Knocking Twice On the Doors October 29 1980

[darkstar3]

Knocking Twice On the Doors
By Richard Harrington
Washington Post
October 29, 1980

It's hard to believe, but there's a new album called
"The Doors Greatest Hits" (Elektra 5E-515). Elektra is
touting it as one of its major releases of the fall,
obviously hoping to exploit the success of the recent
Jim Morrison biography, "No One Here Gets Out Alive,"
which rode the top position of the paperback sales
charts for several months. At least the Doors won't
suffer the fate of Jimi Hendrix, who had more records
released after his death than before it -- or Sly
Stone, who saw his brilliant early work re-released
with a "contemporary disco mix."

There is still plenty of interest in the Doors. Two of
their albums, "L.A. Woman" and "Morrison Hotel," have
the trade charts; cable television is planning a "Jim
Morrison: The Man and the Book" special; and scripting
and casting are going full-throttle for a major movie
production.

The time seems right, but the problem with "Greatest
Hits" is that it's all sales technique -- Elektra's
ill thought-out attempt to provide a "definitive Doors
package." And the packaging is lousy. So what if the
back cover features a never-before-published group
photo? Where are the liner notes, where is the
context, the perspective? Why does Elektra claim to
picture the entire catalogue on the inner sleeve, but
then leave off the already existing (and still
available) compilations as well as the two
post-Morrison Doors albums? Is this a doors package or
a Morrison package?

What about "13," released in 1970 and containing seven
of the 10 greatest hits? What about "Wierd Scenes
Inside the Goldmine," a double album released in 1972
containing another two greatest hits as well as other,
lesser (but more interesting) hits like "The Wasp
(Texas Radio and the Big Beat)," "When the Music's
Over" and "The End"? What about the quad "Best of the
Doors" released in the mid-'70s? What we have here is
a revolving Doors packaging concept, the Resurrection
of the Lizard King.

What's unsettling is how dated the Doors' music sounds
today, how weakly it stands outside a context (like
the soundtrack of "Apocalypse Now") or at the center
of an incendiary rock-bio. The Doors always straddled
a fence separating the green grass of Top-40 success
and the asphalt barrens of underground legend. With
the legend less immediate, the music's basic pop
precaution stands out more clearly. The songs on
"Greatest Hits" sound surprisingly quaint and safe,
predating New Wave's directness and economy, possibly
inspiring it, but certainly not improving it through
hindsight.

Could poetry be incorporated into rock lyrics? The
songs on "Greatest Hits" render the question moot. The
mystic overtones of the one song approaching poetry,
"Not To Touch the Earth," are so against the grain of
the rest of the album that they stand out like a Door
thumb. What's more common are simplistic, sophmoric
lyrics like "Motel money murder madness/change the
mood from glad to sadness," or "Sidewalk crouches at
her feet/like a dog that begs for something sweet." Or
that ultimate heavy lyric: "Our love becomes a funeral
pyre."

And what about Morrison as the Great Shaman of the
Rock Revolution, the electric poet, the
self-destructing wordsmith whose compulsive obsession
with sex, deviation and death were at the center of
the legend? Almost a decade after his death in Paris
at the age of 26, he remains charismatic. But Morrison
may have been the ultimate semi-intellectual rock
poseur. He was controversial, extreme, fascinating,
revolting, never boring. The risks he took hardly seem
worthwhile in context.

Musically, the Doors provided a solid foundation for
his exuberance; last year's beautifully packaged "An
American Prayer" (where the band came back to life
working with recently unearthed Morrison poetry tapes)
attested to that. After all, it was guitarist Robbie
Krieger who wrote "Light My Fire," which catapulted
the band to success in 1967. But much of what's on
"Greatest Hits" is from the "Hello, I Love You side
(where the Doors blatantly ripped off the Kinks' "All
Day and All of the Night"). The eerie inventiveness
that owed as much to keyboard player Ray Manzarek as
to Morrison is missing here (but available on "Weird
Scenes").

The sad part is that "Greatest Hits" will sell like
hotcakes. Maybe only Morrison knew that when the
music's over, you should turn out the lights. Unless
you can ask $8.98 for it.

END.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Richard seems to be in awe of the shiny shiny that was 'The Doors Are Back With A New Album' of American Prayer whilst missing the point that The Doors were nothing of the sort in his description.

His assertion that The Doors sounded dated in 1980 conveniently forgets that if that was the case how come so many people were getting into the band at that time.
I knew lot's of Doors haters who after Apocalypse Now used The End started to take notice of the band.

If it was indeed dated and weak then why is it that during the 80s and 90s Doors music began to permeate into the psyche of whole geberations of young folks who are now in their 30s and 40s and form the backbone of the Doors audience today.

Dated indicates 'stale' and 'old hat' and The Doors were neither of these as they were influencing music such as the Goth, Punk and Indie scene throughout the 80s and 90s decades.
And for that matter still do today.

Bands like Catatonia and Adams fave The Inspiral Carpet cite Jim in particular and The Doors in general as influincing their bands and there were hundreds more examples throughout the period.
The infamous and talentless Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame mentioned that thier rock dinosaur remarks were not pointed at a band like The Doors.

So how can something be 'dated' that influences generation after generation?

I agree that The Doors Greatest Hits (which I bought in 1980) was a poor look at The Doors but then all the compilations are poor really except for Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine which was the best of a bad bunch.

