Here is a brief look at some of the privately owned items from former punk rocker from late 1976 through to the early 80’s , Andy Jones of The Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean Jail .
ORIGINAL CLASH TOUR POSTER
Andy was also bass player in former Gloucester punk band – Demob and then later in the 1980’s Goth Rock Band “Kiss The Blade” see the video below …. (I am the then slim bass playing geezer in sunglasses and blond hair … still a punk rocker in 1986 )
All the punk clothing items were either worn , or personally acquired by him during this period, as was all the other punk memorabilia now featured here on display .
Andy says …. “Yes both the Quadrophenia and punk rock exhibitions here on display at Littledean Jail are of a very selfish interest… In youth culture terms it was in many ways a controversial, ” sex , drugs and rock and roll” fuelled era . Whilst I never took drugs …. it was a brilliant period … AND I LOVED IT. Loads of great multi-cultural music , fashion , beautiful ladies and I travelled each and every highway from 1976 (when I was mere 14 ) through to the early eighties, jumping trains to travel to watch an endless array of punk rock bands, then having missed the last trains back to Gloucester … sleeping in cardboard boxes with tramps at London Paddington Station on endless occasions (no cardboard boxes or tramps on the platforms nowadays ) . My personal favourite punk bands were… The Sex Pistols, The Clash , UK Subs , The Damned , Siouxsie and The Banshees, 999 to name but a few. I was also a regular at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s “Seditionaries” and their rival cloth shop “Boy” … as well as Camden Market etc . The plain truth is that I WAS THERE …
So for anybody who may well wish to criticize or rubbish these personal collections, I would wish to make it clear that I was never interested in acquiring such items for monetary or investment gains and neither am I a dealer to sell items on …
As is very apparent if and when you visit Littledean Jail …I am simply an obsessive hoarder and so glad I saved these and a great many other items of interest …. hopefully for other peoples enjoyment too. LONG LIVE PUNK ” .
THE FIRST SEX PISTOLS T SHIRT ( SO SAY ????) ….
A VERY RARE AND AT THE TIME A VERY CONTROVERSIAL ….1976 MALCOLM MCLAREN DESIGNED “SMOKING BOYS” T SHIRT WHICH FEATURES AN IMAGE TAKEN BY MCLAREN FROM A PAEDOPHILE MAGAZINE ALSO THIS T SHIRT IS COMPLETE WITH IT’S UNTOUCHED ,INNER ORIGINAL SEX SHOP LABEL
WHILST NOT 100% SURE , AND I MAY BE WRONG ???? (PLEASE DO CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG ???) AS FAR AS I AM AWARE , THIS IS BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF MALCOM MCLAEN’S FIRST 50 SCREEN PRINTED RUNS OF HIS FIRST SEX PISTOLS T SHIRT IN 1976 KNOWN AS THE SMOKING BOYS T SHIRT . SEEN HERE WITH IT’S ORIGINAL SEX LABEL (SEE BELOW) . PRINTED BY THEN SEX PISTOLS BASSIST GLEN MATLOCK USING THE COLLEGE PRINTING EQUIPMENT WHILST HE WAS STUDYING AT CENTRAL ST MARTINS ART SCHOOL IN LONDON .
IF I AM WRONG IT WAS MANUFACTURED DURING THE NEXT PRINT RUN IN THE SAME YEAR SHORTLY AFTER THE FIRST PRINT RUN …1976
CLOSE-UP OF WELL WORN AND NOW WRINKLED SEX ORIGINAL INNER LABEL
BELOW: ORIGINAL 1977 … AT THE TIME (AND STILL IS ) VERY CONTROVERSIAL SEDITIONARIES T-SHIRT . ALSO SEEN HERE WORN BY ADAM ANT ( SEEN HERE WITH SIOUXSIE BACK IN 1977) AND ALSO AMERICAN PUNK ROCK SINGER JOAN JETT .
BELOW ….. CAN’T REMEMBER DATE OF PURCHASE OF THIS ORIGINAL DESTROY MUSLIN SHIRT FROM MALCOM MCLAREN AND VIVIENNE WESTWOOD’S SHOP “SEDITIONARIES” … SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 1977 AND 1979 ?? BUT DEFINATELY AN ORIGINAL ONE .
HERE BELOW IS ANOTHER VERSION OF AN ORIGINAL 1980 DESTROY MUSLIN SHIRT FOR WHICH I BELIEVE WAS AT THE TIME UNDER A SEPERATE LICENCE WITH BOY CLOTHING AS WAS AGREED WITH VIVIENNE WESTWOOD WHILST MALCOM MCLAREN WAS AWAY IN THE USA ?? … PURCHASED FROM BOY CLOTHING SHOP WITH THE UNDERGARMENT AS CAN ALSO BE SEEN HERE … ALONG WITH THE BOY CLOTHING LABEL ON THE COLLAR .
