The Shirts

The Shirts are a New York-based American punk band, which was formed in 1975. The band’s early existence (1975 to 1981) was closely linked with CBGB, a music club in the Bowery, but it reformed with many of the early members in 2003 and is currently active.

The Shirts had their roots in Brooklyn, where Robert Racioppo and Artie Lamonica had been playing together on and off as early as 1970. Members of the band were gradually added (including lead singer Annie Golden) in the next three years. The band got its name when Racioppo, having just broken up his existing band, asserted his desire to form a new one, and his indifference to its name: "call it anything ... shirts ... pants ... shoes ... The Shirts!" The newly named band, eventually including nine musicians, played covers at small venues in New York until, in 1975, they went to a show at CBGB featuring Patti Smith and were inspired to play there using only their original material.

The Shirts auditioned for CBGB owner Hilly Kristal which resulted in the band being hired, first to open for other bands (including Television and the Talking Heads), then to play as the headliner band. As the band honed their skills and developed new songs, they played at such other local venues as Max's Kansas City. Like many of the bands championed by Kristal, their sound was actually more pop and dance-oriented than the "art bands" that became famous in association with CBGB.

Although little interest was initially shown in the band by American record labels, The Shirts were featured on a double compilation album featuring the major bands of the CBGB scene in the mid-70s, Live at CBGB. However, Nick Mobbs at EMI (who had signed the Sex Pistols to the label) signed the band to EMI's Harvest label in the fall of 1977, and assigned Mike Thorne (who had also worked on Sex Pistols albums) to produce their first album. Largely for corporate purposes, the band was signed by EMI in conjunction with its US subsidiary label, Capitol Records, which had initially passed on signing the band. This formality would eventually have a significant impact on the band’s early history.

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