No Rock And Roll Fun

LIGHT MY FIRE, HELP MY SALES: If you felt slightly queasy at seeing - as well as hearing - Hendrix flogging cars earlier this year, it might give you a warm glow to know that at least The Doors' legacy is being protected from from commercial exploitation. John Densmore tells The Nation readers about the struggles he has with his own conscience and his own band members to try and keep true to Jim's vision for what the band was meant to be about. As the silver anniversary of the other dead fat bathroom bloke passes with him being hoiked to the sale of evil Nike shoes - a morally dubious choice of footwear that the grasping Ono allowed Lennon's ghost to plug, too. The nice thing is that Densmore is as happy to admit that he's let his guard down in the past - but at least the Riders on the Storm tyre ads had a bit of creative impact behind them, John.
What's almost unsaid is the band politics behind - the message between the lines ("I'm trying to keep the spirit alive, the others aren't, and as the stakes rise, it's getting harder") fulfills the Rupert Giles formula (the subtext is rapidly becoming text). The global politics are clearer - Densmore cheerfully admits that he doesn't want anarchy, but he'd like the return of the middle class.
It's just a pity he wasn't able to stop Will Young.