BELOW IS AN ARRAY OF VARIOUS LATE 1970’S TO EARLY 1980’S ORIGINAL PUNK ROCK SHIRTS FROM BOTH MALCOM MCLAREN & VIVIENNE WESTWOOD’S SEDITIONARIES AND THEIR THEN RIVALS BOY CLOTHING BOUTIQUE SHOPS BOTH ON THE KINGS ROAD , CHELSEA. NOW ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL , ALONG WITH A GALLERY OF VARIOUS OTHER PUNK ROCK MEMORABILIA INCLUDING ORIGINAL POSTERS , SIGNED MEMORABILIA…. ETC ETC ALL ON DISPLAY HERE AT THE JAIL
ALL IN ALL A GREAT YOUTH CULTURE PERIOD FOR WHICH ANDY WAS GLAD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF ….. HENCE THIS SELFISH COLLECTION BEING HERE ON DISPLAY FROM WHAT WAS AT THE TIME A BIT OF A CONTROVERSIAL PERIOD IN IT’S OWN RIGHT TOO .
Rear view of parachute harness on original Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood black labelled Punk Rock “Parachute” shirt circa 1977
Close up of button on original Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood black labelled Punk Rock “Parachute” shirt circa 1977
Original Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood black labelled Punk Rock “Parachute” shirt circa 1977
Original Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood black labelled Punk Rock “Parachute” shirt circa 1977
Original Seditionaries product label on Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood black labelled Punk Rock “Parachute” shirt circa 1977
Face on view of parachute harness on original Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood black labelled Punk Rock “Parachute” shirt circa 1977
HERE BELOW IS AGAIN ONLY A BRIEF SLIDESHOW GALLERY OF A FEW OF THE PUNK ROCK MEMORABILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL . TO INCLUDE ORIGINAL POSTERS OF ALL SIZES , FLYERS , SIGNED ALBUMS AND PHOTO’S ETC, SID VICIOUS’S WELL WORN BOOTS AND WRIST CHAIN ETC, ETC
PLEASE NOTE … DUE TO SIZE AND QUANTITY OF IMAGES IN THE SLIDESHOW , THERE MAY BE A SLIGHT DELAY IN LOADING THEM … SO PLEASE BE PATIENT
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Original UK Subs “Warhead” single poster
BELOW…. A SEEMINGLY ORIGINAL AND WELL AGED VINTAGE SEX PISTOLS POSTER SIZED 25.5 INCHES HEIGHT X 14 INCHES WIDTH?? … NOT REALLY SURE OF IT’S ORIGINS. WAS THIS A ONE-OFF BESPOKE POSTER, OR WAS IT A LATER DESIGN TO POSSIBLY INCORPERATE THE LATER USED JAMIE REID SWASTIKA SYMBOL DESIGN ON THE PISTOLS MEMORABILIA ?? I HONESTLY DO NOT KNOW BUT IT’S STILL AN INTERESTING POSTER DESIGN . ????
A BIT CONFUSING FOR ME TOO … AS THE SWASTIKA SYMBOL TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE WAS NOT PART OF THE EARLY SEX PISTOLS SYMBOLISM AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE OF ANARCHY IN THE UK …. CAN’T SEE ANY PURPOSE OF ANYONE WISHING TO FAKE OR DEFACE THIS POSTER EITHER … SO ALL IN ALL A BIT OF AN ODDITY ???.
IF ANYBODY CAN SHED ANY LIGHT ON THE ORIGINS OF THIS POSTER PLEASE DO CONTACT US AT THE JAIL BY PRIVATE MESSAGE
Original CRASS poster
Original signed single by Gene October frontman of great early days punk rock band CHELSEA
Iconic figures that died too young …. some say self inflicted and deservedly so , whilst others would strongly disagree…. including legendary American Grunge rock singer/songwriter & Nirvana frontman – Kurt Cobain are all featured here on display at Littledean Jail alongside our True Crime, Murderabilia, Sleaze & Scandal, The bizarre and the Taboo subject matters .
brilliant track and video of Kurt and the rest of Nirvana performing “Smells like teen spirit “
below is a crime scene picture as featured in the press coverage of the day after his suicide
below is Kurt Cobain’s death certificate
Above Is Kurt’s suicide note and below a printed version
Below is the crime scene illustration
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)[2][3] was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989.
After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” from its second album Nevermind(1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled “the flagship band” of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as “the spokesman of a generation”.[4] Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. He challenged Nirvana’s audience with its final studio album In Utero (1993).
