I got a trio of T-shirts for Christmas from a fellow musician friend. The t-shirts each span a decade (approximately) and they contain silhouettes of popular musicians.

My friends and I have been having fun with the 1980's one. The company doesn't provide an answer key, they want folks like us to guess. They have a low-traffic flickr thread going, but my friends and I have a much more successful high traffic livejournal thread going.

Full color image of the T-shirt here

Numbered list version here, harder to see the white callouts

Each silhouette has been, so far, more than just an image of the artist in question. Each one has been somehow iconic: Either an album cover shot or a particularly iconic image from a very specific music video, and for almost all of our guesses, we've been able to back them up with Youtube clips or images found on the web, each one unmistakable. And of course, each artist is absolutely definitively "80's" by some definition, so it would be a waste of time to guess, for example, "Elvis" unless you mean Costello.

Here's what we've got so far:

1 David Byrne, specifically from the Stop Making Sense tour.
2 Boy George
3 Joe Jackson?
4 Madonna
5 Michael Jackson
6 (*NOT* Flock of Seagulls: Synthesizer type is wrong. Can't find an example image of Howard Jones with that type of keytar, the one in the "New Song" video is a different type.)
7
8 Cyndi Lauper
9
10 Tina Turner
11 (Lots of guesses on this one, can't nail it down exactly.)
12
13 Annie Lennox, specifically from the Sweet Dreams video.
14 Bono, specifically from Under A Blood Red Sky.
15 David Lee Roth
16 Glenn Danzig (the Misfits)
17 Eddie Van Halen, specifically from the You Really Got Me video, where he played an Ibanez explorer knock-off instead of one of his more famous frankenstrats. Still not entirely certain about that one?
18 (guitar is not big enough to be Brian Setzer, otherwise that would be our guess.)
19 (hair would suggest Kate Pierson of the B-52's, but I can't find an image of her with that collar and belt. Perhaps Sheena Easton from the "Swear" video? Can't tell for sure)
20 (Unclear. Maybe Mark Knopfler from the Money for Nothing video? But the headband isn't called out in white, and I'd expect that if it were so.)
21 (Robert Smith of The Cure? Can't find an image of him in that pose, though.)
22 John Cougar Mellencamp
23 Sting, specifically from the Every Breath You Take video.
24 The Dead Kennedys, "Pull My Strings".
25 Prince
26
27 Billy Idol
28
29 Danny Elfman, "Dead Man's Party" era.
30
31 (30+31 are a duo, so random guess of Hall and Oates?)

Videos, from top left:
d/k (near #3) (Vixy argues Max Headroom, but I say too pointy for that.)
ZZ Top, "Legs" (near #5)
d/k (near #7)
d/k (other near #7)
A-ha, "Take On Me" (top right corner)
Irene Cara, "Flashdance" (near #2)
d/k (near #6)
"99 Luftballoons" (near #9)
d/k (near #13)
The Clash, "Rock the Casbah" (near #17)
MC Hammer, "Can't Touch This" (near #22)
d/k (near #23)
MTV station ID (near #25)
d/k (near #27)
d/k (near #29)
d/k (near #31)

6. I'm thinking Devo
7. Who played a Flying-V in the 80s and had short hair? Bob Mould of Husker Du, that's who.
11. Lita Ford?
12. With the flowing skirt, I'm thinking Stevie Nicks
18. I'm pretty sure that Setzer used a smaller Gretsch with the Stray Cats
20. Not Knopfler from that video, anyway. The silhouette is shod
28. Morrissey springs to mind
30. Not Hall and Oates. Darryl Hall didn't play an instrument.

But without the power dome? Can you find an image or video of Mothersbaugh in the baggy outfit and the keytar.... WITHOUT the power dome?




Not an iconic 80's artist, as much as I respect her.



Stevie is on the 70's shirt, in a much more iconic and recognizable silhouette (including scarves).



Um not really: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoG62Wi8twU

That guitar is bigger than him.



Oo, now that sounds about right. We need to find an image or video of him in that kind of pose and outfit.



Good point.

Could the duo be the guys from ZZ Top?

I doubt it. They don't look like they have big fuzzy beards. :-)

21 Tracy Chapman?

I associate Tracy with 90's, but I could be wrong about that. Can you find an image of her in that pose?

hmm, no luck with GIS for that pose, but I did find one with similar hair.

You seem to have skipped over Bob Mould. I'm 95% certain of that one.

One video of Setzer with a big guitar doesn't mean he always used it. This is a bit later, but shows a smaller guitar. Also, look at the silhouette again. It goes from well above his waist almost down to his knee. The lack of depth may be confusing our eyes.

I can find pix of Devo with the biosuits, without the dome, but also without the keytar.

