The battle between TOWER RECORDS and the police over the sale of an ‘obscene’ CRADLE OF FILTH T-shirt took a further twist yesterday (January 11) when police entered the shop in GLASGOW for a second time demanding it be removed from sale.
However, they were left red-faced when it became clear that the ‘Jesus Is A C-t’ shirt was, in fact, out of stock. Due to the publicity that followed the initial police raid last Friday (January 5) and subsequent press conference held in front of the store by Glasgow’s Lord Provost Alex Mosson, during which he condemned the shirt and demanded it never be sold again, the T-shirts sold out.
A spokesperson for Tower said that the second police raid was the result of someone phoning “up to make trouble”, as no one could have seen the shirt on the shelves and taken offence.
And in a statement set to further enrage the city authorities, Tower Records’ Managing Director Andy Lown intimated he would not hesitate to stock the shirt in future. He told NME.COM that the chain “prides” itself on “offering the largest range of products available”.
His statement reads: “Cradle of Filth are a shock rock band whose subversive use of Christian iconography has attracted much publicity over the years. The T-shirt in question this time bore the slogan ‘Jesus Is A C-t’. Glasgow’s Lord Provost commented, ‘I have written to the head of Tower Records to convey my disgust and to underline that material like this must not be put on sale again’. However, Tower Records, as the world’s largest independent retailer, is viewed by our customers as an alternative record store. As such we stock a wide variety of merchandise covering every imaginable genre of music. We pride ourselves on offering the largest range of products available and leaving it to the customer to choose whether they wish to purchase them.”
It is unclear at present when the new stock of T-shirts will arrive in the store.