Misplaced Pages

#104895

45-445: In 1966, The Brain Train formed and was managed by Sunset Strip hipster Bud Mathis. They recorded one single – "Black Roses", written by Wolfe Dios – before changing their name to Clear Light and signing to Elektra Records . Guitarist Bob Seal felt the name should be changed to coincide with the single. Clear Light shared its name with a potent form of LSD , although Seal states

90-637: A 122-week stay. According to music journalist Stephen Davis , Strange Days also proved to be the Doors' "worst-selling album" in their career with Morrison. The album cover of Strange Days , photographed by Joel Brodsky , depicts a group of street performers in New York. The location of the photograph is at Sniffen Court , a residential alley next to East 36th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue in Manhattan. Actual street performers could not be located for all of

135-558: A 1970 interview with Downbeat Magazine . Strange Days was released on September 25, 1967, by Elektra Records . Although the album was quite successful, reaching No. 3 in the United States during a sixty-three-week chart stay in November 1967, its impact was attenuated by the enduring success of the band's debut album, which remained in the Top Ten over ten months after its release during

180-482: A fee to play at clubs, diminished its appeal to groups, other than as an industry showcase. As of the 2010s, the music industry establishment continues to dominate the clubs on Sunset Strip. In November 1984, voters in West Hollywood passed a proposal on the ballot to incorporate, and the area became an independent city. Increasingly, the western end of Sunset Strip was occupied by office buildings, mostly catering to

225-682: A hangout for musicians, including the Stooges and the New York Dolls . Clubs on the Sunset Strip at that time, Rodney Bingenheimer's in particular, were notorious for allowing teenage patrons. "Nobody carried or cared about ID's. Thirteen-year-old girls could walk in dressed like sexy 25-year-olds, and kids could sidle up to the bar and order a cocktail, so it wasn't a big stretch for us to get up and play there", recalled Quiet Riot founder Kelly Garni . The 1979 Donna Summer song " Sunset People ", from

270-590: A late-night comedy sketch show performed at a fictional theater on Sunset Strip. Premiering on January 27, 2006, in Los Angeles at Vanguard Hollywood , the Rock of Ages stage production inspired the 2012 film of the same name . Its story line is centered along Sunset Strip in 1987. The opening credits of the HBO TV series Entourage featured shots of Sunset Strip. Los Angeles-based artist Edward Ruscha created

315-583: A place in Raymond Chandler 's 1949 Philip Marlowe novel, The Little Sister . Also on Sunset Strip are the Garden of Allah apartments—Hollywood quarters for transplanted writers like Robert Benchley , Dorothy Parker , and F. Scott Fitzgerald —and Schwab's Drug Store . By the early 1960s, Sunset Strip had lost favor with the majority of movie people, but its restaurants, bars and clubs continued to serve as an attraction for locals and tourists. In

360-486: A popular session player for TV soundtracks. Michael Ney also played on "Porpoise Song" and For Children of All Ages , among other session work. Doug Lubahn played bass on several of The Doors ' albums, including Strange Days , Waiting for the Sun , and The Soft Parade . In addition to writing the hit " Treat Me Right ", performed by Pat Benatar , he was a member of Billy Squier 's band. He died on November 20, 2019, at

405-596: A reworked version of "Black Roses", released as a single, and some of guitarist Bob Seal's psychedelic folk-rock songs, namely "With All in Mind" and "They Who Have Nothing." It had some success in England, but was largely ignored in the U.S, reaching number 126 on the Billboard album chart. Paul Rothchild then pressured the other members of the band to fire Bob Seal. Seal was replaced by ex-Fug Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar ; Cliff De Young

450-534: The artist's book Every Building on the Sunset Strip in 1966, later 12 Sunsets website for the Getty Research Institute . Strange Days (The Doors album) Strange Days is the second studio album by the American rock band the Doors , released on September 25, 1967 by Elektra Records , arriving eight months after their self-titled debut album . After the latter's successful release,

495-600: The 1920s a number of nightclubs and casinos moved in along Sunset Strip, which attracted movie people; alcohol was served in back rooms during Prohibition . In the 1930s and the 1940s, restaurants and nightclubs on Sunset Strip, like Sherry's, Ciro's , the Mocambo and the Trocadero , were patronized by people working in the movie industry. Some of its expensive nightclubs and restaurants were said to be owned by gangsters like Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel , earning Sunset Strip

SECTION 10

#1732894522105

540-413: The 1966 sessions, producer Paul A. Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick employed a then cutting-edge 8-track recording machine. The protracted sessions allowed the band to experiment in the studio and further augment their sound with unusual instrumentation and sonic manipulation. Botnick said that the Doors were determined to pursue "new techniques of recording. No holds barred." I started reading

