The Ramones tour manager Monte A. Melnick and Founder of Punk Magazine John Holstrom sat down with ECC (East Coast Connection) to talk about the history of The Ramones T-Shirt. Tracing back to the beginnings in a loft on 4th street all the way through to the final tour 2,263 shows later. We spoke about how Arturo Vega (The Ramones Artistic Director) came up with the original concept of the eagle and how it changed into the well-known logo of The Ramones. Richard Colligan (Owner of Metropolis Vintage) is the host of the conversation. Richard brought along his extensive collection of Vintage Ramones T-Shirts displayed throughout the entire interview. If you want to see how Rock T-Shirts became a major source of income and developed into a major collectible, watch the video as we revisit the history of The Ramones logo from simple typeface lettering to the Presidential seal logo that is known worldwide.

REST IN PEACE, NICK KNOX 

(1953 – 2018)

One thing that unites all of us at here at Metropolis Vintage is a love for THE CRAMPS.  Metropolis is pleased to present the very vintage CRAMPS T-shirt collection of proprietor Richard Colligan. All of these rare and hard-to-find relics once clothed some Voodoo Idols of their own. They’ve been saved from the Garbageman and are now available for that eyeball in your martini to enjoy. We hope you enjoy checking these out. These aren’t all featuring Mr. Knox, but are featured as a tribute to THE CRAMPS eternal spirit.

LUX INTERIOR, POISON IVY RORSCHACH, BRYAN GREGORY, NICK KNOX, KID CONGO POWERS, MIRIAM LINNA, CANDY DEL MAR . . . and the rest.

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!

We here at METROPOLIS VINTAGE love a good leather jacket. A well-fitting MC jacket is cool, timeless look iconicized by James Dean, The Ramones, and many others.  We’ve got a heavy rack of leather here in our store, only a few blocks away from the famous spot behind CBGB where The Ramones posed for the cover of their first LP. Although Johnny’s the only one rocking a true motorcycle jacket for that one. Fun fact: John Holmstrom of Punk Magazine and Ramones illustration fame recently designed our store logo. At any rate, stop by and slap on a classic leather motorcycle jacket before the weather gets cold. We strive to find all sizes, including smaller ones which are always in high demand and the quickest to fly off the shelves. Get tough!

METROPOLIS VINTAGE – the biggest and best Vintage T-Shirt shop in NYC! Don’t just listen to us, take it from the December issue of ROLLING STONE Magazine where our Rock and Roll T-Shirt selection was highlighted in their ultimate Xmas gift guide. When Rolling Stone digs your store, well . . . you just have to brag a bit. Here we’ve got some selections from that ROCK AND ROLL section of our store. We’ve got any and every kind of music shirt for you or anyone you might be shopping for – from ANY ERA – obscure punk and new wave tees that you may not have known even existed to hard rock, rap, metal, ’90s “alternative”, The Beatles and Grateful Dead for the classic rock lover. Our T-Shirt selection is ever changing and constantly being refreshed so give us a call or stop by anytime to have a look!

HEY all you steampunk fans, here are some sunglasses that your not going to see in many places. With mesh sidings either in gold or silver these sunglasses are basically a dream come true. You can come in or get them at our online site ETSY <—CLICK MEEE