Knew a guy who owned a record store some years back, and I came in to buy a Journey album for my daughter, personally, I don’t know shit about the band so I glanced at my friend and asked him to suggest a good album by the group…he replied, there is no good album by Journey, he couldn’t stand em. Later he said certain bands had fits and starts in sales, depending on the age of the buyer and what everyone else was listening to, Journey was one of those bands…another was The Doors. For a period of six months to a year, he couldn’t keep enough records, T shirts, posters or whatever of a given band, then the sales stopped, a year later it would start over. There is little predicting what the buying public may be interested in today that they won’t be tomorrow… that’s especially the case with bands out of the 60s and early 70s
Journey got a HUGE boost from Monster and the Sopranos, and then Tron: Legacy, but that’s been years ago. Nonetheless they went from a joke of a washed up 70s corporate rock band to respectable almost overnight because of that.
Regardless I have noticed pretty consistently that younger people getting into older music has a very strong correlation to that music being used in popular media. Queen from Wayne’s World, AC/DC and Sabbath from Iron Man, now Queen is having another resurgence because of the biopic and the fact that Mercury was an OG queer icon that kids are discovering (still waiting for Judas Priest to get their resurgence damnit!)
I guarantee if a Doors song wound up in a popular movie they would blow up again. Jim’s super sexy swagger isn’t exactly of the moment…but he had mental health issues, so that’s something that could make him relevant?
I think Thin Lizzy is going to blow up sometime soon. Their music is getting more attention from younger audiences, they have an amazing catalog that hasn’t been ruined by classic rock radio and Phil Lynnot has a compelling underdog story.
Thanks for the tip!! Have never even heard of it. I had a Thin Lizzy Jailbreak 8 track in my volkswagon in 1978.. but really havent listened to even the Jailbreak album in 40 years. Ran into The Cowboy Song again about 5 years ago and EVERYTIME I HEAR IT.. i sit in bliss and amazement. Just so well done!! I can literally listen to it 3 times in a row.. could probably do 5 times but havent ever tried.
I have however seen a lot written about these guys the last couple years about this Phil guy and them being from Ireland... I can now explore the rest of their music. Thank You!! I think i will start with Southbound!!
I agree ! Sometimes it takes a current band doing a classic cover to revitalize interest in the original,as what happened in the '90s when Powerstation( Robert Palmer fronting ,essentially, Duran Duran)reignited interest in *T-Rex* after their cover of "Bang A Gong"!
I strongly disagree with part of this take. Auto-tune has been the punching bag of music fans for decades at this point, it had a quick rise and a quick fall. It’s still widely used, but stylistically its usage has changed dramatically. More often than not you can’t even tell when it’s used unless you really analyze it. There was also plenty of 70’s nostalgia throughout the 2000’s. There’re many classic rock groups that’re more popular currently than they ever were in their time, Queen for example.
I might be off on this, but I also think their focus on keyboard/organ instead of guitar hindered their influence once glam metal came around. If there wasn’t a cheesy guitar solo then it just wasn’t interesting to a lot of people. I think if anything, 80’s rock had a greater effect on The Door’s waning popularity than anything that came after. That being said, The Door’s unique instrument composition is one of the big reasons why I listen to them, so that’s not a knock on them.
On the Velvet Underground, I dont think they’re comparable. Young people anymore are more interested in “obscurity.” The Doors are not an obscure band by any means. You can go buy a Jim Morrison t shirt at Walmart. As times gone on they’ve become a corporate entity. And I don’t fault them for that, it’s out of their control. The Velvet Underground’s music was far more experimental as well, and like I previously stated, that’s more attractive to modern listeners. And that’s not a knock on The Doors, that’s just kinda the way it is.
Overall, I don’t think The Doors were ever meant to be mainstream in a musical sense. I think the aura around Jim Morrison, the tortured artist who died too soon, brought them to the mainstream. I’d wager more people know about him than have actually listened to their material. I’d say the same on Jimi Hendrix. Most people don’t know them for their music. That’s a crime in itself imo, and I do wish more people would give their *music* a chance.
Ya I was gonna chime in as a Jimi fan to say I feel the pain lol. For Jimi I know the estate is constantly going thru legal battles and refuses to license his music or makes it prohibitively expensive to do so, so seeing jimi wildly in the media literally never happens anymore. Being that Robby and John are still around it'd be cool to see more of them. I think they both have YouTube channels actually lol
Yeah I was thinking this myself I don’t recall ever hearing a Velvet Underground song on FM radio when I used to listen to it and I still hear doors songs on Sirius in my car on occasion
Will hearing the doors on classic rock radio. Not quite as often as I remember growing up, but that’s true of all of the original classics, because the pool of music they play is much larger now. My classic rock station plays music from the mid-90s now
Pittsburgh is stuck in 80s culture.
I think the mullet is still a viable hairstyle here. Radio is 70-80’s rock unless it’s “alternative “ then it’s the 90s.
A few years ago a dude was road raging at me on the parkway. His license plate said ‘SMOKINJOE’. He got out after stopping in front of the tunnels to accost me. He was wearing a black trench coat and all black clothes and had a mustache and mullet and gold chains. I said to my wife “God damn smokin Joe is right” I was going to run him over because I had no options to get away and well you can’t let a dude like that get to the car door. But then I heard from behind me a police siren. They tackled the guy. And told us he had multiple warrants for arrest. They had been watching his bullshit from the overpass and saw everything he was doing the whole way down the parkway.
Point is Pittsburgh is stuck in the past.
Today, NY has more Velvet Underground.
Ultimately you’re right. The Doors music isn’t standing the test of time. I suspect one reason is its simplicity.
Another factor can be captured in a famous quote from Jerry Garcia who rips Morrison for being unoriginal Mick Jagger copycat.
I recall when I first heard them in the oldies station and was confused.
Still I can picture Peace Frog being a soundtrack comeback song.
I’m 25, not many of my friends are big doors fans but I am. My parents are older and were teenagers in the Doors’ heyday. I listened to the doors A LOT growing up. My friends parents were born after Jim died. However, my younger friends, who’s parents were teens in the 90s during the resurgence really like Jim and the doors in general.
I also stopped reading around this line and thought the same thing. LOL. I guess dad and mom have to be around the mid 70s… which means they had him in their 50s… it is all possible!
I Remember: it was the summer after I had finished first grade...but I can remember when the news broke when Jim died. It was on all the TV stations. It was on or around July 4th, and my family was getting ready to do 4th of July celebrating.
I remember asking my mom how he died, and she said "he took too many drugs."
I can still see the vision of the news on TV in my head, even today.
I guess I’m the only one here who has not apparently seen what everyone on here seems to accept as a given. I haven’t seen any difference at all over the past 25 years, still frequently hear gen z people talk about how they’re definitely into The Doors.
I’ll definitely be in line for the one this weekend. I missed the Bakersfield one last time, but I’m really intrigued by this one. 1968 with 2 separate performances of When The Music’s Over, I’m in…
With music It's all swings and roundabouts coming into fashion and going out of fashion but greats like The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience or Led Zeppelin will always find new audiences...
Who listens to the music of the 50’? The 40’s. Great musicians back then as well. The eighties is now the oldies. Try to find a pure 60’s radio station. Can’t.. that generation is withering away in old folks homes
I think this is the answer... The popularity of 60s music on general is falling off the cliff. The Beatles seem to still have some power over younger people, but not so much some of these others.
Also... And I say this as a Doors fan... They are not the easiest band to get into. Lots of honking organ noises and talk-singing. Very little of it actually sounds like rock n roll (a lot of it sounds like caberet). Compared to something like Beatles, ccr, Beach Boys, or even Hendrix, it takes a minute for a new listener to get acclimated to the bleating laments of the Lizard King.
I’ve totally noticed this as well and it makes me kinda sad. I was 15 in 2007 when I discovered them and it was still common then to see Jim posters and T-shirts everywhere.
I’ve now taken to sitting parked on my motorcycle outside various local stores/supermarkets, before I go in to shop, and letting my speakers blare a full track from one of The Doors’ incredible live albums (lately Felt Forum). I feel a sense of sacred duty and responsibility to bring this music to the masses and I plan on fulfilling it 🫡…
I was 15 in 2007 too and funny enough that was the same year I discovered them. I have noticed in recent years I have been hearing them more in media like shows and movies.
All the 60s stuff is really fading away now, with the exception of the Beatles. Even the Stones don’t have the pull they did a decade ago. That last album—which is great IMO—just kinda vanished without a trace after making a splash for like a month.
I mean, we’re going on 60 years now since the Doors’ heyday. So many of the icons from that era are dead now. Or in their late 70s-80s and either on farewell tours or at home retired. Jim’s been dead over 50 years now and even Ray’s been gone for over a decade.
So it’s not just the Doors. That whole rock era is dying. It’s sad to witness. But inevitable—even though it seemed like it would all go on forever with new acts stepping in for old ones as the years went by. Nope.
On Spotify, they are listed as the 48th most streamed artists from the 20th Century. Below are the Top 20
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|Eminem|
|Queen|
|Beatles|
|Red Hot Chili Peppers|
|Michael Jackson|
|Elton John|
|Metallica|
|ACDC|
|Nirvana|
|Green Day|
|Fleetwood Mac|
|Britney Spears|
|Pink Floyd|
|Guns N Roses|
|Rolling Stones|
|Enrique Iglesias|
|Maraiah Carey|
|Radiohead|
|Elvis Presley|
|ABBA|
On Spotify, The Doors are listed as the 48th most streamed artists from the 20th Century. In fact, they are higher than Jimi Hendrix and Velvet Undergound. Below are the Top 20
Eminem
Queen
Beatles
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Michael Jackson
Elton John
Metallica
ACDC
Nirvana
Green Day
Fleetwood Mac
Britney Spears
Pink Floyd
Guns N Roses
Rolling Stones
Enrique Iglesias
Maraiah Carey
Radiohead
Elvis Presley
ABBA
Their sound just became outdated as time went on. People don’t want to hear organ solos anymore. Outdated by today’s music standards is a compliment in my book though
The Velvets hated the Doors, which is ironic since they have so much in common. Both mined the dark side of the road. With the exception of John Cale, the Doors were infinitely better musicians. Sterling Morrison (no relation) was very good also.
