Many of us that know about Woodstock and the bands that performed at the music festival were no where near born during the time it occurred. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t want to collect a piece of musical history. The customized poster for the festival is autographed by many of the acts that performed over the course of 3 days. Woodstock ’69 will  be remembered by generations to come and owning a piece of memorabilia from it might prove to be a lucrative investment in the future.

Up in Boston this weekend, The Beach Boys played a free concert. I didn’t make it out from Cambridge in time, but I was naturally inspired to see what kind of merch The Beach Boys offer. Like with any other band, they have a healthy selection of promotional T-shirts, but their offering of promotional apparel does not stop there. Just look at this branded jacket! Since these jackets are not made anymore, it will definitely set you back a pretty penny– almost 90,000 of them, to be exact.

Besides custom boxes of cereal, many of the most popular cereals always had cool band merchandise, like these coins. Of course receiving promotional chocolate coins would have been an even tastier treat, who wouldn’t want a picture of the Monkees. Yea, I said it the Monkees. You know, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith,  Peter Tork, and Davy Jones. Yup, those guys, and yes they are still around. Of course, if you held on to your piece of promotional Monkees schwag it would be a great collectors item by now.

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around.
But we're too busy singing
To put anybody down.

Beatles fans everywhere get to Waukesha, Wisconsin post-haste.  The Waukesha Museum is featuring a Beatles exhibit from August 16 through September 1.  Along with original artwork by John Lennon, the museum features a collection of rare Beatles memorabilia and merch!     

With the music industry slumping and the growth of legal and illegal mp3 downloads no one would expect records to sell, but the thing is, Vinyl LPs are making a comeback.  The sale of vinyl record grew 36 percent between 2006 and 2007, showing up on shelves at various retailers, music stores, and yes, the merch stand at the back of that tiny venue.    

Vinyl’s comeback is refreshing.  Analog offers a less synthetic sound than digital music.  Look for records at the next show you go to, cause that’s definitely merch done right!