Post by darkstar on Jan 26, 2005 18:06:32 GMT
LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG, AND LEAVE A MARKETABLE CORPSE
By: Mark Rowland
Esquire Magazine – March 1991
By 60's standards – considerably lower than today's –<br>the Doors were a commercial success: The group had several hit singles ("Light My Fire", "Hello I Love You," and "Touch Me" were the biggest), and all the LP's charted well, with one, Waiting For The Sun, reaching number one on Billboard Chart and selling about 750,000 copies.
After Morrison died, his bandmates – guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and drummer John Densmore – put out two records, both of which met with only moderate success. A second best
of LP, released in 1971 peaked at number 158. The Doors, like the `60's were over.
Then a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion. In the 70's, FM radio increasingly became the preserve of "classic rock," which meant that Doors music never fell completely out of earshot. The band's song "The End" turned into the sonic signature of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. In t980, No One Here Gets Out Alive, the Morrison bio by ex-gofer Danny Sugarman and Jerry Hopkins, became a best seller. In 1979 Elektra Records released a greatest hits package that sold more than two million copies – one
of the groups biggest sellers – and created new demand for the earlier Doors albums, two of which reappeared on the charts. In fact, the 80's was Morrison's best decade, in terms of sales
if not creativity. Through 1990 the Doors had sold a total of about forty- five million records (including nine million outside the United States) and currently average 750,000 a year, according to Elektra.
Song-publishing rights have always been divided equally among the four band members, with Morrison's share split between his parents and those of his inamorata, Pamela Courson, who died in
1974. Sugarman, now a business associate/representative for the surviving Doors who earns a percentage of their income, estimates
the bands current song publishing income at about $1.2 million a year.
Things are about to get even better. The last Doors boom occurred about ten years after Morrison died. Now that another decade has passed, Sugarman says, "There's a new generation of fans to
discover Jim Morrison's comet. And to help matters along, in the fall of '92 Elektra will release The Doors Complete, a limited-edition boxed CD set that will feature the band's six studio LP's plus two
"live" disks (which will also be released separately in
June). A coffee table book of lyrics and photographs will be available this fall. In November you'll see The Soft Parade, a home-video collection of interviews and footage.
Merchandise featuring the group's likeness and logos are licensed exclusively through Winterland Productions, which is owned by MCA, Inc., which is owned by Matsushita. New Kids On The Block, also
handled by Winterland, have raked in $400 million from such sales. Groups that tour have a big advantage here, but among Winterland's bands featuring dead people, the Doors hold their own, selling fewer T-Shirts, posters, et cetera, than Led Zeppelin, and about the same as guitar god Jimi Hendrix. Winterland won't
release figures, but an informed source puts the group's gross merchandising take at about $2 million a year.
Though Oliver Stone is unlikely to approve much beyond T-Shirts directly related to the film, Winterland will expand it's own array of Doors "imagery." Also being considered are upscale items, like fantasy tour jackets, commemorative plates, "There's a big market for that," says licensing director Gail Roth), and coins.
The Doors got a flat $750,000 for the movie rights to their story, songs, and likenesses from producers Imagine Films Entertainment, Sasha Harari and Bill Graham Films. The soundtrack, to released by
Elektra, features the original Doors music; in the film, actor Val Kilmer sings some of Morrison's parts.
You'll also be able to read all about the Doors. At least six new books are due in coming months, to join drummer Densmore's memoirs, and a compendium of Morrison's poetry, which has sold
more than 100,000 volumes, not bad for verse.
Still, says Sugarman, the Doors actively resist opportunities for exploitation: "I consider myself the keeper of a cataloge the same way someone else does for Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde. That's the
category I think Jim belongs in." Back in 1968, Morrison turned down a $50,000 offer by Buick to license "Light My Fire." More recently Trojan wanted "Touch Me" for a condom ad ("What was that promise that you made?")
END.
By: Mark Rowland
Esquire Magazine – March 1991
By 60's standards – considerably lower than today's –<br>the Doors were a commercial success: The group had several hit singles ("Light My Fire", "Hello I Love You," and "Touch Me" were the biggest), and all the LP's charted well, with one, Waiting For The Sun, reaching number one on Billboard Chart and selling about 750,000 copies.
After Morrison died, his bandmates – guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and drummer John Densmore – put out two records, both of which met with only moderate success. A second best
of LP, released in 1971 peaked at number 158. The Doors, like the `60's were over.
Then a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion. In the 70's, FM radio increasingly became the preserve of "classic rock," which meant that Doors music never fell completely out of earshot. The band's song "The End" turned into the sonic signature of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. In t980, No One Here Gets Out Alive, the Morrison bio by ex-gofer Danny Sugarman and Jerry Hopkins, became a best seller. In 1979 Elektra Records released a greatest hits package that sold more than two million copies – one
of the groups biggest sellers – and created new demand for the earlier Doors albums, two of which reappeared on the charts. In fact, the 80's was Morrison's best decade, in terms of sales
if not creativity. Through 1990 the Doors had sold a total of about forty- five million records (including nine million outside the United States) and currently average 750,000 a year, according to Elektra.
Song-publishing rights have always been divided equally among the four band members, with Morrison's share split between his parents and those of his inamorata, Pamela Courson, who died in
1974. Sugarman, now a business associate/representative for the surviving Doors who earns a percentage of their income, estimates
the bands current song publishing income at about $1.2 million a year.
Things are about to get even better. The last Doors boom occurred about ten years after Morrison died. Now that another decade has passed, Sugarman says, "There's a new generation of fans to
discover Jim Morrison's comet. And to help matters along, in the fall of '92 Elektra will release The Doors Complete, a limited-edition boxed CD set that will feature the band's six studio LP's plus two
"live" disks (which will also be released separately in
June). A coffee table book of lyrics and photographs will be available this fall. In November you'll see The Soft Parade, a home-video collection of interviews and footage.
Merchandise featuring the group's likeness and logos are licensed exclusively through Winterland Productions, which is owned by MCA, Inc., which is owned by Matsushita. New Kids On The Block, also
handled by Winterland, have raked in $400 million from such sales. Groups that tour have a big advantage here, but among Winterland's bands featuring dead people, the Doors hold their own, selling fewer T-Shirts, posters, et cetera, than Led Zeppelin, and about the same as guitar god Jimi Hendrix. Winterland won't
release figures, but an informed source puts the group's gross merchandising take at about $2 million a year.
Though Oliver Stone is unlikely to approve much beyond T-Shirts directly related to the film, Winterland will expand it's own array of Doors "imagery." Also being considered are upscale items, like fantasy tour jackets, commemorative plates, "There's a big market for that," says licensing director Gail Roth), and coins.
The Doors got a flat $750,000 for the movie rights to their story, songs, and likenesses from producers Imagine Films Entertainment, Sasha Harari and Bill Graham Films. The soundtrack, to released by
Elektra, features the original Doors music; in the film, actor Val Kilmer sings some of Morrison's parts.
You'll also be able to read all about the Doors. At least six new books are due in coming months, to join drummer Densmore's memoirs, and a compendium of Morrison's poetry, which has sold
more than 100,000 volumes, not bad for verse.
Still, says Sugarman, the Doors actively resist opportunities for exploitation: "I consider myself the keeper of a cataloge the same way someone else does for Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde. That's the
category I think Jim belongs in." Back in 1968, Morrison turned down a $50,000 offer by Buick to license "Light My Fire." More recently Trojan wanted "Touch Me" for a condom ad ("What was that promise that you made?")
END.