The Streets logo is a lighter.

I'm a big fan of interesting and creative band merchandise, from the perspective of being a fan and being a future creator and seller of my own band merchandise. Some band merch is wonderfully obvious...

The Streets logo is a lighter with "THE STREETS" printed on it.

Mike Skinner said in a recent video that "The Streets logo is a lighter 'cause we were sitting in Victoria station one afternoon trying to sum up my vibe, and my friend came back... with a Clipper and somehow it seemed to represent my whole life. We later went on to a party and that Clipper got used."

Although the design of the lighter logo has changed with each album, the logo always appeared on the cover of every album. From the second album on, it was always a Clipper lighter. What I didn't know is that on tour, they've been selling the lighters as merchandise. People who have been a fan of the band for a long time possibly have a whole collection, one lighter from each album. Skinner posted a photo today on The Streets website of lighters that are identical to the yellow and blue one on the cover of the new album Computers And Blues.

I think it's a brilliant merch idea. The lighter is sort of a big part of the mythology and aesthetic of The Streets. It's iconic. It's like owning a prop from a movie you love. Even though I don't smoke, I'd love one of those Clippers.