Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Sept 23, 2007 8:49:46 GMT
The Making of a
Out of a Legend
The Commercialisation of Jim Morrison
Middlesbrough's Knayston’s Bride makes a few observations for my December 2003 60th Birthday Issue
One of the strangest things about the recent festive season has to be the amount of complete crap people produce to palm off on an unsuspecting public and Jim Morrison is certainly not immune from this insanity.
John Densmore recently went on record with his anti-Doors-commercialisation article in an on-line publication called The Nation with an attack on the bands music being used to sell cars and computers but this is merely the tip of a rather large iceberg when it come to making a buck out of my fave poet and his band.
The highly respected DCM is just one among many others (E-Bay is full of such useless tat!) who celebrated the season with long lists of ‘souvenirs’ for Doors fans to enchant their loved ones with on Xmas morning.
Doors model racing cars (honest I am not making this crap up!!), stamps from as far afield as Germany, Congo and Turkmenistan (it’s near Afghanistan), phone cards (unbelievable as Victor Meldrew might say), trading cards, key rings, lithograph sets of his crap drawings, fridge magnets and even a fucking skateboard!
It seems nothing is sacred when it comes to making a buck.......... what next some bunch of idiots touring the world pretending to be The Doors?
Oh yeah! Sorry ‘bout that it’s already happening!
The sheer amount of stuff on sale surely overwhelms the senses and is an indication of how much ‘Jim Morrison dead rock star’ is worth to The Doors industry. Calendars, postcards, pendants and Best Of albums adorned with Jim at his youngest and prettiest are everywhere.
I can now place my Jim Morrison coffee mug on my Doors coaster which I keep next to my computer and have a cigarette from my Jim Morrison ‘baccy tin and ignite it with my Jim Morrison lighter and stub it out in my Doors ashtray.
Very weird!!
T Shirts and button badges have always been with us and are cool but what the hell are McFarlane Toys thinking about with their Jim Morrison action figure (one of several Jim Morrison dolls on the market) that looks sod all like Jim.
Don’t get me wrong I was as happy as anyone when I used to go to concerts and came home clutching my T-Shirt, pin button and programme but surely this type of thing has gone too far when we can now spend our day skateboarding on Jim’s face!
Rock stars especially dead ones used to fill parents with dread but now merely form part of the great Xmas rush to appease ‘little Johnny’ and shut him up for a few days over Xmas.
To add to our woe another of Rocks finest wild-men (Ozzy) is reduced to the level of Bill Cosby now having his own MTV show with it utterly fake sit-com and equally fake foul mouthed teen brats!
What has happened to rebellion FGS!
Recently a company in the US started selling Jim/Doors underwear and pyjamas. It’s possible to get duvet covers, pillows and throw blankets adorned by the ‘Lizard King’. Everything from wall clocks to snap boxes (lunch pails to our American friends..ED!) fridge magnets to $30 a shot commemorative plaques.
I even recently saw a bloody lava lamp on sale on the internet.
Many will see this as flattering but as a devotee of Jim Morrison the poet rather than The Doors it pains me that someone who so desperately wanted to be remembered as a poet and for something worthwhile is now reduced to a pretty face on a tin for your fags.
It’s hard to apportion blame but his three surviving band-mates don’t actually help with their constant regurgitation of their music in the form of ‘Best Of’ albums with Jim looking at his most beautiful adorning the front cover sleeve.
Surely if they were truly concerned with their dead friend and not just in it for the cash they would have pulled out all the stops to get his remaining poetry out to the masses rather than another compilation album.
The Courson/Lisciandro faction is at least trying to achieve this and the release of Wilderness and American Night show this crew are at least interested in the artist rather than the icon. Ray, John and Robby have a long way to go before they convince this little Miss that they are not motivated by the need to earn another million dollars out of the corpse of the only talent the band had.
John’s anti commercialism rant was a start but Ray and Robby have scored a spectacular own goal with what is in effect a tribute band to themselves…..talk about ego!
Lisciandro is at present involved in the worthwhile cause of trying to secure release of Jim’s ‘HWY’ film and possibly the ‘Feast of Friends’ documentary he was involved in but The Doors themselves are dragging the bands name through the courts and hence the gutter with a spat about who has the most right to use the name.
I would suggest gentlemen that that person is buried in a Paris cemetery and you three should thank your lucky stars you were fortunate enough to meet him.
One day perhaps Doors fans will realise the worth of the long deceased poet and worship at the shrine of his words rather than the commercialism that surrounds his name until then I will remain in my bunker enjoying the album ‘American Prayer’ and the bootlegs of his 1969 poetry session the webmaster of this site was kind enough to burn for me and reading my poetry books.
