A T-shirt shopping trip with rock singer James Bay

NEW YORK (AP) — Yes, British singer James Bay’s favorite music T-shirt is of the Rolling Stones, but the one he wishes he had? Aretha Franklin.

“Somebody asked the other day, ‘What’s your greatest influence of all-time?’ … I can’t see how it’s not Aretha,” Bay said while shopping at a vintage store with hundreds of music T-shirts plastered around the walls. “Since I was 16, I religiously listened to Aretha Franklin. And I feel (expletive) inspired by what she does.”

Instead of calling her the Queen of Soul, the rocker calls the late icon “the Queen of Music.”

“People talk about greatest singers of all-time (and) people talk about Frank Sinatra (and) Frank Sinatra’s phenomenal, but honestly, how does he hold a flame to Aretha?”

Unfortunately at Metropolis Vintage in New York City, there’s no Aretha in stock — “just can’t find a vintage Aretha T-shirt,” the owner said — though Bay walks away with a shirt featuring the cover of the Beatles’ “Let It Be” and a bright red Keith Haring tee

As he sifts through the collection, he notes other influences as well. Seeing Kurt Cobain’s face on a black tee, he says: “Of all the artists that have iconic looks, his is like, ‘I bleached my hair.’ He’s so cool.” R&B star Maxwell is called “amazing!” and seeing Janet Jackson reminds him that a good friend is going to the pop star’s new residency in Las Vegas this week.

Several T-shirts featuring the Stones hits home with the 28-year-old singer: “Last summer we opened for the Stones. And Ronnie’s been onstage with us.”

“Keith is cool. We’ve hung with Keith a few times. He’s a good dude. He doesn’t say a lot, but he wants to hang. He’s brilliant,” Bay said.

READ MORE:

https://apnews.com/db55e2d1c5e7448eb66cc4f7cf75184f

METROPOLIS resident T-Shirt expert/guru STEPHEN VOLAND gives NEW YORK POST readers the low-down on finding that classic vintage t-shirt!

“Imperfect is better,” says Voland of what gives a vintage tee an It factor. “It just has to be perfect for you.”

Click the link below to read the full story!

https://nypost.com/2019/03/29/how-to-find-
the-perfect-vintage-tee-and-spot-the-cheap-fakes/

. . . and mentioned on NY1!

As the New Year approaches, we can now officially announce that METROPOLIS VINTAGE will be MOVING to our new location in APRIL of 2019! Don’t worry, we’re only shifting three blocks away to a much bigger and even better space at 803 BROADWAY. Between 11th and 12th. There, we’ll be across the street from FLIGHT CLUB and HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE, and new neighbors to comic sales superheroes FORBIDDEN PLANET and legendary bookstore THE STRAND. Stay tuned through the next few months as we’ll announce more details about the GRAND OPENING. Until then, we’ll still happily see you at our usual location over on 43 Third Avenue.

Happy New Year from all of us at METROPOLIS!

METROPOLIS VINTAGE would like to give a HUGE THANKS to JOHN HOLMSTROM and everyone that came out to help us celebrate yesterday.
Things kicked off quickly with local NYC customers and international visitors lining up before the event even started, and John was more than happy to get the ink flowing early and things underway. This was a dual celebration – commemorating the 40th Anniversary of THE RAMONES classic ROAD TO RUIN LP, which John illustrated the cover to, and the launch of his newest ‘zine venture – THE STONED AGE. THE STONED AGE “intends to bring back the fun of 20th century marijuana culture, when it was the choice of hipsters, beatniks, jazz musicians, hippies, and other misfits,” and METROPOLIS was soon packed with many such characters, including members of THE NEW BOMB TURKS, THE GORIES, KILL THE MAYOR, WOLFMANHATTAN PROJECT and THE ART GRAY NOIZZ QUINTET, to name just a few.

Seated in front of a large banner of THE RAMONES, John had an impressive selection of merchandise on hand, from high-quality prints of the map poster he’d drawn for THE RAMONES exhibit at the Queens Museum, to a reprint of the very first issue of PUNK, and of course a big stack of THE STONED AGE to give away. Our limited edition, specially designed METROPOLIS JOHN HOLMSTROM STONED AGE PARTY T-Shirts flew out the door, and even after raiding the back room to find a few extras, they remained in high demand. There MAY be a few more stocked away, so watch this space and we’ll let you know when we have any more to offer.

Speaking of rarities, one of the main highlights of the day was RICHARD COLLIGAN, proprietor of METROPOLIS VINTAGE, displaying his massive collection of vintage CRAMPS and RAMONES T-Shirts acquired throughout the ages. Spanning three decades, this awe-inspiring collection bought a tear to the eye of the most hardened rock fan, partly due to the sign displayed alongside them: “NOT FOR SALE, PUNK!” Nevertheless, everyone left happy, with a piece of history of their own signed by the one and only JOHN HOLMSTROM.
Three hours had sped by in a blur of fun and free beer, all soundtracked to the rarities of DJ DREW REDMOND, and many continued the party by heading over to the JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH just down the block at The Bowery Electric. Thanks once again to all who came out to celebrate with us, and for BEDFORD & BOWERY and EV GRIEVE blogs for covering the party, which John says was his most successful signing to date. Check out these photos from our party and stay tuned for our next event!

It’s RAMONES MANIA over here at METROPOLIS VINTAGE. We’re preparing for a VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT, but in the meantime,
have a look at a few of the RAMONES T-SHIRTS we have in stock. It’s a tough race between THE CRAMPS and RAMONES for METROPOLIS official favorite band, but considering the amount of RAMONES shirts we have waiting for you here, they’d win statistically!