During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances ofhis deathat age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the U.S., and over 50 million worldwide.[5][6]
Seattle police known to be at the scene were:
Capt. Larry Farrar
Lt. George Marberg, Lt. Al Gerdes, Lt. Ziminsky
Sgt. Don Cameron, Sgt. Jeff Getchman
Det. Jim Yoshida, Det. Steve Kirkland
Off. Joe Fewel, Off. Von Levandowski King County Medical Examiners:
Investigator Dave Delgado
Dr. Nick Hartshorne, Dr. Donald Raey
Officers who were present made very little effort to preserve the scene and document it thoroughly; arriving at 9:50am the scene was secured by 11:55am. Perhaps this was corruption or incompetence without intent, either way its negligence. These reports of the scene are clearly based on fact but inaccuracies fill the holes; inaccuracies that paint a suicidal environment.
“Nowhere in the police handling of the scene will you find any indication that the detectives were there to do anything but write up a report on the death and then get out of there… No standard
forensics testing such as fingerprint, footprint, fiber sampling, etcetera, was done at the scene.Homicide detectives were apparently willing to entertain no notion but that this was a suicide.” –Richard Lee – “No evidence, it seems, is needed to close a case of alleged self-murder.”
From the limited visual view and description the greenhouse appears clinical and does not corroborate with what Dylan Carlson and others have said; “It’s just a dirty little room.” Along with Dylan’s other statement – “I’ve never seen the house this clean before,” these testimonies lead to the suspicion of an intently ‘swept’ crime scene, a fundamental observation in every investigation implying a more complicated scenario.
Nikolas Hartshorne: “The fact that there was a suicide note left at the scene, point one. Point two: the weapon is still at the scene and point three: the nature of the injury. This was a contact shotgun wound to the mouth that required the gun to be against the decedent’s chest and with this information makes it a classic textbook example of suicide.” (VH1 Confidential) Point one – when the authenticity of the suicide note is later questioned, Hartshorne claims one factor he pronounced as being a reason in the conclusion of suicide is now “irrelevant.”
Point two and three – its logical to suggest that in the reconstruction of a ‘textbook’ suicide the perpetrate[s] would manipulate the crime scene fabricating the essentials, and certainly in this scene all the artifacts are ideally placed. This is no basis at all to conclude a verdict of suicide without consideration of other variables and inconsistencies present. – ‘The perfect assassination looks like suicide’
3D Crime Scene Diagram
This model is not to scale, it is directly deduced from the information provided in the police reports documenting where items were located. Polaroid and 35mm cameras were used to document the scene. The films have never been developed, and to a much lesser extent the polaroids never released – “We don’t develop photographs on suicides.” Sgt. Cameron.
Therefore the only discernible information about the crime scene is from police reports and witness accounts.(Click on the diagram for an enlarged view, please discern the fact this diagram does not take into account the pitched roof).
Excerpt from the Follow Up Report:
The significance of the shotgun being inverted (trigger and magazine trap door pointing up) is that it places the ejection port (where the spent shell is ejected from when fired) to Kurt’s right(south). Yet the spent shell was documented as being found to Kurt’s left (north). Why? Visual 3D Reference
This scenario seems to defy the physics of when a gun is fired, the trappings of assimilation with some fundamental errors; It is to be believed the shotgun rotated 180° (while remaining in Kurt’s left hand which was found clutching the barrell, due to rigor), and also remained ideally positioned, resting parallel on Kurt’s chest directed toward his chin. Keep this in mind – “The barrel of this shotgun retracts 3” as it automatically loads the next shell into the chamber.” – (Tom Grant, p.38)
On a side related issue, in this picture it’s possible to presumably see the butt of the shotgun between Kurt’s legs as stated in the police reports.
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THE NOTE LOCATION:
“Gary Smith, who happens to be a journeyman electrician with no alcohol or drugs or criminal record in his background, also reports that a note was clearly visible by the body, so clear that he could read: “I Love You… I Love You” through the french windows. When the details filtered out to the press it seemed as if Kurt had placed the note in a planter box with a pen stuck through it (as reflected in the police reports). In reality the police photographer moved it across the room to get a better shot of it and failed to photograph it in it’s exact original position near the body.”
– A passage taken from Hank Harrison’s book, Beyond Nirvana, p54.
This apparently originates from conversation between Grant and Smith, which Grant later divulged to Harrison.
The importance being Smith’s testimony is an eye witness illustration of police tampering with material evidence.
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MISINFORMED SUICIDAL TRAITS:
Although these factors all seem small, they were widely proliferated around the death of Kurt and had an impact by misleading people to draw conclusions as to what had happened on false facts.
1.) Namely the positioning of a stool. It was reported at the time Kurt had barricaded himself inside the room: Police narrative: “There are stairs on the west side leading to the french door entry and another set of french doors on the east side which lead to a balcony. These doors are unlocked and closed but there is a stool with a box of gardening supplies on it in front of the door.” – “Off. Levandowski observed the french doors at the opposite end of the room were blocked by a stool; preventing access.”
