Post by darkstar3 on Jan 14, 2011 17:07:39 GMT
The Los Angeles Times/The Age
Morrison's Ghost Raises A Jingle Tangle
By Geoff Boucher
October 10, 2005
BOB DYLAN is singing The Times They Are A-Changin' in a television ad for healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente these days, and who could argue? With Led Zeppelin pitching Cadillacs, the Rolling Stones strutting in an Ameriquest Mortgage ad and Paul McCartney warbling for Fidelity Investments, it's clear that the old counterculture heroes of classic rock are firmly entrenched as the house band of corporate America.
That only makes the case of John Densmore all the more intriguing. Once, back when rock'n'roll still seemed dangerous, Densmore was the drummer for the Doors, the band with dark hits such as Light My Fire and People Are Strange. That band more or less went into the grave with lead singer Jim Morrison in 1971, but, like all top classic-rock franchises, it now has the chance to exploit a lucrative afterlife in television commercials.
Offers keep coming in, such as the $US15 million ($19.7 million) dangled by Cadillac last year to lease the song Break On Through (to the Other Side) to hawk its luxury sports utility vehicles.
Advertisement
AdvertisementTo the surprise of the corporation and the chagrin of his former bandmates, Densmore vetoed the idea. He said he did the same when Apple called with a $US4 million offer, and every time "some deodorant company wants to use Light My Fire". The reason? Prepare to get a lump in your throat or to roll your eyes.
"People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music," Densmore said. "I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn't commit suicide because of this music . . . On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent."
That not only sets the Doors apart from the long, long list of classic rock acts that have had their songs licensed for big US commercial campaigns, it also has added considerably to Densmore's estrangement from former bandmates Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, a trio who last set eyes on one another in the Los Angeles County Superior Court building last year.
John Branca, a lawyer who worked on the Cadillac proposal, says: "I told him that, really, people don't frown on this any more. It's considered a branding exercise for the music. He told me he just couldn't sell a song to a company that was polluting the world. I shook my head. But, hey, you have to respect that. How many of your principles would you reconsider when people start talking millions of dollars?"
The Doors formed in 1965. As the decade was ending they were hailed in some quarters as the Rolling Stones of America. An advertising firm came to the band with an offer: $US50,000 to allow its biggest hit, Light My Fire, to be used in a commercial for the Buick Opel. Morrison was in Europe and the band voted in his absence; Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek agreed to the deal. Morrison returned and was furious, vowing to sledgehammer a Buick on stage at every concert if the commercial went forward. It did not.
In November 1970, the lesson learned was put in writing. The Doors members agreed that any licensing agreement would require a unanimous vote. Even before that, the band had agreed that the members would share equally in all music publishing rights, an arrangement that set them apart from most bands.
Densmore relented once. Back in the 1970s, he agreed to let Riders on the Storm be used to sell Pirelli Tires in a TV spot in England. When he saw it he was sick. "I gave every cent to charity. Jim's ghost was in my ear, and I felt terrible. If I needed proof that it was the wrong thing to do, I got it."
In another bitter dispute between the drummer and his former colleagues, a judge ruled in August that Manzarek and Krieger could no longer tour together as the Doors of the 21st Century. Densmore, with support from the Morrison estate, had filed a suit in 2003 to block the neo-Doors from using any permutation of the old band's name. The pair grudgingly switched to the acronym D21C.
www.theage.com.au/news/business/morrisons-ghost-raises-a-jingle-tangle/2005/10/09/1128796394677.html
Morrison's Ghost Raises A Jingle Tangle
By Geoff Boucher
October 10, 2005
BOB DYLAN is singing The Times They Are A-Changin' in a television ad for healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente these days, and who could argue? With Led Zeppelin pitching Cadillacs, the Rolling Stones strutting in an Ameriquest Mortgage ad and Paul McCartney warbling for Fidelity Investments, it's clear that the old counterculture heroes of classic rock are firmly entrenched as the house band of corporate America.
That only makes the case of John Densmore all the more intriguing. Once, back when rock'n'roll still seemed dangerous, Densmore was the drummer for the Doors, the band with dark hits such as Light My Fire and People Are Strange. That band more or less went into the grave with lead singer Jim Morrison in 1971, but, like all top classic-rock franchises, it now has the chance to exploit a lucrative afterlife in television commercials.
Offers keep coming in, such as the $US15 million ($19.7 million) dangled by Cadillac last year to lease the song Break On Through (to the Other Side) to hawk its luxury sports utility vehicles.
Advertisement
AdvertisementTo the surprise of the corporation and the chagrin of his former bandmates, Densmore vetoed the idea. He said he did the same when Apple called with a $US4 million offer, and every time "some deodorant company wants to use Light My Fire". The reason? Prepare to get a lump in your throat or to roll your eyes.
"People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music," Densmore said. "I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn't commit suicide because of this music . . . On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent."
That not only sets the Doors apart from the long, long list of classic rock acts that have had their songs licensed for big US commercial campaigns, it also has added considerably to Densmore's estrangement from former bandmates Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, a trio who last set eyes on one another in the Los Angeles County Superior Court building last year.
John Branca, a lawyer who worked on the Cadillac proposal, says: "I told him that, really, people don't frown on this any more. It's considered a branding exercise for the music. He told me he just couldn't sell a song to a company that was polluting the world. I shook my head. But, hey, you have to respect that. How many of your principles would you reconsider when people start talking millions of dollars?"
The Doors formed in 1965. As the decade was ending they were hailed in some quarters as the Rolling Stones of America. An advertising firm came to the band with an offer: $US50,000 to allow its biggest hit, Light My Fire, to be used in a commercial for the Buick Opel. Morrison was in Europe and the band voted in his absence; Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek agreed to the deal. Morrison returned and was furious, vowing to sledgehammer a Buick on stage at every concert if the commercial went forward. It did not.
In November 1970, the lesson learned was put in writing. The Doors members agreed that any licensing agreement would require a unanimous vote. Even before that, the band had agreed that the members would share equally in all music publishing rights, an arrangement that set them apart from most bands.
Densmore relented once. Back in the 1970s, he agreed to let Riders on the Storm be used to sell Pirelli Tires in a TV spot in England. When he saw it he was sick. "I gave every cent to charity. Jim's ghost was in my ear, and I felt terrible. If I needed proof that it was the wrong thing to do, I got it."
In another bitter dispute between the drummer and his former colleagues, a judge ruled in August that Manzarek and Krieger could no longer tour together as the Doors of the 21st Century. Densmore, with support from the Morrison estate, had filed a suit in 2003 to block the neo-Doors from using any permutation of the old band's name. The pair grudgingly switched to the acronym D21C.
www.theage.com.au/news/business/morrisons-ghost-raises-a-jingle-tangle/2005/10/09/1128796394677.html