Friday, February 22, 2008

Sweet Relief Clash T-Shirt Auction 2/16 - 2/26/08

LOS ANGELES, CA - Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is offering a one-of-a-kind Clash t-shirt screened by Paul Simonon, the seminal British punk band’s visual artist and bassist.

In 1976 The Clash was about to release its debut album, The Clash, one of the first and the most groundbreaking punk albums ever. Simonon, chiefly responsible for the band’s clothing and stage backdrops, silk screened t-shirts for the Clash’s upcoming shows. In 1977 Simonon gave this shirt to punk priestess Patti Smith. Smith later gave it to her drummer, Jay Dee Daugherty. Daugherty donated it to Sweet Relief, so the charity could utilize it to raise funds for musicians who find themselves in need.

Sweet Relief originally intended to raffle this shirt to a fan --- a more egalitarian way of making it available to those who appreciate its unique history. Unfortunately, international and national sweepstakes laws forbid raffles without there also being an offer of free entry. Giving the shirt away would defeat our primary purpose -- giving financial aid to musicians in medical need. Although it excludes many people to whom we wanted to give a chance to own this, our first obligation is to the musicians who need us.

The ten day auction will be posted on eBay at www.ebay.com/sweetrelief from noon Saturday, February 16 to noon Tuesday, February 26, 2008.

For further details please visit Sweet Relief’s web site http://www.sweetrelief.org.

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is a Los Angeles-based national charity providing financial assistance to musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. There are many talented artists who will never be rich or famous, but who play essential roles in the transcendent connection between fans and music. Sweet Relief tries to redress some of the imbalance between the few in music who have a lot and many who struggle but persist in their art. Please also visit Sweet Relief’s MySpace page www.myspace.com/sweetreliefmusiciansfund .

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