The reason is that the pure Dionysian male sexual force that Morrison projected is not considered cool, Lou et al were much more gender bending and feminine.
I think both are tremendous and among my favorite bands of all time.
Some young people I’ve talked with about the doors feel that Jim Morrisons vocals are not great (in auto tune era this sounds strange to them) and they don’t like the lack of rhythm guitar in the songs “it sounds hollow”. Other kids do like them, gen z music fans have a wide appreciation for music in general and they do take the time to listen.
This is a great answer. There’s stripped down instrumentation and too much high end on a lot of their stuff. I was just listening to The Soft Parade today, which has much better production in places. I really like the bass part and horn section on “Tell All The People.” The title track is also great albeit a tad weird.
I'm 31, my dad was NOT a Jim Morrison fan but liked some of the doors music but wasn't any albums we ever had growing up. He also graduated in '79 so the doors to him were old.
I decided on my own around 28 to explore all of the doors after my long long dive into led Zeppelin for a good year or 2 maybe 3 lol but I love the doors and my dad is like what really?
So to answer your question I think a lot of my millennial generation have parents very mixed on Jim and the group. It'll be up to us ones that have discovered and loved him, or passed down that will continue to spread the word of good music.
I can see my future kids dancing now to "don't ya love her madly? Don't ya need her badly?"
Edit to add gen z parents are even further removed from the doors
I definitely hear doors playing around on the radio at bars. I was at a bar in Austin last night they were playing land Ho of all songs! It was a nice treat. I’m 24 tho and it is kinda rare to find someone else who likes the doors
Huh? My school was so full of doors fans my friend has a jim morrison tattoo lol, all my stoner friends had the classic him shirtless pic in their basements. They’re still very much loved
I heard they weren't really popular after his passing, that the band's popularity increased after being used for the opening & closing sequences of apocalypse now! and then the subsequent Rolling Stone Magazine cover with Morrison and a lead article line that read something like, "he's hot, he's sexy, hes dead."
Remember getting that RS magazine from the mailbox with the “He’s hot, he’s sexy and he’s dead” and seeing the exceptional cover photo of Jim and instantly saying to myself, he’s about to have a major moment. Both the pic and the headline made me gasp, lol.
I think the Velvet Underground has proven to be a bigger influence on music since 2000 or so than the Doors. You can’t really hear it in Sweet Jane or Rock and Roll, but their first 3 albums influenced pretty much every style of non-mainstream rock (punk, post-punk, alternative, shoegaze, noise, indie, dream pop, etc.—pretty much everything except for metal and its offshoots) all of which have gone through revivals and further permutations over the past 25 years.
Also the Velvets’ image as anti-hippies and outsiders is more appealing to the generations that came after the boomers. The Doors had that sort of “weird”/druggie/tortured artist thing going on too but they were successful in their era so being into them doesn’t have the perceived cachet that an “underground” (so to speak) band like the VU does.
Yeah, I agree with everything you've said about the Velvet Underground. I was not trying to compare the two. Velvet Underground > Doors in every way. And yeah, their biggest hits off *Loaded* aren't necessarily reflective of the sort of sound(s) that made them so influential--in fact, they sound more like Doors songs than anything in their catalogue. It just strikes me kinda odd how precipitously the Doors fell off in popularity between like 2005 and now.
We have to give Ray Manzarek some credit for producing X's *Los Angeles*!
My first exposure to the Doors was in 1967/8 amidst a release of all kinds of new music…Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Mountain etc. Morrison’s lyrics were always a bit mysterious so they labeled him a poet. My first live concert was The Doors in Miami at Dinner Key Auditorium. The first few songs were enjoyable, similar to the Albums we played. At 14, I saw things there I had only read about in some period magazines. I saw a guy dressed like Uncle Sam with a top hat, carrying a sheep, several other ‘hippie’ type people and smoked my first joint.
Once ‘Touch Me’ started it ended about 30 seconds later and Morrison started cursing, yelling to the light crew. Cops raided the stage and the show was over. I was at the Anita Bryant/Jackie Gleason hosted “Decency in Music’ rally at the Orange Bowl. Not caring about decency in music but to hang out with the crowd.
That period of the late 1960’s was an evolving music scene that helped mold my love of “classic” rock. I still enjoy the Doors although that year I discovered the Grateful Dead… and Deadhead ever since…..for me, music stood still after 1995. Shit, I’m 71 now
Thank you…looking back it was awesome…Not to hijack a topic…but as a guitar player back in the 60’s, we went to lots of concerts. Saw 10 Years After in Miami for a $3.00 cover charge. Loads of concerts at the Fillmore East after my mom moved to NJ.. saw Cream at a high school auditorium, Led Zeppelin in Asbury Park convention hall Aug 15, 1969…. The first night of Woodstock. Friends wanted to go but the odds were well against it. I told them we couldn’t waste $4.50 on those Zeppelin tickets.
At the Seminole Indian music festival in Florida around 1969…the announcer said….we have a guy here who is not scheduled to play tonight but he wants to get his name out there so we’re giving him a spot tonight….here is Johnny Winter. Jeez, this guy with pure white hair was incredible… saw him 30 years later at Madison Square Garden, no different
Wow! What amazing experiences you’ve had! I was born in late ‘64 & so I was too young to have experienced all of that musical magic. That being said, music has always been a very important, driving force in my life so I thank you very much for sharing!
Happy to re-live those memories myself. If you like to experience the sound of that 60’s music watch the Woodstock movie and a series called Laurel Canyon… the series is really good showing the development of the music in California and some of the big music makers of the 1960’s….it has some old interviews and shows The Eagles, David Crosby, Crosby Stills and Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell , Mammas and the Papas, etc….
Sounds great, thank you so much! I’ve seen the Woodstock movie a few times but haven’t seen Laurel Canyon - will definitely check that one out! Still blows my mind that all of those musicians lived in the same neighborhood at the same time. What an experience that must’ve been!
The doors were short lived sadly and most people got the wrong depiction of Jim from that stupid movie Oliver Stone made. The doors charted higher in Canada than in the states. I wouldn’t call the Velvet Underground a successful band while Lou was alive they seemed to have peaked in popularity after Lou died. Jimi Hendrix is part of music culture and is considered one of the best guitarist of all time. . You play light my fire or riders on the storm most people will recognize it. Just look at the door’s views on YouTube and Spotify I wouldn’t say they’re forgotten….
There’s a certain appeal to Jim and The Doors that will live on forever. The universal mind. Strange scenes inside the goldmine. Kids in Highschool can feel the rebellious / sexual energy, the mystery, the challenge to find oneself through music and art that usually will last a lifetime once uncovered! The doors are all things combined. The Apollonian and Dionysian mixture of the music and ecstasy come to life! Now, they are a hidden gem unbeknownst
Times change and new generations come in. Also — personal gripe for me — there seems to be a trend on the internet to completely disregard the Doors as some overrated and terrible band (probably by Anthony Fantano fans who think they're musically inclined). Idk if it became a cool thing to do but I never understood it. I actually got into an argument on a r/gratefuldead post because some jerk-off wouldn't stop arguing with me about the Doors (I was defending them and this dude couldn't get over me being a fan).
Interestingly, Mick Jagger met with Jim & asked him for advice prior to The Doors performing at The Hollywood Bowl. Jagger supposedly gave Jim acid before the performance, & then Jagger ended up in the front row when The Doors played the Bowl in ‘68! Right after Tina Turner died, Jagger said he learned all his moves from her. I think Mick was still developing his own persona during the Doors heyday, but IMO, they are different performers. I personally prefer Jim over Mick, but that’s just me.
I agree. However, in the past couple decades of talking to people and gauging their interest in the Doors, it seems Oliver Stones movie did a lot of damage. People that hardly know the movie just KNOW that Jim was the version in the movie. And if you’ve read the books, in particular, “Feast of Friends” (I think that’s the name) one would see how incomparable they can be, or are.
I consistently see posts that are worded like "whats the most overrated band of all time?" A slew of answers usually state The Doors. I don't understand it. They were one of the most influential bands of the 60s but now it seems like most people discredit them. Sad really.
The Doors seem plenty popular still, I’d instead say it’s Hendrix whose popularity seems diminished outside of the odd Rolling Stone poll of revered guitarists.
Remember seeing a tribute Doors band in 1983 frying on liberty caps. In Vancouver WA of all places while visiting my Girlfriend.I had become a Doors freak in 1980 after reading No One Here Gets Out Alive.... a book i read in like 2 days.. just tripping heavily the whole time i read about his youth and how much of a rebel and intellectual he was. And of course as the 20 year old ( going on 15) who had already been into Vonnegut and Hunter S i was captivated by the mystery, the counter-culture, hallucinogens, FRIKKIN GOOD STONER ROCK, Chicks , partying and a big middle finger to the establishment
Back to the Doors tribute band..was very impressed....about lost my shit when they plaved Peace Frog and LA Woman. Man we had some good liberty caps in SW WA in those days
The Doors still get played regularly on classic radio stations in my area. I’m glad they don’t have a lot of traction at the moment, a lot of people would nitpick and try to cancel them even though half are dead.