I wasn't sold on Stevie Nicks anyway. It looks like whoever it is is doing a ballet spin or something similar.

Also, I can't imagine that that's not Kate Pierson.

Duo: maybe Tears for Fears? OMD? Air Supply?

Tears for Fears was one of my guesses for the duo as well.

Which one do you think is Bob Mould/Husker Du?

I'm warming up to Devo for that one, but still need to see an actual video with one of them looking exactly like that to be fully convinced. Also note the headset mic, called out in white. Did Devo use headset mics in in any of their videos?

#7, with the Flying V, is Bob.

Did Bob play his V slung down that far?

When I first saw 11 I immediately thought Tina Turner. Until I saw 10 which immediately ruled it out. Then I thought Bonnie Tyler.

I'd love to see a higher resolution colour image. Have any links?

I'm not seeing Morrissey in #28. I can see why someone might think that with a little bit of pompadour happening, but the pose isn't expressive nor flamboyant enough. #18 is a more Morrissey-like pose, but too bad about the guitar.

#21 can pretty much only be Robert Smith.

#30 and 31, definitely not OMD. That would not be the appropriate image to use. OMD would most definitely feature a keyboard in the image. Besides it wasn't (isn't) a duo.

Damn, the list has so many that are super-obvious and then that mix of complete mysteries. Not well balanced.

Sorry, I only see what's available at their web site, can't find a higher rez image.

26 *could* be Simon Lebon. But as much as I'd like to find a Duran Duran reference in this image, I'm only lightly suggesting it. The more I think about it the less I'm leaning, but I can't think of anyone else right now, even though the image looks SO familiar to me.

#28 is making me think Rick Astley.

#30 and 31 are saying PIxies to me now. I can't help but see #30 as a little chubbier than the other images, leading me immediately to Black Francis.

BTW, damn you Tony for posting this!

Well, I may have 'grown up' in the 80's, but I didn't watch much MTV and rarely knew what bands and artists looked like.

I can do a lot better with this one, though. Ha!

Absolutely. This is clearly not the same image, but it's an identical pose. He also often dragged his toe like is being shown in both.

#11 - Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Boots, belt, wrist-stuff and of course, the HAIR. That's my final answer.

#19 - Definitely not Kate Pierson, IMO. Maybe you meant Cindy Wilson who actually wore a beehive in a lot of photos, including the cover for the B-52's self-titled 1979 release. Incidentally, that's my vote, but it seems out of place to have Wilson in this image. The band had most of its success in the very early 80's and then again in the 90's. I would not call them a staple of the 80's like some of the other artists featured. Nor would I think to put Wilson's image as a representation of the band, even though it would probably be most recognizable. IMO, not iconic enough and definitely not the the most popular band member nor what I'd consider the "front man." Those are the only reasons I'd bet against this one.

#18 - David Bowie. Almost guaranteed. Early 80's (like 1983, during the Let's Dance album release/tour). The hair and the undone tie, plus the sport jacket practically seal this one. The pant cuff (seriously) is the only detractor for me on this one.

That image has convinced me! :-)

Wow, that's an almost identical image. Fantastic!

Yeah, I think I may be with you on that one.



Yeah. The thing is, the collar and the belt are telling me I should recognize this artist. In the same way that I coudldn't get Danny Elfman and someone else had to point it out to me. I keep looking at that and saying "I should KNOW this one". Vixy is having the same reaction. That one's really frustrating me.




Thing is, Bowie is already on a shirt from another decade, in his much-more-iconic Ziggy Stardust getup. So I'm thinking this has got to be someone else. That pose just doesn't say "Bowie" to me.

Does the T-shirt producer claim that artists never repeat? Bowie is at least as Iconic as part of the 80's as he is as part of the 70's. If you look through images of the year/tour I mentioned I think you'll change your mind about this one. I thought of it first and then went searching to confirm what I could see in my mind's eye. Didn't find exactly the pose (yet), but did find the sport jacket, exact position of the untied tie, of course the hair and yes as well to the guitar (which he definitely doesn't use for every song).

As an example (without guitar in this image), from the cover of the Modern Love single of 1983:



Modern Love video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdpwICKlZRY

If you think that's not a Bowie pose, look at him live in concert singing "Let's Dance" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K10prQfXxK0

It's possible it's someone else, but at this time I can't think of anyone else that comes anywhere as close to fitting the bill. I wish I could find an image of him in the same suit with the guitar. I've only found one after he's taken off the jacket and with an acoustic.

I'm still leaning toward Cindy Wilson of the B-52's for #19. She's the beehive wearer of the band, so if that image is supposed to be a nod for the B-52's, that's her, not Pierson, who most often appeared with hair in a pouffy 'do or down.

The duo at the bottom could also be the Clash, but the image is far too non-descript for them, IMO.