585-458: The 40th anniversary edition, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine , argued that "while The Doors had more frequent, obvious peaks, the quirky Strange Days is a more ambitious, unified work. There are fewer filler tracks and each song carries as much weight as the one before and after it" and called it "a document of a sometimes beautiful, sometimes scary, and often twisted era of fear and idealism." It has also been ranked highly in lists; in 2012,

630-402: The Doors musical style as a "more surreal than psychedelic, it is more anguish than acid ." Robert Christgau called the album "muscular but misshapen" in a May 1968 column for Esquire , but went on to write that the Doors had come "from nowhere to reign as America's heaviest group". Retrospective reviews to the album have been equally favourable. In 2007, on the occasion of the release of

675-658: The Seeds , Frank Zappa , and others played at clubs like Gazzarri's , the Whisky a Go Go , the Roxy , Pandora's Box and the London Fog . In July 1965 Go-Go dancers also began performing. The Hyatt West Hollywood (now known as the Andaz West Hollywood) became a popular hotel. Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco , influenced by Britain's glam rock movement, opened in 1972. It became

720-484: The Sunset Strip and all of West Hollywood gained a reputation for being a loosely regulated area, in large part because it was not under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department . Gambling was illegal in the city of Los Angeles, but legal in unincorporated Los Angeles County, which fostered the development of rather wilder nightlife in West Hollywood than was found within the city limits. In

765-501: The Whisky a Go Go and The Roxy, became home to numerous LA-based heavy metal bands such as Van Halen , Quiet Riot , Mötley Crüe , Ratt and Guns N' Roses . The scene became synonymous with glam metal , with many fans mimicking the hair and clothing worn by the bands. The many heavy metal fans who would congregate outside the clubs along the strip became a defining feature. The adoption of "pay to play" policies, in which bands were charged

810-612: The age of 71. Robbie Robison ended up in Oregon. He died in 2000. Bob Seal later gigged with Gale Garnet and the Gentle Reign, Transatlantic Railroad, and Redlegs. Danny Kortchmar worked with Carole King for a while, and then with James Taylor for many years. Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the 1.7-mile (2.7 km) stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California , United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with

855-485: The album Bad Girls , was about the nightlife on Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Strip continued to be a major focus for punk rock and new wave music during the late 1970s. During the latter part of the 1970s and well into the 1980s, the Sunset Strip would become synonymous with the Los Angeles heavy metal movement, commonly referred to as the West Coast Metal Explosion. The clubs on the Sunset Strip such as

900-399: The album "has all the power and energy of the first LP, but is more subtle, more intricate and much more effective" and argued that the "whole album, individual songs and especially the final track are constructed in the five parts of tragedy. Like Greek drama , you know when the music's over because there is catharsis ." Gene Youngblood of L.A. Free Press wrote a glowing review, noting

945-411: The album's songs had been written around the same time as the ones that appeared on The Doors . Two ("My Eyes Have Seen You" and " Moonlight Drive ") had been demoed in 1965 at Trans World Pacific Studios before Robby Krieger joined the group; indeed, the latter had been conceived by Morrison prior to his fateful reunion with Manzarek in the summer of 1965. Although the song was attempted twice during

SECTION 20

#1732894522105

990-427: The band and album name. (The same photograph previously appeared on the back cover of the band's debut album.) Because of the subtlety of the artist and album title, most record stores put stickers across the cover to help customers identify it more clearly. Apart from its lower commercial performance compared to The Doors , contemporary reviews for Strange Days were generally positive. Rolling Stone opined that

1035-540: The band started experimenting with both new and old material in early 1967 for their second record. Upon release, Strange Days reached number three on the US Billboard 200 , and eventually earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It contains two Top 30 hit singles, " People Are Strange " and " Love Me Two Times ". Despite the album's failure to match

1080-405: The city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly Hills at Phyllis Street. The Sunset Strip is known for its boutiques, restaurants, rock clubs, and nightclubs , as well as its array of huge, colorful billboards . Prior to the 1984 incorporation of the city of West Hollywood , the Sunset Strip lay in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County . Because of this,

1125-569: The corresponding overdubs were later made. On the track "Horse Latitudes", Botnick took the white noise of a tape recorder and varied the speed by hand-winding it (resulting in a sound akin to wind) as the four band members played a variety of instruments in unusual ways. Further varispeed was then employed to create different timbres and effects. Strange Days has been described alternately by music critics as acid rock , psychedelic pop , psychedelic rock , or simply psychedelia ; Barney Hoskyns labeled it as "post-psychedelic pop". Several of