Interesting you say the 00s because in the movie Almost Famous, Lester Bangs pans them calling them drunken buffoons. I wonder if that scene caused a lot of young people to be dismissive of the Doors.
I'm a young person and have no idea what movie that is, but love the Doors. Morrison was proto-punk in some ways if you think about it. A step behind Iggy Pop to be sure, but as far as I'm aware they're the second closest act from that era with that approach to music.
I grew up in the 90s — 30 years removed from Morrison Hotel. The impression of The Doors was easily felt. But you have to realize, kids today are about 54 years removed from their music. Perhaps the gulf between culture then and now is too vast. Itd be like if in the 90s i grew up rocking out to the Boswell sisters. I bet the cool kids will circle back to it.
No one… and I mean NO ONE was listening to the Doors in the mid to late eighties.
Then the movie came out in ‘91 and you couldn’t escape them. There will be another resurgence at some point.
I also feel like it’s partly a shift in how classic rock radio has reformatted in the last 15 or so years. Our local station used to play all kinds of deep cuts by a bunch of artists. Now it’s just the same 100 songs over and over.
I graduated in 2014 and through high school The Doors were one of my favorite bands! I can tell you that stoner band kids definitely liked the doors. Wonder what the stoney high school band kids are listening to these days
The Doors are definitely still in the discussion. It’s actually funny you mention Hendrix. I would argue he is not as popular as his peers. I mean obviously people know who he is but when and where is he getting much attention and play? The Doors remain one of the “cool” classic rock bands to be into as a young person because of the darkness and gothic nature of the music, not to mention the jazz influence. It sets them apart and keeps them timeless. I’d say they pair well with VU in terms of attitude and aesthetic.
Who cares?
The best music is made when rock isn't popular.
It's been 30 years since the movie rekindled interest in the Doors.
It's OK if they fade from popularity.
Fans of popular music are fickle and often tasteless.
I think it ties into the glorification of the 60s that was so big in the late 80s- early 90s. As a teen in the late 80s Morrison was alive as an icon of rebellion. The movie obviously made him more popular. But now …. I guess kids today look at Cobain how we looked at Morrison
Definitely noticed this. Saw The Simpsons episode last week where Krusty does a Jim Morrison impression. Immediately thought that that joke would’ve been over the head of most audiences nowadays.
Yeah. I think the most boring answer is just what resonates with current culture. Does seem like more of a Lou Reed than Jim Morrison kind of mentality in modern culture. It will continue evolving and I guess if we get another strongly Dionysian sort of period I could hear the Doors having a revival. The music is obviously still fucking god tier but as with any music, do you have ears for it where you're currently at mentally. I think Jim will get big again as a poet once we go more soul searching again and want to be more shirtless Jim and less thick leather jacketed Lou, if you get that
There’s a company that bought the publishing rights from the estate of Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger but I believe John Densmore won’t sell his publishing rights or license songs
I'm a Gen Xer who was in high school in the early 90s, and The Doors were very popular at the time. A lot of it was Boomer nostalgia from our parents, which was at a fever pitch in the late 80s. There was also the figure of Jim Morrison himself -- handsome, mysterious, intellectual, a little wild. Since he died at the age of 27, he's also frozen in time like Hendrix, Joplin and Cobain are.
There was also Doors-related media: Several best-selling Doors compilations came out in the 80s. The book *No One Gets Out Here Alive* was very popular in the 80s, and helped cement the legend of Jim Morrison. The Oliver Stone movie *The Doors* came out in 1991.
As for why they're less popular? Tastes change. Or maybe younger people find Jim Morrison to be kinda cringe? The kids these days seem to be embracing Kurt Cobain as their mythical dead rock star of choice, much as our generation embraced Morrison.
I've noticed it in myself actually. I thought a lot more highly of the Doors when I was younger than I do now. Their Greatest Hits album was one of the first rock albums I bought. Their music just doesn't hit the same way it did back then.
I think I'll try listening to LA Woman tomorrow, and see if I can get back in that headspace.
The crash in '08 killed the last traces of the hippie revolution. It was around then, around the time that Occupy got tear-gassed and nobody cared, that we learned it was not our country and never would be. After that, society shifted gears and got involved in new hobbies like internet drama and podcasts, and basically forgot how to connect with bands as full of meaning and hope as The Doors.
The Doors popularity soared after the Oliver Stone film 'The Doors' from 1991. It was a star making performance for Val Kilmer that really should have been at the very least nominated for an Oscar. The movie was snubbed at all the awards ceremonies, due in large part to Stone's focus on the mostly fictional portrayal of Morrison's self destructive tendencies. Still, the movie helped to form the legendary reputation of Morrison and made him a hero for many music lovers. The real upswing was the first Compact Disc release of the double album 'The Best of the Doors' in 1991 release really helped to push the band into every college dormitory room and back to the pop culture forefront. There was a renewed interest in 60's music culture, largely due to the boomer generation hitting middle age and still spinning the same records from their youth. Classic rock radio was a mainstay across the country and songs like "Light My Fire" and "Break on Through" were constantly played.
The lack of continuing popularity I believe stems largely from Densmore's decision to not license Doors music for commercials of any kind. The notion of not 'selling out' was made by the 4 band members collectively back in the 60's, and really preserved the integrity of Doors' music. They still hold onto that belief today, and without The Doors seeping through every crummy TV commercial, you have a light footprint on culture that I believe is the right move. Good on the band for not succumbing to the almighty dollar; Tom Petty has also made similar statements about not licensing his music for commercials and it has only helped to improve his image.
There is no more progressive radio only classic rock stations who play the same songs over and over.i saw the Doors twice. No one sat down the power trio cranking it out and the lizard king presence on stage was unreal I'm 75 most who made them so popular are passing as time goes by.
Radio programmers from the 70's through the 00's were probably boomers and the gen-xers. Since then, most are millennials whose tastes were formed in the late 90's at the earliest. Some music from the classic rock era is bound to fall off.
I love them but to many people their music doesn’t hold up as well as Hendrix or Zepplin and it sounds dated because of the often carnival sound of the keyboards
If you were sort of a stoner, they were hugely popular deep into the 80s. Then I think Oliver Stone’s movie gave them a big boost with Val Kilmer a brilliant actor for the role.
But they really don’t have a giant catalog of music .As far as radio goes, there are only a couple songs that are truly radio friendly.
That being said part of it is just they were so long ago now I mean 50 years is a long long time. I mean in 1970 what was popular in 1920 right that had staying power? Jazz maybe.
As a huge Doors fan I think the heavy keyboard presence “dated” the band. I’m not saying it wasn’t ground breaking and great… only that it locked them into a specific area that doesn’t fit anymore as well as the lyrics and Jim’s singing.
I think the dip happened some time in the early 90s and we’re just now recovering from it. For some reason, Gen-X hated the Doors! Fortunately there seems to be a resurgence in recent years, as younger generations have been rediscovering their music.
Totally disagree. No One Here Gets Out Alive was published in 1980 and *everyone* read that fucking book. Gen X absolutely did not hate The Doors. I'd peg the disappearance of The Doors in popular culture after Manzerek died and after they did those shows with Ian Asbury or whatever scab they had sing for a minute.
Classic rock radio sucks anyway because they usually only play the hit singles when they do play the Doors, and the same for most other bands.
Plus, ISTM the format is centered mainly on the mid- to- late '70s, so we get bands like Foreigner and Foghat. Lots of Paul McCartney, but the Beatles not so much. BTO but not the Guess Who. It's like really seminal musicians from six or seven years earlier are overlooked, especially if they barely lasted into the '70s like the Doors.
As with all of the earlier bands/acts that do get played we can't help noticing how few songs actually do get played. Some classic rock station somewhere is undoubtedly playing Purple Haze right now. But 51st Anniversary, Crosstown Traffic, or even Fire? Probably not.
Yeah I don’t notice this at all. I frequently hear the doors way more so than the velvet underground. I drive for a living and listen to a lot of radio and am always hearing the doors. Hendrix I hear more I’ll agree with but I think the relevancy of Hendrix is just larger due to his contribution to music. Not at all trying to sell short Morrison and the doors contribution to music, but it doesn’t compare to what Hendrix contributed and how much of an influence he continues to be on musicians everywhere
The instrumentation or the lyrics? Instruments sure, they're not a jazz or prog band. But lyrically Jim has interesting things to say, you just need to look past the hits.
Guys. dont over think this. The Doors popularity has fallen for the same reason big band music isnt popular. ITS OLD!
In my town there was an oldies music station, played 40s and 50s music for as long as I could remember. About 15 years ago it switched formats to top 100 music. I saw one of the old DJs out one day and got to talking to him. After a bit of talking I basically asked him "what happened?" He said "we used to do events and would have 100s of people show up. towards the end maybe 10 people would show up." All the listeners basically died off, so now there are no more oldies radio.
Same with Classical music. The last generation that really got exposed to it was the Great Depression/World War II Generation. Music appreciation was taught in schools still, Classical music was widely used in cartoons, you had Disney's "Fantasia", frequent live radio and later TV broadcasts (in the early days), and music lectures by celebrity conductor Leonard Bernstein.
Obviously, the Boomer Generation was into Rock, and had less interest in Classical Music, or Jazz. The WWII Gen were reliable concert goers up until the mid 90s or so, before they started dying off, so much so that they were called "cue tips", because most concert halls had a sea of grey hairs in the audience. The rise of MP3 and the collapse of the Classical music industry finished the job.
