At GF we have decades of experience printing custom garments.

You can place an order on our eshop, ring 029020 755 733 or send an email to info@goldenfinishes.co.uk

You will have all seen these icon album covers before. You may have grown up listening to one of these bands and I’m sure some of these albums are more like the soundtrack of your youth. I found these bands later on in life but I can assure you I love them as much as you. This is the rundown of my top 5 favourite album images of all time and a few cheeky facts thrown in as well.

No. 5- The Clash – London Calling

One of the most iconic images in rock n roll history

The image depicts lead singer Joe Strummer smashing up a bass guitar at New York’s Palladium in 1979

The picture taken by Pennie Smith who tried to convince Joe it was too blurry to be an album cover, but she was overruled!

No. 4- The Beatles- Abbey Road

Famously over analysed as Paul McCartney’s funeral procession

Taken outside the world famous Abbey Road Studios in London on the 8^th of August 1969

Photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo whilst he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up the traffic

No. 3- Nirvana- Nevermind

The album cover shows a baby boy, alone underwater with a US dollar bill on a fishhook just out of his reach. According to Cobain, he conceived the idea while watching a television program on water births with Dave Grohl

The naked baby on the cover of the album is Spencer Elden who has been offered large sum of money to re-create the famous image

David Geffen was worried that the baby’s genitalia would offend people, but Kurt Cobain made it clear his only compromise would be to place a sticker over the baby’s genitalia saying "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet paedophile"

No. 2- Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon

Designed by British design company Hipgnosis, who had worked on the previous 2 Floyd albums

The light band on the album cover has six colours, missing indigo compared to the traditional division of the spectrum into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet

Some stoner, teenage fans are convinced that the rainbow is a hint that the album is synced to the Wizard of Oz

No. 1- The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Grammy Award-winning album packaging was famously designed by Peter Blake

The collage depicted around 60 famous people, including writers, musicians, film stars, and a number of Indian gurus as requested by George Harrison

Adolf Hitler and Jesus were also requested by John Lennon, but ruled out on common sense grounds and the fact Lennon once said that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus

Those were my top 5 favourite albums with a few weird and wonderful facts about each one. These pieces of artwork look great when transferred on to t-shirts. At GF we’ve been printing custom garments for years, from local bands to famous album covers. We do it all! You can place an order on our eshop, ring 029020 755 733 or send an email to info@goldenfinishes.co.uk

Well well well, I can’t believe it’s almost here again! A year passes by so quickly! I don’t want you to panic but it’s only 38 days til Christmas. Don’t worry you’ve still got plenty of time to get organised and buy all those presents for your loved ones. So chill out, maybe treat yourself to an early mince pie and a glass of mulled wine. I think this is acceptable as the run up for Christmas seems to start earlier every year.

The lights were switched on in Cardiff last night and the winter fair is already open. As everyone knows the biggest indication that the Christmas period has begun is seeing the Coca Cola advert;  the famous Coke truck with Santa Claus dressed in red and white; much like that of a Coke Can. I saw that ad earlier in the week so I’m getting all festive nice and early. The Christmas period for me is all about spending time with family and friends whether it is in a nice warm house or in front of an open fire in a cosy local pub.

Both of these places although nice, present a problem for us avid Christmas jumper wearers. Although some would say I look both incredibly handsome and festive, I always tend to overheat. But I have learnt from my mistakes! It hit me one day in one glorious realisation moment. The only reason you associate people ‘wrapping up warm’ is because of the weather; the weather which is outside! This meant I could wear my standard printed t-shirts indoors.

But this felt wrong without some sort of Christmasy design. So I got a load of Christmas designs off the internet and had some printed t-shirts made; genius I know. I even started designing my own; giving them away as presents to family and friends. At GF Europe, we pride ourselves on turning your logos or designs into high quality printed t-shirts.

For a top class print transfer process contact GF Europe; we have over 30 years’ experience in the print and garment industry. Please call GF Europe today on 029 2075 5733 or email your print transfer or garment transfer questions to: info@goldenfinishes.com

You’ll know them when you’ll see them. Printed t-shirts become iconic when printed with awesome band names and images. Band t-shirts are worn as a badge of honour, as a statement about who the wearer is and as a rock’n’roll uniform. What are your favourite band t-shirt designs?

Showing your band-loyalty is important to die-hard music fans, and an instantly recognisable, cool printed t-shirt design does wonders for the popularity of your group. If you’re busy creating your own printed t-shirts for your band, check out some of top 5 iconic band tees for inspiration and find out how to put together your own iconic printed t-shirts!

5. GUNS N’ROSES
With their limited colour palette and signature guns and roses design, Guns’n’Roses printed t-shirts are instantly memorable. The symmetry of the design and the classic clash of weapons and flowers make the Guns’n’Roses printed t-shirts an enduring favourite.

4. ROLLING STONES
You know the one. The provocative red lips, the tongue? The actual band name barely features  on Rolling Stones printed t-shirts, yet the huge, attention-grabbing logo tells you exactly what the shirt is about. Of course, it helps that the Stones are icons in their own right, but the sheer, confrontational impact of their signature printed t-shirts image, and the limited colour scheme, makes this one of the all-time great band t-shirts.

3. MISFITS
Another staple black shirt, another limited palette and another high-impact image! Perhaps not as iconic if you’re not up on your punk but, the Misfit’s fiend skull design on their printed t-shirts looks cool and really pushes their image.

2. NIRVANA
Nirvana’s messed-up yellow face is synonymous with a whole youth subculture. The ideal recipe for iconic printed t-shirts has been followed to the letter with this design too. A black shirt, a basic colour palette, a simple but immediately recognisable image, all combined to make the perfect band tee.

1. RAMONES
It couldn’t be anything else. There’s not much more to say about the Ramones printed t-shirts. They look so good that they’ve become a fashion staple even for those that have never listened to the music, that’s the mark of top printed t-shirts designs. Ultimate exposure and more fans than you could even dream of!

Hopefully now you’ve got all the inspiration you need to create your very own iconic printed t-shirts. The next step is getting your printed t-shirts made! Golden Finishes create high-quality, low-cost printed t-shirts and we’ll even send you a trial shirt so that you can make sure your printed t-shirts are perfect before buying in bulk.

Browse our shop to find the perfect t-shirt fit and then use our easy step-by-step process to build your printed t-shirts into iconic, attention-grabbing merch that your fans will love. Alternatively, give us a call today on 029 2075 5733 to discuss your requirements!