The Doors are not a band you can listen to from a compilation of greatest hits because the greatest hits are simply a distraction from the core essence of The Doors and give no real indication how utterly awesome this band was.

The only way to do that is listen to the albums and complemant that by listening to Jim's poetry and as many bootlegs as you can and by immersing yourself in The Doors Myth.
Once you have done that spend 20 or 30 years thinking about it and you will probably be half way there to understanding this great band.

So how can a rock band with so much to ponder ever really be dated.
It's like saying Mozart of Handel are old hat.
I will concede that some music from the Doors era did not travel well into the modern decades but a great deal did and The Doors are among the cream at the top of the pint of milk that was the 60s and 70s.
Of course I am biased but I listen to a huge amount of bands and artists and still have never come across one that is like The Doors.
If an artist is unique as The Doors are then it's incorrect to say that they are dated and sound weak.
Comparing the music to NOHGOA the 'incendiary rock-bio' he talks about and finding it wanting shows how limited he is in imagination.
Of course I was overawed with NOHGOA when I first read it but I always knew it was only a part of the story and treated it as a companion to the music rather than compared the two art forms.

Of course future generations bear out some of his comments as the greed of The Doors has seen compilation after compilation and endless remasters as they try to milk as much as they can out of Morrison.
But has this diluted the core product?
I would say No myself although it has tarnished the reputations of those who survived Jim.

But even their excessive insane drive for the cash has not affected this dated group The Doors from finding new converts.
I think that the late 70s early 80s tended to try to write off The Doors as this was not the only article to dismiss the band. But writers like Max Bell in the NME produced some fine writing that kept the band fresh throughout the lean period and enticed many a fan to test out the waters and see that everything was indeed fine and discover The Doors.

[darkstar3]

Mar 4, 2011 7:23:00 GMT TheWallsScreamedPoetry said:

Richard seems to be in awe of the shiny shiny that was 'The Doors Are Back With A New Album' of American Prayer whilst missing the point that The Doors were nothing of the sort in his description.

His assertion that The Doors sounded dated in 1980 conveniently forgets that if that was the case how come so many people were getting into the band at that time.
I knew lot's of Doors haters who after Apocalypse Now used The End started to take notice of the band.

If it was indeed dated and weak then why is it that during the 80s and 90s Doors music began to permeate into the psyche of whole geberations of young folks who are now in their 30s and 40s and form the backbone of the Doors audience today.

Dated indicates 'stale' and 'old hat' and The Doors were neither of these as they were influencing music such as the Goth, Punk and Indie scene throughout the 80s and 90s decades.
And for that matter still do today.

Bands like Catatonia and Adams fave The Inspiral Carpet cite Jim in particular and The Doors in general as influincing their bands and there were hundreds more examples throughout the period.
The infamous and talentless Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame mentioned that thier rock dinosaur remarks were not pointed at a band like The Doors.

So how can something be 'dated' that influences generation after generation?

I agree that The Doors Greatest Hits (which I bought in 1980) was a poor look at The Doors but then all the compilations are poor really except for Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine which was the best of a bad bunch.

The Doors are not a band you can listen to from a compilation of greatest hits because the greatest hits are simply a distraction from the core essence of The Doors and give no real indication how utterly awesome this band was.

The only way to do that is listen to the albums and complemant that by listening to Jim's poetry and as many bootlegs as you can and by immersing yourself in The Doors Myth.
Once you have done that spend 20 or 30 years thinking about it and you will probably be half way there to understanding this great band.

So how can a rock band with so much to ponder ever really be dated.
It's like saying Mozart of Handel are old hat.
I will concede that some music from the Doors era did not travel well into the modern decades but a great deal did and The Doors are among the cream at the top of the pint of milk that was the 60s and 70s.
Of course I am biased but I listen to a huge amount of bands and artists and still have never come across one that is like The Doors.
If an artist is unique as The Doors are then it's incorrect to say that they are dated and sound weak.
Comparing the music to NOHGOA the 'incendiary rock-bio' he talks about and finding it wanting shows how limited he is in imagination.
Of course I was overawed with NOHGOA when I first read it but I always knew it was only a part of the story and treated it as a companion to the music rather than compared the two art forms.

Of course future generations bear out some of his comments as the greed of The Doors has seen compilation after compilation and endless remasters as they try to milk as much as they can out of Morrison.
But has this diluted the core product?
I would say No myself although it has tarnished the reputations of those who survived Jim.

But even their excessive insane drive for the cash has not affected this dated group The Doors from finding new converts.
I think that the late 70s early 80s tended to try to write off The Doors as this was not the only article to dismiss the band. But writers like Max Bell in the NME produced some fine writing that kept the band fresh throughout the lean period and enticed many a fan to test out the waters and see that everything was indeed fine and discover The Doors.

Excellent assessment of this article!

I ran across this piece yesterday, didn't know that I had it and it seemed strange to read something so jaded about the Doors when they were still influencing other bands at the time.

Even though NOHGOA had not been published yet there was still a great interest among music fans in The Doors.

I agree, Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine was and still is, in my opinion, the best "greatest" hits album. This article does lean heavy on the fact that The Doors are releasing a "greatest" hits album and surely there is a lot more to come in the future but thats another story entirely.