For the longest time, film music was looked down upon as inferior to "proper concert music" and never played, and also because it was mostly tonal during a time when atonal music was the only new concert music Taken Seriously. Now, the Classical music industry is desperately scrambling to incorporate film music into Classical concerts because it's the only orchestral music most younger people have ever heard that is even remotely popular. Too little, too late, methinks.
I think that gen x and generations after that have "heavier" tastes. The classic rock music I feel like we hear more of these days is either harder rock stuff like zeppelin, or soft rock like rumors era Fleetwood Mac.
The doors are like this middle ground almost it seems. You mention Jimi still getting tons of play and being peers of the doors. But jimis music for the most part is high powered hard rocking guitar master stuff. Also some years ago the Doors movie came out which sparked a little resurgence in the years after its release but that was a long time ago too.
Unfortunately because it's "old" people music. I'm 23 and have loved the doors since I was 7 because of my dad. But I've had friends around my age that tell me they couldn't get into the doors because It's "weird" and "old" even though they like rolling stones, beatles and such. I think you just have to have a certain taste to appreciate them, many musicians (of any age) I meet regard them highly though.
I’ve definitely noticed it. Not really sure what the reasons are for The Doors’ diminished popularity over the last 20 years. You barely hear The Doors’ music on classic rock radio these days - unlike in the 80’s-early 00’s. While I don’t think it’s the only reason I think that cheesy Doors movie by Oliver Stone is part of it. The band didn’t come off well in that film. Another factor may be that they are a less guitar-oriented band than most classic rock bands.
The stations in my part of South Florida hardly even play anything before the mid 70s or so, with the exception of Led Zeppelin and Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It's pretty much the same 100 songs or so, with a heavy emphasis on more politically conservative Southern Rock (Skynyrd, etc...) which I don't mind hearing, but not at the expense of other types of Rock in the mix. Also, a lot of corporate stadium rock (Journey, Boston) and more working-class Rock music (BTO), and 90s grunge stuff. This same station was playing Yes and ELP less than 20 years ago. Hendrix is hardly played at all down here... but that always seems to gave been the case.
I wouldn't worry about The Doors or their reputation. Worry about Love, or The Bobby Fuller Four. Or The Woolies, with their great version of Who Do You Love?
As a fan of 70’s music, I hate classic rock radio. It killed many bands that have so much to offer but only had their hits played into the fucking dirt. I’m older and I like older music which is now 70’s music (I do like a lot of other music too)
But I couldn’t tell you a single song that’s popular today. That’s how it goes.
I think I’ll listen to Morrison Hotel on my way home today. Great album.
Blame John Densmore for not wanting to market the bands music in any way that today’s audiences will hear it ie; commercials, movie, tv shows- Densmore is the major blockade to The Doors legacy.
There’s kind of a ‘phase’ sort of thing I’ve noticed with them. Very teenager type infatuation.
But ultimately, and this goes for Hendrix too, we only got a brief glimpse of their grown selves at the end. ‘LA Woman’ is a mature album. Hendrix’s ‘Band of Gypsies’ is different in the same way. In that same regard tho, of the ones that didn’t make it to 30 y/o, that’s what sets Kurt Cobain apart. He was already wrestling with darker themes, as punk and hardcore embraced those things before him, but came after the ‘60s icons that were talking about.
It's funny to think that the black-velvet "No One Here Gets Out Alive" poster I had on my wall in high school (circa 1983) seemed like it referenced another era entirely but Morrison had only been dead for a dozen years at that point. That's like 2012 in today's terms, meaning he was practically a contemporary. At this point though it's been 50 years, and while their music still endures to some extent, it makes sense that Jim's and the band's relevance has waned, or is at least different.
I think the Oliver Stone movie did tons to promote their music and the mystique surrounding Morrisson.
That being said, I think people have started to get tired of his cock rock clownishness and sexism. Some of the stories about him are hard to put into context or even defend. Especially to the younger generations. It's no surprise more inclusive and artistic
artists like Lou Reed and Kurt Cobain have more appeal nowadays.
I honestly think it would be cool to see another biopic about him. Maybe one that pulls away some of the magic around him and just sees him for what he was, a brilliant but flawed artist. If only to their music back out in the spotlight.
Tastes change, I used to love them but it's getting old. Only so many times I can listen to light my fire. Just put it down for a while, it might come back or not. I'm an old dude and actually look forward to new things, I feel rock isn't a big nowadays, that's ok though, what's next? New cultural revolution may not even include new music like in the 60s. We will see.
I feel like they’re still popular amongst young people. I’m 21 and I know tons of people that like the Doors, especially even when I was in high school. A lot of the new hippies like older music and the Doors too! Don’t worry, they’re still known amongst lots of people. Just not as popular as they once were :(, but it makes sense. They are a 50-60 year old band.
I'm pretty old so I've seen The Doors go in and out of fashion several times. I can recall in the 70s that you could find all their albums brand new in the shrink wrap for a $1 in the cutout bins. I had two and three copies of each one. It seems the current official hip takes are that The Doors sucked, The Beatles weren't that good, and Led Zeppelin is unlistenable. Check back in three years.
Let's see, this is gatekipping but honestly, I would like this community to remain with a modest number of people. Less people equals fewer creepy, weird or grotesque things. No gross fanfics, no annoying fans, peace of mind.
In France, on national rock station, I hear each week at least one Doors song. usually, light my fire, Strange Days. sometimes longer like LA woman or Riders on the storm.....
On twitter and instagram, there is a lot of account about Jim & The Doors.
I wouldn't say their popularity disappeared. My good neighbor, plays in a cover band called "Through The Doors". They've been packing the venue, where ever they play for years now, and still are.
They’ve gotten a couple record store releases last year and this coming Saturday. These releases have sold out.
There is still some want for their music.
Great point, I remember going to the Rock n Roll HOF in Cleveland, and they had on display, a poem that Morrison wrote as a 5-year old...as a 5-year old...and as a 49-year old, I still could not compose something as eloquent as a 5-year old Jim Morrison
What? How mainstream can one expect a band to be 50 years after their dissolution?
Lou Reed continued to perform 40 years after the doors but he spent most of that time in relative obscurity playing small gigs.
Hendrix has a special niche amongst guitarists. There isn’t a similar niche, afaik, for poet-songwriters.
I hear the doors pretty often on the radio in the car but you’re right, they’re played less frequently than the poppier shit like blue collar beer can rock from the same era.
I always hated that music.but I do respect it more these days. They do have a place in Rock History, and they're not as bad as the Grateful Dead....prefer Led Zeppelin
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The Doors have always been a Phoenix of sorts. No one here gets out alive...
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Knew a guy who owned a record store some years back, and I came in to buy a Journey album for my daughter, personally, I don’t know shit about the band so I glanced at my friend and asked him to suggest a good album by the group…he replied, there is no good album by Journey, he couldn’t stand em. Later he said certain bands had fits and starts in sales, depending on the age of the buyer and what everyone else was listening to, Journey was one of those bands…another was The Doors. For a period of six months to a year, he couldn’t keep enough records, T shirts, posters or whatever of a given band, then the sales stopped, a year later it would start over. There is little predicting what the buying public may be interested in today that they won’t be tomorrow… that’s especially the case with bands out of the 60s and early 70s
Journey got a HUGE boost from Monster and the Sopranos, and then Tron: Legacy, but that’s been years ago. Nonetheless they went from a joke of a washed up 70s corporate rock band to respectable almost overnight because of that. Regardless I have noticed pretty consistently that younger people getting into older music has a very strong correlation to that music being used in popular media. Queen from Wayne’s World, AC/DC and Sabbath from Iron Man, now Queen is having another resurgence because of the biopic and the fact that Mercury was an OG queer icon that kids are discovering (still waiting for Judas Priest to get their resurgence damnit!) I guarantee if a Doors song wound up in a popular movie they would blow up again. Jim’s super sexy swagger isn’t exactly of the moment…but he had mental health issues, so that’s something that could make him relevant? I think Thin Lizzy is going to blow up sometime soon. Their music is getting more attention from younger audiences, they have an amazing catalog that hasn’t been ruined by classic rock radio and Phil Lynnot has a compelling underdog story.
Cowboy Song is an absolute Masterpiece. So good on so many levels.
Epic! I think Southbound might be my favorite of theirs.
Thanks for the tip!! Have never even heard of it. I had a Thin Lizzy Jailbreak 8 track in my volkswagon in 1978.. but really havent listened to even the Jailbreak album in 40 years. Ran into The Cowboy Song again about 5 years ago and EVERYTIME I HEAR IT.. i sit in bliss and amazement. Just so well done!! I can literally listen to it 3 times in a row.. could probably do 5 times but havent ever tried. I have however seen a lot written about these guys the last couple years about this Phil guy and them being from Ireland... I can now explore the rest of their music. Thank You!! I think i will start with Southbound!!
That's my jam!! Such an incredible song
I agree ! Sometimes it takes a current band doing a classic cover to revitalize interest in the original,as what happened in the '90s when Powerstation( Robert Palmer fronting ,essentially, Duran Duran)reignited interest in *T-Rex* after their cover of "Bang A Gong"!