I really need to see this puzzle solved. Do you have any names of the people at the T company we might dig up some dirt on to blackmail for the answer key?

That's just it: Through the 80's, I don't think I ever saw him with a guitar, at least not on MTV or on album covers.

I agree the outfit matches.




I'm with you there. But I'm still sticking on the collar and belt, which are called out in white ink on the actual t-shirt. Something about that is tickling the back of my mind, like I should remember it from a specific 80's video. And I can't find any B-52's videos with that particular getup. And I'm a B-52's *fan*.

Totally different decade, but I'll be damned if the guitar silhouette isn't a close match:

#12 kate bush? in her wuthering heights dress? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdmvs7r1u9c

On a related note, how about Joan Jett? She had hair like that for a while, and was likely to wear a wristband and a chain belt like the ones depicted. She was not likely to wear high heels, though.

On top of that, those are thigh-high, high-heeled boots.

The TV at the bottom right: Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer.

Nice one!

By the way, high rez version of the silhouettes here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chopshopstore/3475544559/sizes/o/

Perhaps need to log in with a flickr account to see that one, not sure.

Impressive guess. And my heart goes pitter patter to see that video again. Not sure the hair works, but the pose and dress do.

Edit: Vixy points out that there is a headset mic picked out in white ink on that one. So, sorry, not Wuthering Heights, although possibly still Kate if you can find an example image.

By the way, the artist from the Chop Shop store is lurking in the livejournal thread and would like everyone to know there's a sale on these shirts right now. :-)

Boys use “80men” and girls use “80women” at checkout to get 40% off.

I'd still love to see it even higher resolution, but that's much better, even though the images are now in different places and some are cut...

Things I couldn't tell before...

So it's easier to see now that #12 has a head-mounted mic on and a hat with a tassle.

#26 looks to be wearing a T-shirt

#21 and 20 look to be using the same model guitar

....

But none of this helps me identify anyone else.

Vixy has a new guess for #12: Alannah Currie from The Thompson Twins.

I just came up with the same thought.

I'd thought about the Thompson Twins connection last night only because of the hair. But the dress wasn't right. The fact there was a dress at all in fact is the first thing I thought was too wrong.

On the newer image you can also see that the hat doesn't fit this guess. There are so many sources for images that would instantly be recognizable as her, none of them similar to this one at all. I'll have to disagree on that guess.

#12 is definitely dancing and the upraised leg is the left crossing in front of the right.

I also see Thompson Twins hair (Tom Bailey) in #20, but I don't think that would be a good guess for that silhouette.

I want to say the TV behind Annie Lennox (13) is showing multiple people standing directly in front of and behind each other with their arms extended at different levels, so as to emulate a multiarmed Hindu goddess. I want to associate that with the Bangles, but I could be mistaken.

I thought the same thing, although I thought it might have been a mirror trick, where they mirror the left and right sides of the video. Is there a scene that matches that shape in Walk Like an Egyptian?

How about Lady Miss Kier from Deee-lite? I can't think of her having a beehive, but there's something about the star earrings (which I couldn't make out on the smaller one) and the ring.

Note that, on this version, the head is cut off of the possibly-Devo silhouette.

It's a seamless pattern, so any cut off parts are on the opposite side of the image.

Also, Deee-Lite is the next decade, the 90's.

Both good points.

Okay, it's devo for sure. What convinced me was the belt, called out in white on the t-shirt.

Could any of them be Huey Lewis?

We've been trying to tie some of the images to Huey Lewis, but having trouble matching a specific outfit from a well-known 80's video of Huey to any of the silhouettes on the shirt. Some of the outfits come close to 18, except that you never see Huey with a guitar.

There are a lot of image choices I would have changed if I were putting together this design with the intention to reflect a rounded/balanced 80's representation. Huey Lewis would be one I'd definitely include. As it stands, I don't think any of the silhouettes are of him.

Like Tony, I started to go backwards and picking artists to look for. Only to get frustrated of course.

Unfortunately, I also don't think the one with the keytar is anyone from Devo. I haven't seen any Devo images with a keytar yet, only strap mounted synth. Also haven't seen any with head-mounted mic. The suit also doesn't look like an outline of their bio suits to me and the belt looks a little low and not straight enough. Lastly, if I were designing the image and wanted to include Devo, it would be an image with their iconic red hats. Nothing else instantly says "Devo" IMO.

The following images are instantly recognizable:

Michael Jackson - the pose and the glove - it might as well be labled with his name in big bold letters.

Tina Turner - there just no mistaking that image for anyone else. The lean and the hair. And of course the legs.

Madonna - it's not the best silhouette, but still not really mistakable for anyone else. I'd have preferred a slightly different pose and perhaps more hair.

