The Doors keyboardist passed away

[onearmedbandit]

I remember their immense popularity and influence in the 80's amongst my brothers and their friends, and eventually myself.

[HenryDorsetCase]

They were over rated, it was only because of the Movie in 1991 that there music became 'popular'. Heard nothing of there music for the 20 years prior...Radio Hauraki probably but that's about it.
And even then it was always either Fire or Riders in the Storm.

in your opinion they were overrated.

I think that you are simply incorrect when you say that because of Oliver Stone's film that the music became popular. It may (arguably) have introduced their music to some people who would not otherwise have been aware of it. Though I believe that no one would have gone to that film UNLESS they knew the music first. i.e. your thesis is arse backward.

So if the film came out in 1991, and you had "heard nothing of their music in the 20 years prior" that takes us back to 1971. Morrison died in 1970 (or 71, I forget which) and there would have been the usual raking over the ashes etc and orgiastic playing of all their back catalogue. Just because you didnt participate in it (in your tiny little island teetering on the edge of the world) doesn't mean it didn't happen.

What you are actually saying is "I don't like the Doors" (which is OK: musical taste is subjective) but what you're also saying is "because I don't like them, its not OK for you to like them either": and that part is bullshit.

One of the things I have learned about music after listening to it for a long time is: Just because it is popular doesn't mean it is bad (my favourite example of that is Fleetwood Mac's Fumours album) but just because it is popular does not mean it is good: (Justine Bieber).

The interesting thing about the Doors is that they WERE NOT HIPPIES. They did a lot of drugs, sure, and wore a bit of paisley, but they came from a JAZZ background. Morrison has more in common with the beat poets than fucking Jefferson Starship or those hippie fucktards. They were way darker, and way moe violent in their imagery than fucking coming from seattle with flowers in their hair. I hate hippies.

In fact, lets broadly generalise here: Late 60's popular music has two main strands as I see it: that hippie stuff (not to be confused with the 1960's psychedelic garage rock type stuff: see e.g. NUGGETS) broadly centered on the west coast and the underground stuff mainly centred on the US East coast. Specifically I am thinking of the Velvet Underground and that scene. From which came everything worthwhile in the 1970's, argualbly. (I would also class the British invasion of the mid-60's as part of the underground scene, at least initially. It was co-opted the same way that the seattle scene was after Nirvana broke, and for the same reason: money.)

The Doors didn't fit in either comfortably: way too successful to be underground, way too dangerous to be hippies. Do yourself a favour and listen to some of the deeper album cuts. Thank me later: Peace Frog, Spanish Caravan, hell, even LA Woman.

I could do without the alcoholism though.

[Maha]

I happen to like a number of their songs, I just don't think they were as great as some make them out to be. It was all about Mr Mojo Risin for the time they were together. My wife loves them.
And the 20 year remark?...not an exact but a there abouts rounded up number, any real doors fan should have (well maybe not) figured that out.

Doors fans are like Harley riders, to fuckin easy to wind up.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Even Jim Morrison was not a total believer in the Doors music, he didn't even stick around to finish the last album, he gave them the fingers and fucked off to France.

Incorrect. But thanks for playing. Look at the credits on LA WOMAN: all credited to the four of them. Morrison was a LYRICIST not a musician, so it didnt matter a fuck where he was or what he was doing while the musicians did their thing.

If you were right, the Doors should have carried on after he died. That they were unable to proves Morrison's contribution.

You have also forgotten to mention that at the time he had just married Witchy Woman (Pamela something) who was at least as insane as he was, and he was totally in the throes of his drinking: THAT is why they went to Paris (plus Morrisons fixation with Baudelaire and Rimbaud)....

[HenryDorsetCase]

I happen to like a number of their songs, I just don't think they were as great as some make them out to be. It was all about Mr Mojo Risin for the time they were together. My wife loves them.
And the 20 year remark?...not an exact but a there abouts rounded up number, any real doors fan should have (well maybe not) figured that out.

Doors fans are like Harley riders, to fuckin easy to wind up.

I wouldn't call myself a Doors fan particularly, but I do read a lot about music history.

If you had said they reached the nadir of their popularity in the mid-1980's, I would have agreed with you.

[Maha]

If you were right, the Doors should have carried on after he died. That they were unable to proves Morrison's contribution.

They tried to, they offered Graeme Brazier the job of fronting the band, but he declined....you going to google that too?

[HenryDorsetCase]

They tried to, they offered Graeme Brazier the job of fronting the band, but he declined....you going to google that too?

I already knew that: I listened to a podcast where Graham (not Graeme) Brazier was interviewed. Fascinating man. One of the unspoken reasons was that he was firmly in the grip of his heroin addiction at the time. (Fun fact: the song "Blue Lady" is about a very old blue glass syringe he (Graham) used to use to shoot up.)

[Maha]

I already knew that: I listened to a podcast where Graham (not Graeme) Brazier was interviewed. Fascinating man. One of the unspoken reasons was that he was firmly in the grip of his heroin addiction at the time. (Fun fact: the song "Blue Lady" is about a very old blue glass syringe he (Graham) used to use to shoot up.)

Now there's a song!
Damn now I got LA Woman in my head....

[onearmedbandit]

Some radio station had a live at 5 tribute to him today...

[Laava]

Some radio station had a live at 5 tribute to him today...

Cool, I wonder if they will do it again when he dies!

[PrincessBandit]

It's sad that this story isn't true:

http://en.mediamass.net/people/ray-m...deathhoax.html

It is. But social media is dangerous either way.

Yeah, checked that out and it's a sad sign of the times that death hoaxes abound making genuine reports untrustworthy.

Was never a big fan of the band myself, but it's always sad to hear of the passing of great musicians (whether they be singers or instrumentalists)

[Laava]

It's sad that this story isn't true:

http://en.mediamass.net/people/ray-m...deathhoax.html

It is. But social media is dangerous either way.

Seems it is a hoax hoax.
RIP Ray Manzarek.

[MisterD]

I was introduced to the Doors music in 1987 (6th form college), by the same mate that introduced me to Metallica and the Ramones. When I followed him to Newcastle University two years later, he was a year into a campaign to get the DJ's at the Mayfair rock nightclub to play "LA Woman" which was finally successful when the music press started talking about the film being made...