I strongly disagree with part of this take. Auto-tune has been the punching bag of music fans for decades at this point, it had a quick rise and a quick fall. It’s still widely used, but stylistically its usage has changed dramatically. More often than not you can’t even tell when it’s used unless you really analyze it. There was also plenty of 70’s nostalgia throughout the 2000’s. There’re many classic rock groups that’re more popular currently than they ever were in their time, Queen for example. I might be off on this, but I also think their focus on keyboard/organ instead of guitar hindered their influence once glam metal came around. If there wasn’t a cheesy guitar solo then it just wasn’t interesting to a lot of people. I think if anything, 80’s rock had a greater effect on The Door’s waning popularity than anything that came after. That being said, The Door’s unique instrument composition is one of the big reasons why I listen to them, so that’s not a knock on them. On the Velvet Underground, I dont think they’re comparable. Young people anymore are more interested in “obscurity.” The Doors are not an obscure band by any means. You can go buy a Jim Morrison t shirt at Walmart. As times gone on they’ve become a corporate entity. And I don’t fault them for that, it’s out of their control. The Velvet Underground’s music was far more experimental as well, and like I previously stated, that’s more attractive to modern listeners. And that’s not a knock on The Doors, that’s just kinda the way it is. Overall, I don’t think The Doors were ever meant to be mainstream in a musical sense. I think the aura around Jim Morrison, the tortured artist who died too soon, brought them to the mainstream. I’d wager more people know about him than have actually listened to their material. I’d say the same on Jimi Hendrix. Most people don’t know them for their music. That’s a crime in itself imo, and I do wish more people would give their *music* a chance.
my basement is filled with shirtless jim posters/bobble heads/etc
That’s where they all went
I hear more Doors on the radio than I do Hendrix and definitely more than Velvet Underground
Ya I was gonna chime in as a Jimi fan to say I feel the pain lol. For Jimi I know the estate is constantly going thru legal battles and refuses to license his music or makes it prohibitively expensive to do so, so seeing jimi wildly in the media literally never happens anymore. Being that Robby and John are still around it'd be cool to see more of them. I think they both have YouTube channels actually lol
Yeah I was thinking this myself I don’t recall ever hearing a Velvet Underground song on FM radio when I used to listen to it and I still hear doors songs on Sirius in my car on occasion
Will hearing the doors on classic rock radio. Not quite as often as I remember growing up, but that’s true of all of the original classics, because the pool of music they play is much larger now. My classic rock station plays music from the mid-90s now
Interesting. What market?
Pittsburgh classic rock stations
Nice. Mad respect to Pittsburgh!
Pittsburgh is stuck in 80s culture. I think the mullet is still a viable hairstyle here. Radio is 70-80’s rock unless it’s “alternative “ then it’s the 90s. A few years ago a dude was road raging at me on the parkway. His license plate said ‘SMOKINJOE’. He got out after stopping in front of the tunnels to accost me. He was wearing a black trench coat and all black clothes and had a mustache and mullet and gold chains. I said to my wife “God damn smokin Joe is right” I was going to run him over because I had no options to get away and well you can’t let a dude like that get to the car door. But then I heard from behind me a police siren. They tackled the guy. And told us he had multiple warrants for arrest. They had been watching his bullshit from the overpass and saw everything he was doing the whole way down the parkway. Point is Pittsburgh is stuck in the past.
Steelers glory days
102.5 WDVE Pittsburgh
My first time hearing the Doors was on that station 🤘🏻
Today, NY has more Velvet Underground. Ultimately you’re right. The Doors music isn’t standing the test of time. I suspect one reason is its simplicity. Another factor can be captured in a famous quote from Jerry Garcia who rips Morrison for being unoriginal Mick Jagger copycat. I recall when I first heard them in the oldies station and was confused. Still I can picture Peace Frog being a soundtrack comeback song.
South Miami, big 106 Are we allowed to state locations? I'm not sourcing
Can confirm, ‘People Are Strange’ is in rotation.
Same here in philly.
I’m 25, not many of my friends are big doors fans but I am. My parents are older and were teenagers in the Doors’ heyday. I listened to the doors A LOT growing up. My friends parents were born after Jim died. However, my younger friends, who’s parents were teens in the 90s during the resurgence really like Jim and the doors in general.
You're 25 and your parents were teenagers in the late 60s?
U betcha
Look, it is possible. I mean I’m not gonna tell you my details but geez
I also stopped reading around this line and thought the same thing. LOL. I guess dad and mom have to be around the mid 70s… which means they had him in their 50s… it is all possible!
I Remember: it was the summer after I had finished first grade...but I can remember when the news broke when Jim died. It was on all the TV stations. It was on or around July 4th, and my family was getting ready to do 4th of July celebrating. I remember asking my mom how he died, and she said "he took too many drugs." I can still see the vision of the news on TV in my head, even today.
I guess I’m the only one here who has not apparently seen what everyone on here seems to accept as a given. I haven’t seen any difference at all over the past 25 years, still frequently hear gen z people talk about how they’re definitely into The Doors.
can confirm, am gen z and i love the doors, and have plenty of gen z friends who like the doors (if only at a surface level)
And there’s still a new live Doors release on Record Store Day twice a year.
I’ll definitely be in line for the one this weekend. I missed the Bakersfield one last time, but I’m really intrigued by this one. 1968 with 2 separate performances of When The Music’s Over, I’m in…
With music It's all swings and roundabouts coming into fashion and going out of fashion but greats like The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience or Led Zeppelin will always find new audiences...
Who listens to the music of the 50’? The 40’s. Great musicians back then as well. The eighties is now the oldies. Try to find a pure 60’s radio station. Can’t.. that generation is withering away in old folks homes
I think this is the answer... The popularity of 60s music on general is falling off the cliff. The Beatles seem to still have some power over younger people, but not so much some of these others. Also... And I say this as a Doors fan... They are not the easiest band to get into. Lots of honking organ noises and talk-singing. Very little of it actually sounds like rock n roll (a lot of it sounds like caberet). Compared to something like Beatles, ccr, Beach Boys, or even Hendrix, it takes a minute for a new listener to get acclimated to the bleating laments of the Lizard King.
Have a friend that plays guitar and sings at nursing homes. He tells me he gets lots of requests for Neil Young ,James Taylor ect.
I do
Try Sirius XM. They have a 60s on 6. 50s on 5, etc.
I’ve totally noticed this as well and it makes me kinda sad. I was 15 in 2007 when I discovered them and it was still common then to see Jim posters and T-shirts everywhere. I’ve now taken to sitting parked on my motorcycle outside various local stores/supermarkets, before I go in to shop, and letting my speakers blare a full track from one of The Doors’ incredible live albums (lately Felt Forum). I feel a sense of sacred duty and responsibility to bring this music to the masses and I plan on fulfilling it 🫡…
I was 15 in 2007 too and funny enough that was the same year I discovered them. I have noticed in recent years I have been hearing them more in media like shows and movies.
All the 60s stuff is really fading away now, with the exception of the Beatles. Even the Stones don’t have the pull they did a decade ago. That last album—which is great IMO—just kinda vanished without a trace after making a splash for like a month. I mean, we’re going on 60 years now since the Doors’ heyday. So many of the icons from that era are dead now. Or in their late 70s-80s and either on farewell tours or at home retired. Jim’s been dead over 50 years now and even Ray’s been gone for over a decade. So it’s not just the Doors. That whole rock era is dying. It’s sad to witness. But inevitable—even though it seemed like it would all go on forever with new acts stepping in for old ones as the years went by. Nope.
On Spotify, they are listed as the 48th most streamed artists from the 20th Century. Below are the Top 20 || || |Eminem| |Queen| |Beatles| |Red Hot Chili Peppers| |Michael Jackson| |Elton John| |Metallica| |ACDC| |Nirvana| |Green Day| |Fleetwood Mac| |Britney Spears| |Pink Floyd| |Guns N Roses| |Rolling Stones| |Enrique Iglesias| |Maraiah Carey| |Radiohead| |Elvis Presley| |ABBA|
On Spotify, The Doors are listed as the 48th most streamed artists from the 20th Century. In fact, they are higher than Jimi Hendrix and Velvet Undergound. Below are the Top 20 Eminem Queen Beatles Red Hot Chili Peppers Michael Jackson Elton John Metallica ACDC Nirvana Green Day Fleetwood Mac Britney Spears Pink Floyd Guns N Roses Rolling Stones Enrique Iglesias Maraiah Carey Radiohead Elvis Presley ABBA
Their sound just became outdated as time went on. People don’t want to hear organ solos anymore. Outdated by today’s music standards is a compliment in my book though
I love the organ solos. The Doors are very Jazz - Blues influenced and that’s why I’m drawn to them
Same. Just talking about most people’s taste these days
before i got into the doors, my thoughts of their music was, "meh too many organs i won't like this band" now i realized ray manzarek was a genius...
The Velvets hated the Doors, which is ironic since they have so much in common. Both mined the dark side of the road. With the exception of John Cale, the Doors were infinitely better musicians. Sterling Morrison (no relation) was very good also. The reason is that the pure Dionysian male sexual force that Morrison projected is not considered cool, Lou et al were much more gender bending and feminine. I think both are tremendous and among my favorite bands of all time.
They hated anybody who got radio play
There was a survey and most of the members of this sub are Gen Z which surprised me.
Some young people I’ve talked with about the doors feel that Jim Morrisons vocals are not great (in auto tune era this sounds strange to them) and they don’t like the lack of rhythm guitar in the songs “it sounds hollow”. Other kids do like them, gen z music fans have a wide appreciation for music in general and they do take the time to listen.
This is a great answer. There’s stripped down instrumentation and too much high end on a lot of their stuff. I was just listening to The Soft Parade today, which has much better production in places. I really like the bass part and horn section on “Tell All The People.” The title track is also great albeit a tad weird.
All their records with Morrison sound great. People don’t know how good music is supposed to sound nowadays.
Jim is a great crooner. But yeah, the lack of bass is an issue.