Skateboards…...you have got to be bloody kidding!!!! KB.
Out of a Legend
The Commercialisation of Jim Morrison
Middlesbrough's Knayston’s Bride makes a few observations for my December 2003 60th Birthday Issue
One of the strangest things about the recent festive season has to be the amount of complete crap people produce to palm off on an unsuspecting public and Jim Morrison is certainly not immune from this insanity.
John Densmore recently went on record with his anti-Doors-commercialisation article in an on-line publication called The Nation with an attack on the bands music being used to sell cars and computers but this is merely the tip of a rather large iceberg when it come to making a buck out of my fave poet and his band.
The highly respected DCM is just one among many others (E-Bay is full of such useless tat!) who celebrated the season with long lists of ‘souvenirs’ for Doors fans to enchant their loved ones with on Xmas morning.
Doors model racing cars (honest I am not making this crap up!!), stamps from as far afield as Germany, Congo and Turkmenistan (it’s near Afghanistan), phone cards (unbelievable as Victor Meldrew might say), trading cards, key rings, lithograph sets of his crap drawings, fridge magnets and even a fucking skateboard!
It seems nothing is sacred when it comes to making a buck.......... what next some bunch of idiots touring the world pretending to be The Doors?
Oh yeah! Sorry ‘bout that it’s already happening!
The sheer amount of stuff on sale surely overwhelms the senses and is an indication of how much ‘Jim Morrison dead rock star’ is worth to The Doors industry. Calendars, postcards, pendants and Best Of albums adorned with Jim at his youngest and prettiest are everywhere.
I can now place my Jim Morrison coffee mug on my Doors coaster which I keep next to my computer and have a cigarette from my Jim Morrison ‘baccy tin and ignite it with my Jim Morrison lighter and stub it out in my Doors ashtray.
Very weird!!
T Shirts and button badges have always been with us and are cool but what the hell are McFarlane Toys thinking about with their Jim Morrison action figure (one of several Jim Morrison dolls on the market) that looks sod all like Jim.
Don’t get me wrong I was as happy as anyone when I used to go to concerts and came home clutching my T-Shirt, pin button and programme but surely this type of thing has gone too far when we can now spend our day skateboarding on Jim’s face!
Rock stars especially dead ones used to fill parents with dread but now merely form part of the great Xmas rush to appease ‘little Johnny’ and shut him up for a few days over Xmas.
To add to our woe another of Rocks finest wild-men (Ozzy) is reduced to the level of Bill Cosby now having his own MTV show with it utterly fake sit-com and equally fake foul mouthed teen brats!
What has happened to rebellion FGS!
Recently a company in the US started selling Jim/Doors underwear and pyjamas. It’s possible to get duvet covers, pillows and throw blankets adorned by the ‘Lizard King’. Everything from wall clocks to snap boxes (lunch pails to our American friends..ED!) fridge magnets to $30 a shot commemorative plaques.
I even recently saw a bloody lava lamp on sale on the internet.
Many will see this as flattering but as a devotee of Jim Morrison the poet rather than The Doors it pains me that someone who so desperately wanted to be remembered as a poet and for something worthwhile is now reduced to a pretty face on a tin for your fags.
It’s hard to apportion blame but his three surviving band-mates don’t actually help with their constant regurgitation of their music in the form of ‘Best Of’ albums with Jim looking at his most beautiful adorning the front cover sleeve.
Surely if they were truly concerned with their dead friend and not just in it for the cash they would have pulled out all the stops to get his remaining poetry out to the masses rather than another compilation album.
The Courson/Lisciandro faction is at least trying to achieve this and the release of Wilderness and American Night show this crew are at least interested in the artist rather than the icon. Ray, John and Robby have a long way to go before they convince this little Miss that they are not motivated by the need to earn another million dollars out of the corpse of the only talent the band had.
John’s anti commercialism rant was a start but Ray and Robby have scored a spectacular own goal with what is in effect a tribute band to themselves…..talk about ego!
Lisciandro is at present involved in the worthwhile cause of trying to secure release of Jim’s ‘HWY’ film and possibly the ‘Feast of Friends’ documentary he was involved in but The Doors themselves are dragging the bands name through the courts and hence the gutter with a spat about who has the most right to use the name.
I would suggest gentlemen that that person is buried in a Paris cemetery and you three should thank your lucky stars you were fortunate enough to meet him.
One day perhaps Doors fans will realise the worth of the long deceased poet and worship at the shrine of his words rather than the commercialism that surrounds his name until then I will remain in my bunker enjoying the album ‘American Prayer’ and the bootlegs of his 1969 poetry session the webmaster of this site was kind enough to burn for me and reading my poetry books.
Skateboards…...you have got to be bloody kidding!!!! KB.