Cindy Lauper - also not mistakable even without any of the white parts. That dress and pose alone do it.

Boy George - hat and overall frumpiness of the outfit. This could not possibly be anyone else.

Prince - similar to the Michael Jackson, it might as well be labeled with his name - it wouldn't be any easier.

David Lee Roth - Jump. Period. I would *not* have put both Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth in the same image.

Everyone else is a little tougher, though a number of them now seem totally obvious, the above were the most in-your-face to me. I'd argue that the above are the most universally recognized ones too. Especially the MJ.

Anyway, I'm thinking of finding out where the designer lives and then holding him for ransom until he reveals all his sources.

Some other artists I considered in my backwards search:

Psychedelic Furs
Simple Minds
Thompson Twins
Spandau Ballet
Duran Duran
Yes
The Clash
Dire Straits (Tony mentioned lead singer as possibility for #20 in OP)
Men at Work
Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Some additional artists I'd consider back-searching:

Big Country
Bryan Adams
Rick Springfield
Peter Gabriel
Toto
Wham!/George Michael (maybe #28 for which I had already suggested Rick Astley)
Los Lobos (for 30/31 maybe)

#20 and #9 are probably the most generic ones of the lot, and it's easy to argue them as so many possibilities. Especially #20 IMO.

Yeah, Susan suggested to me Simple Minds just this morning, and sure enough, the hair on number 26 is (to my eye) identical to the "Don't You Forget About Me" video.

Edit: Darn, it's Michael Stipe. I forgot he used to have hair.

High rez individual silhouettes.

Edit: With some answers.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/chopshopstore/sets/72157611184350055/

We were right about Morrisey.

I'm also going to put a stake in the ground for the duo as Tears for Fears, since the guy on the right is a bassist.

Any guesses for #9 ?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chopshopstore/3107669085/in/set-72157611184350055/

Guitar shape is consistent with Brian May's custom guitar, but it looks a little big, and the hair isn't big enough.

Edit:: No, the headstock is wrong for Brian's custom made guitar.

Edit:: I'm guessing Jon Anderson for number 9. The hair is right for the "Owner of a Lonely Heart" era, and the facial profile looks like him. However, I don't see him playing that guitar in the Owner of a Lonely Heart video (although he does occasionally play guitar in the Yes concerts).

Vixy and I are now pretty sure #6 is Peter Gabriel. She found this image:

http://www.halleyandpeter.nl/afb/gabriel92.jpg

I can't believe I didn't think of it, I'm such a huge slobbering Peter Gabriel fan.

This is funny because two more artists I thought of checking against were Depeche Mode (Martin Gore) and REM (Michael Stipe). I don't think I would have thought of the Martin Gore Silhouette for some time, but I should have gotten the Michael Stipe one based solely on the pose. That's why it looked so damn familiar to me.

Argh.

The Morrissey one, IMO, is a crap image. Just not representative enough. I don't think I would have ever guessed that was Peter Gabriel with the keytar. At least I feel god about having guessed so many correctly. And sure enough many of the artists I thought to look up are in there, including Duran Duran represented in that image you thought was Joe Jackson. Again, it's an image that is obvious for that particular video, but not necessarily representative of the person, Simon Lebon, nor the band. But, anything about 80's music videos MUST have Duran Duran. They were the kings of 80's music video with no exceptions, IMO.

BTW, Re: David Bowie - I told you so!

If it didn't take so long to make really good vector silhouettes, I'd make a bunch myself just to keep this party going. I still have to finish the African Savannah animal ones that I'm supposed to put up in my daughter's bedroom though...

Ok- now I've got to ask!

What is the name of the style of image where one color and bold, solid areas are used- no shading.
Sort of like this image of Juan Valdez

There should be a button on the photo editor that automatically makes something like that, but I don't know anything about it.

edit- another example is the logo for the Flying Tigers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tiger_Line

I think the Madonna pic is from the movie, Desperately Seeking Susan.

That flying tigers pic looks like a woodcut. I know there's a name for the style, but I don't recall what it is...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut

It's called posterization. Essentially you're reducing the number of colors in the image, and it's the color reduction settings in a photo editor program that will create that effect (combined with careful use of the brightness and contrast controls).

The trick is that if you take just any old photo and simply posterize it, it's not going to look nearly as good as the Juan Valdez or Flying Tigers images. Those started off as a simple posterization, but were heavily tweaked by hand illustration to turn them into something really appealing. I think both of those logos predate computer imaging, so the posterization and hand illustration were probably truly done by hand.

Thanks, all!
Sorry for the thread-diversion.

I've really enjoyed this little contest, although I couldn't contribute much to the solutions.

Where is that T-Shirt guy? There are only two left to confirm. Three I suppose if you include the Simon Lebon give-away.