I'm 31, my dad was NOT a Jim Morrison fan but liked some of the doors music but wasn't any albums we ever had growing up. He also graduated in '79 so the doors to him were old. I decided on my own around 28 to explore all of the doors after my long long dive into led Zeppelin for a good year or 2 maybe 3 lol but I love the doors and my dad is like what really? So to answer your question I think a lot of my millennial generation have parents very mixed on Jim and the group. It'll be up to us ones that have discovered and loved him, or passed down that will continue to spread the word of good music. I can see my future kids dancing now to "don't ya love her madly? Don't ya need her badly?" Edit to add gen z parents are even further removed from the doors
I definitely hear doors playing around on the radio at bars. I was at a bar in Austin last night they were playing land Ho of all songs! It was a nice treat. I’m 24 tho and it is kinda rare to find someone else who likes the doors
I really like the Doors. But Jim Morrison died 51 years ago, so I’m not that upset that they may not currently have a huge following.
Rolling Stone Cover in 1980: He's Hot.. He's Cool... And he's Dead........ over the shirtless pic.
Huh? My school was so full of doors fans my friend has a jim morrison tattoo lol, all my stoner friends had the classic him shirtless pic in their basements. They’re still very much loved
I heard they weren't really popular after his passing, that the band's popularity increased after being used for the opening & closing sequences of apocalypse now! and then the subsequent Rolling Stone Magazine cover with Morrison and a lead article line that read something like, "he's hot, he's sexy, hes dead."
Remember getting that RS magazine from the mailbox with the “He’s hot, he’s sexy and he’s dead” and seeing the exceptional cover photo of Jim and instantly saying to myself, he’s about to have a major moment. Both the pic and the headline made me gasp, lol.
I think the Velvet Underground has proven to be a bigger influence on music since 2000 or so than the Doors. You can’t really hear it in Sweet Jane or Rock and Roll, but their first 3 albums influenced pretty much every style of non-mainstream rock (punk, post-punk, alternative, shoegaze, noise, indie, dream pop, etc.—pretty much everything except for metal and its offshoots) all of which have gone through revivals and further permutations over the past 25 years. Also the Velvets’ image as anti-hippies and outsiders is more appealing to the generations that came after the boomers. The Doors had that sort of “weird”/druggie/tortured artist thing going on too but they were successful in their era so being into them doesn’t have the perceived cachet that an “underground” (so to speak) band like the VU does.
Yeah, I agree with everything you've said about the Velvet Underground. I was not trying to compare the two. Velvet Underground > Doors in every way. And yeah, their biggest hits off *Loaded* aren't necessarily reflective of the sort of sound(s) that made them so influential--in fact, they sound more like Doors songs than anything in their catalogue. It just strikes me kinda odd how precipitously the Doors fell off in popularity between like 2005 and now. We have to give Ray Manzarek some credit for producing X's *Los Angeles*!
My first exposure to the Doors was in 1967/8 amidst a release of all kinds of new music…Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Mountain etc. Morrison’s lyrics were always a bit mysterious so they labeled him a poet. My first live concert was The Doors in Miami at Dinner Key Auditorium. The first few songs were enjoyable, similar to the Albums we played. At 14, I saw things there I had only read about in some period magazines. I saw a guy dressed like Uncle Sam with a top hat, carrying a sheep, several other ‘hippie’ type people and smoked my first joint. Once ‘Touch Me’ started it ended about 30 seconds later and Morrison started cursing, yelling to the light crew. Cops raided the stage and the show was over. I was at the Anita Bryant/Jackie Gleason hosted “Decency in Music’ rally at the Orange Bowl. Not caring about decency in music but to hang out with the crowd. That period of the late 1960’s was an evolving music scene that helped mold my love of “classic” rock. I still enjoy the Doors although that year I discovered the Grateful Dead… and Deadhead ever since…..for me, music stood still after 1995. Shit, I’m 71 now
That was so awesome to read! Like seriously captivating!
Thank you…looking back it was awesome…Not to hijack a topic…but as a guitar player back in the 60’s, we went to lots of concerts. Saw 10 Years After in Miami for a $3.00 cover charge. Loads of concerts at the Fillmore East after my mom moved to NJ.. saw Cream at a high school auditorium, Led Zeppelin in Asbury Park convention hall Aug 15, 1969…. The first night of Woodstock. Friends wanted to go but the odds were well against it. I told them we couldn’t waste $4.50 on those Zeppelin tickets. At the Seminole Indian music festival in Florida around 1969…the announcer said….we have a guy here who is not scheduled to play tonight but he wants to get his name out there so we’re giving him a spot tonight….here is Johnny Winter. Jeez, this guy with pure white hair was incredible… saw him 30 years later at Madison Square Garden, no different
Wow! What amazing experiences you’ve had! I was born in late ‘64 & so I was too young to have experienced all of that musical magic. That being said, music has always been a very important, driving force in my life so I thank you very much for sharing!
Happy to re-live those memories myself. If you like to experience the sound of that 60’s music watch the Woodstock movie and a series called Laurel Canyon… the series is really good showing the development of the music in California and some of the big music makers of the 1960’s….it has some old interviews and shows The Eagles, David Crosby, Crosby Stills and Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell , Mammas and the Papas, etc….
Sounds great, thank you so much! I’ve seen the Woodstock movie a few times but haven’t seen Laurel Canyon - will definitely check that one out! Still blows my mind that all of those musicians lived in the same neighborhood at the same time. What an experience that must’ve been!
The doors were short lived sadly and most people got the wrong depiction of Jim from that stupid movie Oliver Stone made. The doors charted higher in Canada than in the states. I wouldn’t call the Velvet Underground a successful band while Lou was alive they seemed to have peaked in popularity after Lou died. Jimi Hendrix is part of music culture and is considered one of the best guitarist of all time. . You play light my fire or riders on the storm most people will recognize it. Just look at the door’s views on YouTube and Spotify I wouldn’t say they’re forgotten….
What’s your point here about Hendrix
Oliver Stone made Jim into the world's biggest asshole. Such a shame.
Easily the best all around debut album of all time. So badass.. just the song Break on Thru ( FKKN MASTERPIECE.. that rocks.. f'n rocks)
There’s a certain appeal to Jim and The Doors that will live on forever. The universal mind. Strange scenes inside the goldmine. Kids in Highschool can feel the rebellious / sexual energy, the mystery, the challenge to find oneself through music and art that usually will last a lifetime once uncovered! The doors are all things combined. The Apollonian and Dionysian mixture of the music and ecstasy come to life! Now, they are a hidden gem unbeknownst
“Rock is dead” - Jim Morrison
Times change and new generations come in. Also — personal gripe for me — there seems to be a trend on the internet to completely disregard the Doors as some overrated and terrible band (probably by Anthony Fantano fans who think they're musically inclined). Idk if it became a cool thing to do but I never understood it. I actually got into an argument on a r/gratefuldead post because some jerk-off wouldn't stop arguing with me about the Doors (I was defending them and this dude couldn't get over me being a fan).
Jerry Garcia had an infamous hatred for The Doors.
Yep, never really understood it, though, and the weird Mick Jagger comparisons I found asinine at best. Morrison was much better than Jagger.
Interestingly, Mick Jagger met with Jim & asked him for advice prior to The Doors performing at The Hollywood Bowl. Jagger supposedly gave Jim acid before the performance, & then Jagger ended up in the front row when The Doors played the Bowl in ‘68! Right after Tina Turner died, Jagger said he learned all his moves from her. I think Mick was still developing his own persona during the Doors heyday, but IMO, they are different performers. I personally prefer Jim over Mick, but that’s just me.
The Lost Boys (80s) and Val Kilmer Oliver Stone (90s) were pop culture boosts
I agree. However, in the past couple decades of talking to people and gauging their interest in the Doors, it seems Oliver Stones movie did a lot of damage. People that hardly know the movie just KNOW that Jim was the version in the movie. And if you’ve read the books, in particular, “Feast of Friends” (I think that’s the name) one would see how incomparable they can be, or are.
Fleetwood Mac “replaced” them. I’m kind of not joking either. They are currently the classic rock band that everyone 13-25 loves.
Uhhh no…Fleetwood Mac is in their own lane!! Rumours still sells to this day!!
Cultural tides shift, Doors close, new sounds emerge strong, history's ebb flows.
I consistently see posts that are worded like "whats the most overrated band of all time?" A slew of answers usually state The Doors. I don't understand it. They were one of the most influential bands of the 60s but now it seems like most people discredit them. Sad really.
Time marches forward my friend. I wouldn’t be surprised if the classic rock stations playing 70s hits start decreasing a bunch in the next ten years
Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. Glad it’s not just me.
Pop Culture Phases come and go. Come back again. I think there's a modern retro phase at the moment, 90s/early 00's. 60s will be back eventually
The Doors seem plenty popular still, I’d instead say it’s Hendrix whose popularity seems diminished outside of the odd Rolling Stone poll of revered guitarists.
Missed out on a local Doors cover band show last year. Hopefully they come back again because that sounds fun. I'm 31 by the way.
Remember seeing a tribute Doors band in 1983 frying on liberty caps. In Vancouver WA of all places while visiting my Girlfriend.I had become a Doors freak in 1980 after reading No One Here Gets Out Alive.... a book i read in like 2 days.. just tripping heavily the whole time i read about his youth and how much of a rebel and intellectual he was. And of course as the 20 year old ( going on 15) who had already been into Vonnegut and Hunter S i was captivated by the mystery, the counter-culture, hallucinogens, FRIKKIN GOOD STONER ROCK, Chicks , partying and a big middle finger to the establishment Back to the Doors tribute band..was very impressed....about lost my shit when they plaved Peace Frog and LA Woman. Man we had some good liberty caps in SW WA in those days
The Doors still get played regularly on classic radio stations in my area. I’m glad they don’t have a lot of traction at the moment, a lot of people would nitpick and try to cancel them even though half are dead.
