Post by darkstar on Nov 3, 2005 1:08:28 GMT
Chico Enterprise Rec News
November 2 2005
11:48:28
Buzz Editor's Column: '60s Values Are Great, But Worth $15 Mil?
By ALAN SHECKTER
Would you let your political values waver for $15 million?
I thought so. So would I.
But John Densmore, drummer for The Doors, is standing firm, refusing to let the group's songs be used in commercials.
The Los Angeles-based Doors, of course, had a string of hits, including "Hello I Love You," "Light My Fire," "L.A. Woman" and "Riders on the Storm, until the band's enigmatic front man, Jim Morrison, died in July 1971.
You know the Cadillac TV ads that have featured Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll"? Well, Zeppelin wasn't the carmaker's first choice.
Members of The Doors were offered a collective $15 million for use of the song "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" for Cadillac's edgy "Break Through" ad campaign, according to the L.A. Times.
Much to the chagrin of surviving Doors members Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, not to mention the keepers of the Morrison estate, Densmore hangs tough.
"People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music. I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music," Densmore was quoted as saying in the article. "On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent."
He gets a nod from me for his stick-to-it-iveness, but gee whiz, methinks the gentleman needs to be taken by the lapels and shaken just a bit. We're talking $15 million!
Twenty years ago when The Beatles' "Revolution," was used in a Nike ad (Michael Jackson owned the song at the time), many purists criticized how the corporate sponsorship had seemingly pierced the group's sincerity to its music.
But that was then.
The Cars' "Just What I Needed" has been on heavy rotation at my house every time the TV blares a Circuit City ad, B.B. King played the blues for Burger King, Madonna sang for Windows XP
And don't tell me you don't know about Toby Keith. He's a Ford truck man. That's all he drives, I'm told.
And then there's Bob Dylan, who one would think would never "sell out," helping hawk lingerie as the voice of Victoria's Secret (that one's a real head scratcher). What's more, his "The Times They Are A-Changin'," one of the most biting political songs of all time, is featured in a TV ad for Kaiser Permanente health care.
But back to The Doors, who do still receive healthy royalties checks from their music, which still sells and is still played on the radio. They don't need the money.
Now Jonatha Brooke. She NEEDED the money. Who is Jonatha Brooke, you say? See, I told you she needed a little help.
Brooke, a Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter, who made plenty of records and played hundred of clubs, theaters and festivals for years, quietly lent her name to a car tire manufacturer. Her beautiful voice could be heard for a couple of years singing, "For serious people, Good Year, Goooood Year," on TV commercials.
That seven-word passage, she told me several years ago, netted her more money than her whole 15-year folk-singing career.
But some performers, such as Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana and Neil Young, still say no. Although with their incomes, one could argue it's easier for them to turn down such offers.
Singer Tom Waits has also weighed in on the purity side. A letter of his appeared in the Nation, praising Densmore.
"Eventually, artists will be going onstage like race-car drivers covered in hundreds of logos. John, stay pure. Your credibility, your integrity and your honor are things no company should be able to buy," Waits wrote.
Apple's iTunes honors Chico hip-hopper
One Block Radius, the hip-hop group featuring Chico's Marty James of Scapegoat Wax fame, was featured on Apple's iTunes Web site.
"Black Mercedes," from the group's CD, "Long Story Short," was the Free Download of the Week for the week ending Monday.
Since the iTunes Web site gets, I don't know, about 10 bazillion hits a week, having a One Block Radius photo double as a large, clickable icon button on the site is a pretty high honor.
www.chicoer.com/buzz/ci_3175449
November 2 2005
11:48:28
Buzz Editor's Column: '60s Values Are Great, But Worth $15 Mil?
By ALAN SHECKTER
Would you let your political values waver for $15 million?
I thought so. So would I.
But John Densmore, drummer for The Doors, is standing firm, refusing to let the group's songs be used in commercials.
The Los Angeles-based Doors, of course, had a string of hits, including "Hello I Love You," "Light My Fire," "L.A. Woman" and "Riders on the Storm, until the band's enigmatic front man, Jim Morrison, died in July 1971.
You know the Cadillac TV ads that have featured Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll"? Well, Zeppelin wasn't the carmaker's first choice.
Members of The Doors were offered a collective $15 million for use of the song "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" for Cadillac's edgy "Break Through" ad campaign, according to the L.A. Times.
Much to the chagrin of surviving Doors members Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, not to mention the keepers of the Morrison estate, Densmore hangs tough.
"People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music. I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music," Densmore was quoted as saying in the article. "On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent."
He gets a nod from me for his stick-to-it-iveness, but gee whiz, methinks the gentleman needs to be taken by the lapels and shaken just a bit. We're talking $15 million!
Twenty years ago when The Beatles' "Revolution," was used in a Nike ad (Michael Jackson owned the song at the time), many purists criticized how the corporate sponsorship had seemingly pierced the group's sincerity to its music.
But that was then.
The Cars' "Just What I Needed" has been on heavy rotation at my house every time the TV blares a Circuit City ad, B.B. King played the blues for Burger King, Madonna sang for Windows XP
And don't tell me you don't know about Toby Keith. He's a Ford truck man. That's all he drives, I'm told.
And then there's Bob Dylan, who one would think would never "sell out," helping hawk lingerie as the voice of Victoria's Secret (that one's a real head scratcher). What's more, his "The Times They Are A-Changin'," one of the most biting political songs of all time, is featured in a TV ad for Kaiser Permanente health care.
But back to The Doors, who do still receive healthy royalties checks from their music, which still sells and is still played on the radio. They don't need the money.
Now Jonatha Brooke. She NEEDED the money. Who is Jonatha Brooke, you say? See, I told you she needed a little help.
Brooke, a Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter, who made plenty of records and played hundred of clubs, theaters and festivals for years, quietly lent her name to a car tire manufacturer. Her beautiful voice could be heard for a couple of years singing, "For serious people, Good Year, Goooood Year," on TV commercials.
That seven-word passage, she told me several years ago, netted her more money than her whole 15-year folk-singing career.
But some performers, such as Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana and Neil Young, still say no. Although with their incomes, one could argue it's easier for them to turn down such offers.
Singer Tom Waits has also weighed in on the purity side. A letter of his appeared in the Nation, praising Densmore.
"Eventually, artists will be going onstage like race-car drivers covered in hundreds of logos. John, stay pure. Your credibility, your integrity and your honor are things no company should be able to buy," Waits wrote.
Apple's iTunes honors Chico hip-hopper
One Block Radius, the hip-hop group featuring Chico's Marty James of Scapegoat Wax fame, was featured on Apple's iTunes Web site.
"Black Mercedes," from the group's CD, "Long Story Short," was the Free Download of the Week for the week ending Monday.
Since the iTunes Web site gets, I don't know, about 10 bazillion hits a week, having a One Block Radius photo double as a large, clickable icon button on the site is a pretty high honor.
www.chicoer.com/buzz/ci_3175449