The first album, The Shirts, was recorded in London (while lead singer Golden commuted back to the US to shoot Miloš Forman’s screen version of Hair) and released in 1978, and became very popular in Europe, the single Tell Me Your Plans charting in the top five in the Netherlands for example.
The venue was owned by Hilly Kristal and was known as a forum which introduced artists such as The Ramones, Misfits, Television, the Patti Smith Group, Mink DeVille, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Fleshtones, The Voidoids, The Cramps, Blondie, The Shirts, and Talking Heads.
The Shirts | Yellow shirts | Shirts versus skins | Shirts & Skins | Blood, Sweat and T-shirts |
Other bands recorded by Metropolis Video at CBGBs were The Shirts, the Tuff Darts (featuring Robert Gordon), Ruby and the Rednecks, and Orchestra Luna.
Some artists signed to Spectra Heritage label are Spanky and Our Gang, The Rip Chords, The Shirts, Tuff Darts, Nazz, The Shadows of Knight.
Seattle reliever George Sherrill and strength coach Allen Wirtala had the shirts made up shortly after a game at Yankee Stadium.
American presidents, including Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr., have also worn the shirts when visiting the Cuban community in Miami.
The shirts were produced by The Critical Voice, an anti-war group; the text was inspired by the German phrase Wir schweigen nicht ("We will not be silent"), the slogan of the White Rose, the "subversive" German antifascist anti-Nazi organization.
Finally, the band printed t-shirts for the song "Chiquita Chaser" that imitated the logo of Chiquita Brands International, who threatened them with a lawsuit causing them to cease production of the shirts.