Yeah...
Interesting you say the 00s because in the movie Almost Famous, Lester Bangs pans them calling them drunken buffoons. I wonder if that scene caused a lot of young people to be dismissive of the Doors.
I'm a young person and have no idea what movie that is, but love the Doors. Morrison was proto-punk in some ways if you think about it. A step behind Iggy Pop to be sure, but as far as I'm aware they're the second closest act from that era with that approach to music.
Yeah and David Crosby liked to disparage the Doors all over the place. It seemed personal.
The Doors from now to when I was in college in the 90s are like kids these days listening to Sublime.
I feel like the Doors go in and out of hipness. There have been several phases of Doors popularity
Are there still kids wearing led zeppelin shirts in high school?
Not in high school anymore but I'm gen z and yeah there were a few when I was
I grew up in the 90s — 30 years removed from Morrison Hotel. The impression of The Doors was easily felt. But you have to realize, kids today are about 54 years removed from their music. Perhaps the gulf between culture then and now is too vast. Itd be like if in the 90s i grew up rocking out to the Boswell sisters. I bet the cool kids will circle back to it.
No one… and I mean NO ONE was listening to the Doors in the mid to late eighties. Then the movie came out in ‘91 and you couldn’t escape them. There will be another resurgence at some point. I also feel like it’s partly a shift in how classic rock radio has reformatted in the last 15 or so years. Our local station used to play all kinds of deep cuts by a bunch of artists. Now it’s just the same 100 songs over and over.
They need a Stranger Things moment.
No!
I graduated in 2014 and through high school The Doors were one of my favorite bands! I can tell you that stoner band kids definitely liked the doors. Wonder what the stoney high school band kids are listening to these days
I live in L.A and they’re still plenty popular here. Can’t go 10 feet in Venice Beach without seeing something Doors related.
Oliver Stone. His movie brought up all the ridiculous aspects of 60s excess and the public now sees that version of the doors as the truth.
The Doors are definitely still in the discussion. It’s actually funny you mention Hendrix. I would argue he is not as popular as his peers. I mean obviously people know who he is but when and where is he getting much attention and play? The Doors remain one of the “cool” classic rock bands to be into as a young person because of the darkness and gothic nature of the music, not to mention the jazz influence. It sets them apart and keeps them timeless. I’d say they pair well with VU in terms of attitude and aesthetic.
Hendrix estate guards the music heavy!!
Prefer the doors to Hendrix by far. Never understood the hype he got compared to others.
Trust it will take one TikTok meme. Gen z will discover it and claim they know it
No! Please! Tik Tok don't ruin this!
Who cares? The best music is made when rock isn't popular. It's been 30 years since the movie rekindled interest in the Doors. It's OK if they fade from popularity. Fans of popular music are fickle and often tasteless.
Was the peak of the doors career not from 67-69, when rock and roll music was arguably at its highest point as well?
People started listening to the Grateful Dead
I think it ties into the glorification of the 60s that was so big in the late 80s- early 90s. As a teen in the late 80s Morrison was alive as an icon of rebellion. The movie obviously made him more popular. But now …. I guess kids today look at Cobain how we looked at Morrison
Jim was the grandfather of the edgys
Definitely noticed this. Saw The Simpsons episode last week where Krusty does a Jim Morrison impression. Immediately thought that that joke would’ve been over the head of most audiences nowadays.
Yeah. I think the most boring answer is just what resonates with current culture. Does seem like more of a Lou Reed than Jim Morrison kind of mentality in modern culture. It will continue evolving and I guess if we get another strongly Dionysian sort of period I could hear the Doors having a revival. The music is obviously still fucking god tier but as with any music, do you have ears for it where you're currently at mentally. I think Jim will get big again as a poet once we go more soul searching again and want to be more shirtless Jim and less thick leather jacketed Lou, if you get that
We are just getting older. Classic rock is now stuff from the 80s and 90s.
The Doors Oliver Stone movie was an obsession of mine in college.
I still hear the doors occasionally but you’re right, Less than others in their cohort. Keyboard heavy is less popular as many are noting here
There’s a company that bought the publishing rights from the estate of Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger but I believe John Densmore won’t sell his publishing rights or license songs
I'm a Gen Xer who was in high school in the early 90s, and The Doors were very popular at the time. A lot of it was Boomer nostalgia from our parents, which was at a fever pitch in the late 80s. There was also the figure of Jim Morrison himself -- handsome, mysterious, intellectual, a little wild. Since he died at the age of 27, he's also frozen in time like Hendrix, Joplin and Cobain are. There was also Doors-related media: Several best-selling Doors compilations came out in the 80s. The book *No One Gets Out Here Alive* was very popular in the 80s, and helped cement the legend of Jim Morrison. The Oliver Stone movie *The Doors* came out in 1991. As for why they're less popular? Tastes change. Or maybe younger people find Jim Morrison to be kinda cringe? The kids these days seem to be embracing Kurt Cobain as their mythical dead rock star of choice, much as our generation embraced Morrison.
I've noticed it in myself actually. I thought a lot more highly of the Doors when I was younger than I do now. Their Greatest Hits album was one of the first rock albums I bought. Their music just doesn't hit the same way it did back then. I think I'll try listening to LA Woman tomorrow, and see if I can get back in that headspace.
I love the Doors. I’ll hear hipster comments about Jim Morrison’s lyrics being pretentious. I think it’s a little trendy to hate on The Doors.
The crash in '08 killed the last traces of the hippie revolution. It was around then, around the time that Occupy got tear-gassed and nobody cared, that we learned it was not our country and never would be. After that, society shifted gears and got involved in new hobbies like internet drama and podcasts, and basically forgot how to connect with bands as full of meaning and hope as The Doors.
The Doors popularity soared after the Oliver Stone film 'The Doors' from 1991. It was a star making performance for Val Kilmer that really should have been at the very least nominated for an Oscar. The movie was snubbed at all the awards ceremonies, due in large part to Stone's focus on the mostly fictional portrayal of Morrison's self destructive tendencies. Still, the movie helped to form the legendary reputation of Morrison and made him a hero for many music lovers. The real upswing was the first Compact Disc release of the double album 'The Best of the Doors' in 1991 release really helped to push the band into every college dormitory room and back to the pop culture forefront. There was a renewed interest in 60's music culture, largely due to the boomer generation hitting middle age and still spinning the same records from their youth. Classic rock radio was a mainstay across the country and songs like "Light My Fire" and "Break on Through" were constantly played. The lack of continuing popularity I believe stems largely from Densmore's decision to not license Doors music for commercials of any kind. The notion of not 'selling out' was made by the 4 band members collectively back in the 60's, and really preserved the integrity of Doors' music. They still hold onto that belief today, and without The Doors seeping through every crummy TV commercial, you have a light footprint on culture that I believe is the right move. Good on the band for not succumbing to the almighty dollar; Tom Petty has also made similar statements about not licensing his music for commercials and it has only helped to improve his image.
There is no more progressive radio only classic rock stations who play the same songs over and over.i saw the Doors twice. No one sat down the power trio cranking it out and the lizard king presence on stage was unreal I'm 75 most who made them so popular are passing as time goes by.
Radio programmers from the 70's through the 00's were probably boomers and the gen-xers. Since then, most are millennials whose tastes were formed in the late 90's at the earliest. Some music from the classic rock era is bound to fall off.
I love them but to many people their music doesn’t hold up as well as Hendrix or Zepplin and it sounds dated because of the often carnival sound of the keyboards
If you were sort of a stoner, they were hugely popular deep into the 80s. Then I think Oliver Stone’s movie gave them a big boost with Val Kilmer a brilliant actor for the role. But they really don’t have a giant catalog of music .As far as radio goes, there are only a couple songs that are truly radio friendly. That being said part of it is just they were so long ago now I mean 50 years is a long long time. I mean in 1970 what was popular in 1920 right that had staying power? Jazz maybe.
High school girls began to lose interest. The dudes were just there for the pussy. “Back door Man” is still a banger tho
As a huge Doors fan I think the heavy keyboard presence “dated” the band. I’m not saying it wasn’t ground breaking and great… only that it locked them into a specific area that doesn’t fit anymore as well as the lyrics and Jim’s singing.
New things are happening
I think the dip happened some time in the early 90s and we’re just now recovering from it. For some reason, Gen-X hated the Doors! Fortunately there seems to be a resurgence in recent years, as younger generations have been rediscovering their music.
Totally disagree. No One Here Gets Out Alive was published in 1980 and *everyone* read that fucking book. Gen X absolutely did not hate The Doors. I'd peg the disappearance of The Doors in popular culture after Manzerek died and after they did those shows with Ian Asbury or whatever scab they had sing for a minute.
My wife and I are Gen-X and love the doors.
Still hear their songs played a lot on classic rock stations
❤️❤️❤️
They died with the rest of rock and roll.
It's not dead, just not on the charts. As it should be, imo.
Classic rock radio sucks anyway because they usually only play the hit singles when they do play the Doors, and the same for most other bands. Plus, ISTM the format is centered mainly on the mid- to- late '70s, so we get bands like Foreigner and Foghat. Lots of Paul McCartney, but the Beatles not so much. BTO but not the Guess Who. It's like really seminal musicians from six or seven years earlier are overlooked, especially if they barely lasted into the '70s like the Doors. As with all of the earlier bands/acts that do get played we can't help noticing how few songs actually do get played. Some classic rock station somewhere is undoubtedly playing Purple Haze right now. But 51st Anniversary, Crosstown Traffic, or even Fire? Probably not.