This factor should have been of little relevance, the stool was only sitting infront of an unlocked set of doors that led to a balcony. Not only that, but the eastern french doors open outwards onto the balcony, this makes the notion of a barricade (suggesting nobody could leave) completely irrelevant; an assailant could exit and draw the stool up close to the door before shutting it.
The west entrance french doors were not blocked; Although locked, this was a simple twist lockwhich can be locked prior to leaving. Tom Grant’s explanation
April 15th, Grant met with Sgt. Cameron to discuss his suspicions and mentioned the lock on the western door does not qualify in concluding Kurt was alone, to which Cameron replied – “There was a stool wedged up against the door” – False. The misconstrued media myth of a barricade prevailed.
2.) A recognised mannerism in violent suicide is to leave a form of identification readily available. It was reported by the media that Kurt had infact left his wallet open displaying his drivers license. This is completely untrue, in reality the closed wallet was opened by an officer – “SFD asked for I.D. from the nearby wallet, and I opened the wallet which was within a couple of feet of the victims body. Inside I found a Washington state drivers license in the name of Cobain, Kurt Donald DOB/022067″.
3.) Reports documenting a crime scene should be described factually, without bias and final conclusions. In this case it obviously wasn’t; the note left at the scene was claimed to incite suicide and was written to Courtney and Frances explaining “why he had killed himself”. These remarks were pronounced before a clear evaluation could have been made and were taken as fact.
These small points which indicate manipulation of the factual crime scene were leaked to the hungry media and deceptively confirmed this as a suicide in retrospect.
_______________________________________________________________________________ BLOOD POOL?
According to police reports there was “obvious trama” to the head but no exit wound, resulting in“a large drying puddle of blood to the left of the victim.”– Was the volume of blood ever seriously evaluated in relation to the nature of the injury? Gary Smith who initially mistook the body for a mannequin because it looked so neat only realised the situation when he noticed blood in the right ear. Does this picture sound feasible for a shotgun wound to the head suicide? Clearly we have no pictures that display whether the pool was sufficient or non-sufficient for the type of wound made this is merely an assumption based upon Smith’s perception.
In the case of a gunshot wound to the head the wound continues to issue copious amounts of blood for a short period due to the autonomic function of the heart. There are other factors this is reliant upon such as the angle of the shot, all of which we do not yet know, inclusive of the autospy report.
This is best demonstrated by Bud Dwyer, who committed suicide on camera during a press conference (viewer discretion is advised, this is vivid imagery). The comparative lack of blood for this type of trauma is an indication that the gunshot might have been administered post-mortem, the heart had already stopped; the result of a lethal dosage of heroin, and possibly blood coagulation already begun. The supposition that no exit wound would result in a lack of blood is false, as seen in Bud Dwyer’s case the exit wound is irrelevant to the volume of blood lost. In addition the destruction to the palette of the mouth would be comparatively larger when factoring in a shotgun.
This scenario would either assume corruption on the part of the medical examiner who performed the autospy; Nikolas Hartshorne, or severe incompetence, as the picture is very different if a wound is delivered post death. The question being could the perpetrate[s] foreshadow a non-investigation by the police unless they knew someone had the power to cover it up beforehand?
It is very possible the shotgun wound was administered while Kurt was under sedation, in this case the cause of death would be a perforating shotgun wound to the mouth.
Just something to consider…
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MISCELLANEOUS:
Contents of Cigar Box “The cigar box contained narcotics paraphernalia (syringes, burnt spoons, cotton, and small pieces of what looks like black tar).”
Featured in the picture is the open Tom Moore Cigar Box, along with the wallet and towels
Contents of Kurts front pant pockets:
• $63
• a piece of note paper with “Seattle Guns, 145 & Lake City” written on it. Another note which read; “Remington 20 gauge, 2 3/4 shells or shorter, set up for light load, 1088925.”
• an address book and miscellaneous papers.
• a copy of a Delta plane ticket, #788F. Dated 4/1/94, seat 2F, in the name of Cobain/Kurt. Pocket of the brown corduroy jacket:
• Receipt for the purchase of the Remington 20 gauge shotgun dated 3/30/94.
AS IT’S FRIDAY & AS A BIT OF A BREAK FROM OUR NORMAL TRUE CRIME, SLEAZE & SCANDAL CONTENT. HERE ARE SOME MORE OF LITTLEDEAN JAIL OWNERS FAVOURITE MUSIC TRACKS, PAST & PRESENT HOPE YOU LIKE THEM TOO…..
AJ SAYS “ I KNOW WE HAVE FEATURED THIS TRACK BEFORE HOWEVER IT’S STILL ONE OF THE BEST TRACKS EVER ..FROM THE TRAGIC NOW DECEASED KURT COBAIN’S NIRVANA-SMELLS LIKE TEENSPIRIT”