Back in the 1980s I was shopping in a local mom-n-pop record store and they had that typical wall of rock t-shirts that you could purchase. One shirt in particular stood out… it actually stopped me in my tracks. It had an illustration of a television with the words that said KILL YOUR TV. I vividly remember my teenage-self thinking out loud “why would you want to do that?” But in that moment something clicked. And till this day I have never stopped thinking about that simple black and white t-shirt on the wall of one hundred other t-shirts.
I don’t remember if that shirt was associated with a certain band or if it was just a counter-culture slogan that the owners of the store liked to sell. I was into the LA and OC punk rock scene at the time so it fit with my current ethos of F-the establishment. Ironic how modern day punk rock is a bunch of pussies who kowtow to the establishment that we were railing against way back when. Believe it or not I was a born and raised conservative who had to keep my mouth shut amongst my friends. Even tho at the time I agreed with *almost everything the scene stood for (minus their stance on abortion). Here we are today and the MAGA movement is more punk rock than the scene I was a part of 30 years ago.
I adopted the KILL YOUR TV as my mantra from that day forward and months later George H. W. Bush would give his famous “Thousand points of light” and “New World Order” speeches leading up to and during his presidency. One that I voted for… but would always associate “Kill your TV” with.
Boy what I would learn over the next 30 years.
Back in the 1980s I was shopping in a local mom-n-pop record store and they had that typical wall of rock t-shirts that you could purchase. One shirt in particular stood out… it actually stopped me in my tracks. It had an illustration of a television with the words that said KILL YOUR TV. I vividly remember my teenag- self thinking “why would you want to do that?” But in that moment something clicked. And till this day I have never stopped thinking about that simple black and white t-shirt on the wall of one hundred other t-shirts.
I don’t remember if that shirt was associated with a certain band or if it was just a counter-culture slogan that the owners of the store liked to sell. I was into the LA and OC punk rock scene at the time so it fit with my current ethos of F-the establishment. Ironic how modern day punk rock is a bunch of pussies who kowtow to the establishment that we were railing against way back when. Believe it or not I was a born and raised conservative who had to keep my mouth shut amongst my friends. Even tho at the time I agreed with *almost everything the scene stood for (minus their stance on abortion). Here we are today and the MAGA movement is more punk rock than the scene I was a part of 30 years ago.
I adopted the KILL YOUR TV as my mantra from that day forward and months later George H. W. Bush would give his famous “Thousand points of light” and “New World Order” speeches leading up to and during his presidency. One that I voted for… but would always associate “Kill your TV” with.
Boy what I would learn over the next 30 years.
Back in the 1980s I was shopping in a local mom-n-pop record store and the had that typical wall of rock t-shirts that you could purchase. One shirt in particular stood out… it actually stopped me in my tracks. It had an illustration of a television with the words that said KILL YOUR TV. I vividly remember my teenag- self thinking “why would you want to do that?” But in that moment something clicked. And till this day I have never stopped thinking about that simple black and white t-shirt on the wall of one hundred other t-shirts.
I don’t remember if that shirt was associated with a certain band or if it was just a counter-culture slogan that the owners of the store liked to sell. I was into the LA and OC punk rock scene at the time so it fit with my current ethos of F-the establishment. Ironic how modern day punk rock is a bunch of pussies who kowtow to the establishment that we were railing against way back when. Believe it or not I was a born and raised conservative who had to keep my mouth shut amongst my friends. Even tho at the time I agreed with *almost everything the scene stood for (minus their stance on abortion). Here we are today and the MAGA movement is more punk rock than the scene I was a part of 30 years ago.
I adopted the KILL YOUR TV as my mantra from that day forward and months later George H. W. Bush would give his famous “Thousand points of light” and “New World Order” speeches leading up to and during his presidency. One that I voted for… but would always associate “Kill your TV” with.
Boy what I would learn over the next 30 years.