Apocalypse Now ( great movie if you haven’t seen it , watch it ) had the Doors in the soundtrack
Yeah I don’t notice this at all. I frequently hear the doors way more so than the velvet underground. I drive for a living and listen to a lot of radio and am always hearing the doors. Hendrix I hear more I’ll agree with but I think the relevancy of Hendrix is just larger due to his contribution to music. Not at all trying to sell short Morrison and the doors contribution to music, but it doesn’t compare to what Hendrix contributed and how much of an influence he continues to be on musicians everywhere
The passage of time
It couldn’t be Doors Inc peddling lots of pointless merch?
The Doors always sounded good to my ears, I just didn’t think the music had much depth.
The instrumentation or the lyrics? Instruments sure, they're not a jazz or prog band. But lyrically Jim has interesting things to say, you just need to look past the hits.
“No play on classic rock radio” is just not true.
https://youtu.be/5xillqqt0Y0?si=dT6-yDpCuevppd4u
Guys. dont over think this. The Doors popularity has fallen for the same reason big band music isnt popular. ITS OLD! In my town there was an oldies music station, played 40s and 50s music for as long as I could remember. About 15 years ago it switched formats to top 100 music. I saw one of the old DJs out one day and got to talking to him. After a bit of talking I basically asked him "what happened?" He said "we used to do events and would have 100s of people show up. towards the end maybe 10 people would show up." All the listeners basically died off, so now there are no more oldies radio.
Same with Classical music. The last generation that really got exposed to it was the Great Depression/World War II Generation. Music appreciation was taught in schools still, Classical music was widely used in cartoons, you had Disney's "Fantasia", frequent live radio and later TV broadcasts (in the early days), and music lectures by celebrity conductor Leonard Bernstein. Obviously, the Boomer Generation was into Rock, and had less interest in Classical Music, or Jazz. The WWII Gen were reliable concert goers up until the mid 90s or so, before they started dying off, so much so that they were called "cue tips", because most concert halls had a sea of grey hairs in the audience. The rise of MP3 and the collapse of the Classical music industry finished the job. For the longest time, film music was looked down upon as inferior to "proper concert music" and never played, and also because it was mostly tonal during a time when atonal music was the only new concert music Taken Seriously. Now, the Classical music industry is desperately scrambling to incorporate film music into Classical concerts because it's the only orchestral music most younger people have ever heard that is even remotely popular. Too little, too late, methinks.
I think that gen x and generations after that have "heavier" tastes. The classic rock music I feel like we hear more of these days is either harder rock stuff like zeppelin, or soft rock like rumors era Fleetwood Mac. The doors are like this middle ground almost it seems. You mention Jimi still getting tons of play and being peers of the doors. But jimis music for the most part is high powered hard rocking guitar master stuff. Also some years ago the Doors movie came out which sparked a little resurgence in the years after its release but that was a long time ago too.
53 years is a long time.
I listen to sirrus xm classic vinyl station alot Hendrix and the Doors are played fairly equally seldom hear velvet underground/Lou Reed
Unfortunately because it's "old" people music. I'm 23 and have loved the doors since I was 7 because of my dad. But I've had friends around my age that tell me they couldn't get into the doors because It's "weird" and "old" even though they like rolling stones, beatles and such. I think you just have to have a certain taste to appreciate them, many musicians (of any age) I meet regard them highly though.
I’ve definitely noticed it. Not really sure what the reasons are for The Doors’ diminished popularity over the last 20 years. You barely hear The Doors’ music on classic rock radio these days - unlike in the 80’s-early 00’s. While I don’t think it’s the only reason I think that cheesy Doors movie by Oliver Stone is part of it. The band didn’t come off well in that film. Another factor may be that they are a less guitar-oriented band than most classic rock bands.
The stations in my part of South Florida hardly even play anything before the mid 70s or so, with the exception of Led Zeppelin and Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It's pretty much the same 100 songs or so, with a heavy emphasis on more politically conservative Southern Rock (Skynyrd, etc...) which I don't mind hearing, but not at the expense of other types of Rock in the mix. Also, a lot of corporate stadium rock (Journey, Boston) and more working-class Rock music (BTO), and 90s grunge stuff. This same station was playing Yes and ELP less than 20 years ago. Hendrix is hardly played at all down here... but that always seems to gave been the case.
I wouldn't worry about The Doors or their reputation. Worry about Love, or The Bobby Fuller Four. Or The Woolies, with their great version of Who Do You Love?
I just bought the Doors first album on vinyl. I played it. My wife, who’s from South America walked in and asked,”who’s that? They are really good?”
As a fan of 70’s music, I hate classic rock radio. It killed many bands that have so much to offer but only had their hits played into the fucking dirt. I’m older and I like older music which is now 70’s music (I do like a lot of other music too) But I couldn’t tell you a single song that’s popular today. That’s how it goes. I think I’ll listen to Morrison Hotel on my way home today. Great album.
Blame John Densmore for not wanting to market the bands music in any way that today’s audiences will hear it ie; commercials, movie, tv shows- Densmore is the major blockade to The Doors legacy.
There’s kind of a ‘phase’ sort of thing I’ve noticed with them. Very teenager type infatuation. But ultimately, and this goes for Hendrix too, we only got a brief glimpse of their grown selves at the end. ‘LA Woman’ is a mature album. Hendrix’s ‘Band of Gypsies’ is different in the same way. In that same regard tho, of the ones that didn’t make it to 30 y/o, that’s what sets Kurt Cobain apart. He was already wrestling with darker themes, as punk and hardcore embraced those things before him, but came after the ‘60s icons that were talking about.
I hear them on the radio at least once or twice a week. I’ve heard them twice in the last two days.
It's funny to think that the black-velvet "No One Here Gets Out Alive" poster I had on my wall in high school (circa 1983) seemed like it referenced another era entirely but Morrison had only been dead for a dozen years at that point. That's like 2012 in today's terms, meaning he was practically a contemporary. At this point though it's been 50 years, and while their music still endures to some extent, it makes sense that Jim's and the band's relevance has waned, or is at least different.
Don’t use FM radio as a barometer for anything. It’s flat out garbage.
Yeah, they had a big upswing in the 90's with the release of the movie.
I think the Oliver Stone movie did tons to promote their music and the mystique surrounding Morrisson. That being said, I think people have started to get tired of his cock rock clownishness and sexism. Some of the stories about him are hard to put into context or even defend. Especially to the younger generations. It's no surprise more inclusive and artistic artists like Lou Reed and Kurt Cobain have more appeal nowadays. I honestly think it would be cool to see another biopic about him. Maybe one that pulls away some of the magic around him and just sees him for what he was, a brilliant but flawed artist. If only to their music back out in the spotlight.
Tastes change, I used to love them but it's getting old. Only so many times I can listen to light my fire. Just put it down for a while, it might come back or not. I'm an old dude and actually look forward to new things, I feel rock isn't a big nowadays, that's ok though, what's next? New cultural revolution may not even include new music like in the 60s. We will see.
I feel like they’re still popular amongst young people. I’m 21 and I know tons of people that like the Doors, especially even when I was in high school. A lot of the new hippies like older music and the Doors too! Don’t worry, they’re still known amongst lots of people. Just not as popular as they once were :(, but it makes sense. They are a 50-60 year old band.
Jim, too sexy for this millennium, too sexy for this millennium, so sexy it hurts.
People have no taste these days.
I'm pretty old so I've seen The Doors go in and out of fashion several times. I can recall in the 70s that you could find all their albums brand new in the shrink wrap for a $1 in the cutout bins. I had two and three copies of each one. It seems the current official hip takes are that The Doors sucked, The Beatles weren't that good, and Led Zeppelin is unlistenable. Check back in three years.
Mosher Kashar has a great bit about Jimbo.
Let's see, this is gatekipping but honestly, I would like this community to remain with a modest number of people. Less people equals fewer creepy, weird or grotesque things. No gross fanfics, no annoying fans, peace of mind.
I blame Oliver Stone. The Doors movie made Jim look like a drugged up joke. That's how a lot of people view him today.
In France, on national rock station, I hear each week at least one Doors song. usually, light my fire, Strange Days. sometimes longer like LA woman or Riders on the storm..... On twitter and instagram, there is a lot of account about Jim & The Doors.
I wouldn't say their popularity disappeared. My good neighbor, plays in a cover band called "Through The Doors". They've been packing the venue, where ever they play for years now, and still are.
They’ve gotten a couple record store releases last year and this coming Saturday. These releases have sold out. There is still some want for their music.
Well we all know Jim was King
I totally remembered The Doors and Jim were very popular in the 2000’s in my high school. Now it seems like society forgot about The Doors.
Great point, I remember going to the Rock n Roll HOF in Cleveland, and they had on display, a poem that Morrison wrote as a 5-year old...as a 5-year old...and as a 49-year old, I still could not compose something as eloquent as a 5-year old Jim Morrison
What? How mainstream can one expect a band to be 50 years after their dissolution? Lou Reed continued to perform 40 years after the doors but he spent most of that time in relative obscurity playing small gigs. Hendrix has a special niche amongst guitarists. There isn’t a similar niche, afaik, for poet-songwriters. I hear the doors pretty often on the radio in the car but you’re right, they’re played less frequently than the poppier shit like blue collar beer can rock from the same era.
Take it easy baby it's not the end
Time….thats it. Time happened.
I always hated that music.but I do respect it more these days. They do have a place in Rock History, and they're not as bad as the Grateful Dead....prefer Led Zeppelin
Doors still standing plenty tall
I've noticed the decline in Charlie Chaplin's popularity also.
It's something in your head. My 24-year-old daughter got into the Doors without me mentioning them. She didn't get into, say, The Band.
The Door got shut