The Misfits would seem to be the poster child for this. At least half the people walking around wearing Misfits t-shirts have never heard a single Misfits song, and wouldn’t recognize it even if they did hear one.
Who else is cleaning up at the merch table but going home with boxes and boxes of albums?
I’ll nominate The Grateful Dead and The Ramones. Both pioneers of music, but I bet most t-shirt wearers don’t know the music.
Although I could be wrong. My teenage daughter has on multiple occasions been told by strangers “I bet you can’t name a single [Led Zeppelin / GnR / AC-DC] song” when they see her t-shirts, but she certainly can.
Good answers so far. I’ll add Bob Marley.
A few weeks ago, I was making a purchase at a liquor store, and the cashier lady, who looked to be about thirty years old, maybe, was wearing a Kiss T-shirt. It had a big-ass picture of the band in full costume and makeup as seen on the cover art of the Destroyer album. I motioned toward the shirt and said, “It’s good to see people still appreciate the classics.” (I’m not much of a Kiss fan, although I don’t object to hearing one of their songs every now and then; I just don’t mind pretending to be a fan for the sake of blurting out an ill-conceived silly comment even if the other person won’t recognize the silly intent.)
She said, “Oh, I don’t know anything about their music. I just thought it looked like a badass shirt.”
And I chuckled and said, “Fair enough.”
My 9-year old daughter bought a Def Leppard t-shirt last year at a C&A store.
But I am pleased to tell you that she knows quite a few of their songs, courtesy of their father 
I don’t know anyone who listens to The Kooples. 
My 20yo daughter showed up in an MTV shirt the other day. She had no idea what it was, she just thought it looked cool. (this wanders a little far afield from the OP I admit).
I regret to inform you that there are middle-schoolers everywhere wearing classic rock band shirts who know almost nothing about the bands. I even met a child in a Nirvana shirt who didn’t know a thing about them. On the other hand, my Millennial son-in-law is a big Zeppelin fan, and he may know more of their music than I do!
Come to think of it, what did I know about Che Guevara when I was a rebellious teen who wore the shirt because I thought it looked cool?
My local newspaper used to carry a comic strip on Sundays called “Pajama Diaries.” It’s about a family with two teenage daughters, and focuses on the mom. I can’t find the strip, but one day, a daughter shows up in a Nirvana t-shirt, and the mom asks if she’s familiar with their music. Daughter isn’t, so Mom downloads some Nirvana music onto an iPod (like I said, it was a few years ago) and in the next panel, Daughter’s eyes are as big as saucers, and in the following panel, Mom has a free t-shirt.
There’s also this NSFW late 1980s classic from Inspiral Carpets. One of my P-school classmates had this shirt, and when I told my brother, an ex-college DJ (who did play songs from Nirvana’s “Bleach” and was quite surprised about the “Nevermind” phenomenon) about it, he replied, “You mean, he just walks into class wearing that shirt? If I wear it out in public, I put a jacket or vest over it.” I also remember when the host of MTV’s alt-rock program “120 Minutes” wore it, with a vest, and I said to myself, “I know what your shirt says!” There was also a sanitized version with stars.
There’s a long-running urban legend about a 1970s teenager finding out about Paul McCartney being in a band before Wings. That kids find out that Dave Grohl was in another band before the Foo Fighters, or for that matter Darius Rucker being in another band before he went country, is not.
No! It’s NOT fair enough!
The way things worked, back when things worked, was that if you were wearing a band t-shirt, it was because you’d been to their concert and bought the shirt. (And that concert was $10, and the shirt another 5… and Ticketmaster got none of that)
So the band meant something to you, and the shirt said something about you.
I agree with you 100 percent. I just wasn’t going to get into that conversation in a retail line.
There was also a “Cool as Milk” version. I had both (Had to get a friend to buy them in the UK for me)
My nomination is Joy Division. Specifically this one:
Never heard of them.
They have two big hits, played a lot. I worked one of their concerts as security and they gave me a free pass to the next.
For the win!
Jerry Garcia sent me a tie for Christmas. One of his designer items. Actually Jerry probably didnt know me from Adam, his manager almost certainly did it. I still have the tie, but not the card, sadly. I wear it during the season, if ties are called for. It’s actually rather nice. The t-shirt they gave me at the concert became too small and too worn, I am not sure how I got rid of it. (The manager gave me a backstage pass, and as the band went past a couple waved at me- that was the extent of actually meeting them.) Likely some of my tinnitus dates from when i worked the concert.
Josie and the Pussycats?
I’m not a fan of the Grateful Dead, and have never worn one of their t-shirts. But I do have a collection of Jerry Garcia ties. They’re the only ties I wear on those rare occasions when I have to wear one. Does that count for this thread?
Either way, IMHO Garcia was a much better tie designer than musician. Not that I think the the music of the Grateful Dead is bad, it just isn’t to my tastes.
Yeah, the Nirvana shirts seem to be the ones I see the most. I do see a few Misfits here and there, so it’s not uncommon. And the Joy Division shirt I rarely see, and only by fans around here. My niece (sophomore in high school) was wearing a Nirvana tee-shirt when I last visited them in the summer, so I asked her if she knew their music, and I was pleased to hear that she actually did and even had the CDs–yes, CDs-- to prove it.
I’ve heard of the Misfits, doubt I’ve ever heard a song BY them and immediately had a mental image of the Misfits t-shirt in question. It’s a pretty iconic shirt.
Yesterday I was picking my kid up from middle school and saw three (!) girls wearing Nirvana t-shirts. Maybe they’re all big Nirvana fans though, I dunno.
I’m wearing a Taj Mahal t-shirt right now. I have no idea what their music sounds like. In my defense, it was a gift. (probably regift) I don’t wear it in public.
I’m sure there are a lot more Motorhead shirts than fans. Mind you, I couldn’t name a single song by “Fruit of the Loom”
He’s a blues musician. I know him, but I can’t think of anything in particular off the top of my head. I feel like I’ve seen him in concert, too, like at the Chicago Blues Fest or something like that.