1170-439: The debut album. For that reason, the band's second effort isn't as consistently stunning as their debut," but he also expressed that overall "it's a very successful continuation of the themes of their classic album." Strange Days and its songs influenced paintings by artist George Condo in 2023. All tracks are written by the Doors ( Jim Morrison , Ray Manzarek , Robby Krieger , and John Densmore ). Details are taken from

1215-413: The designated roles, so Brodsky's assistant stood in as a juggler while a random cab driver was paid $ 5 to pose playing the trumpet. Twin dwarfs were hired, with one appearing on the front cover and the other appearing on the back cover, which is the other half of the same photo on the front cover. However, a group shot of the band does appear on a poster in the background of both covers, bearing captions of

1260-406: The entertainment industry, as well as hotels. During the 1990s, the center of the alternative music activity in Los Angeles shifted further east to areas like Echo Park , Silver Lake and Los Feliz . 77 Sunset Strip , a 1958–1964 TV series, was set on Sunset Strip between La Cienega Boulevard and Alta Loma Road. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was a behind-the-scenes television drama of

1305-442: The exceptions of hard blues, 'Love Me Two Times,' and the rock tango, 'Moonlight Drive,' Strange Days didn't have the power of The Doors ". In his retrospective AllMusic review of the album, Richie Unterberger notes, "Many of the songs on Strange Days had been written around the same time as the ones that appeared on The Doors , and with hindsight one has the sense that the best of the batch had already been cherry picked for

1350-480: The first uses of the synth in rock music history. The contribution of the synthesizer was programmed with the help of Paul Beaver and played by lead singer Jim Morrison . Session musician Doug Lubahn occasionally played bass during the recording of the album. The band explored musique concrète techniques during the album's recording sessions. While recording "Unhappy Girl" for example, keyboardist Ray Manzarek played his keyboard introduction backwards, and

1395-502: The group's hit singles, with his first composition being " Light My Fire ". His bluesy " Love Me Two Times " was about a soldier/sailor on his last day with his girlfriend before shipping out, ostensibly to war. Manzarek said lyrically the song can be about "lust and loss, or multiple orgasms, I'm not sure which." Manzarek played the final version of this song on a harpsichord , which Manzarek described as "a most elegant instrument that one does not normally associate with rock and roll." It

Clear Light - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-563: The mid-1960s it became a major gathering place for the counterculture and was the scene of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in November 1966, involving police and crowds of young club-goers. Those riots inspired the Buffalo Springfield song " For What It's Worth ". Sunset Strip became popular with rock musicians and their fans. Bands such as Led Zeppelin , the Doors , the Byrds , Love ,

1485-489: The music on the lower right hand side and read right to left across the bottom line, and then jumped to the next line. When I got to the end of the previous line, I jumped to the next line up on the right-hand side, reading everything backwards, bottom to top. – Ray Manzarek , explaining his keyboard playing on "Unhappy Girl". Unlike The Doors , Strange Days incorporates various instruments, ranging from marimba to Moog synthesizer , which has been described as one of

1530-456: The name came from his studies of Eastern philosophy. The Doors ' producer Paul A. Rothchild took over management of the band. The core members of Clear Light were: The original line-up was featured in the 1967 motion picture The President's Analyst , with Barry McGuire cast as their leader and vocalist. They soon added Cliff De Young on lead vocals and this is the version of the band seen on their only album cover. However, during

1575-556: The poem during his high school years. However, Manzarek had mentioned that he never believed he wrote "Horse Latitudes" at such a young age, claiming the words were "too mature". The album concludes with the 11 minute-long epic, " When the Music's Over ", whose keyboard part was inspired by Herbie Hancock 's " Watermelon Man ". Strange Days was the best album   ... It said everything we were trying to say musically and it contains some of Jim's best poetry   ... We were confident it

1620-505: The pre- Little Feat group The Factory , later became a member of Crosby, Stills and Nash , Manassas and the Stephen Stills Band. He died on January 18, 2015, of complications from viral pneumonia and liver disease at the age of 66. Ralph Schuckett went on to play on The Monkees single " Porpoise Song " and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy album For Children of All Ages . He later joined Todd Rundgren 's Utopia and became

1665-516: The record was listed at No. 409 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , and the same magazine included it on their 2007 list "The 40 Essential Albums of 1967". Strange Days was placed in the twentieth position on Ultimate Classic Rock ' s list of the "Top 25 Psychedelic Rock Albums", while Q magazine ranked it 35th on their respective list. Some critics feel it does not quite match up to its predecessor. The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote, "With

1710-434: The recording process, often described as "brutal", Paul Rothchild was not happy with Robison's guitar skills and pressured the group to remove him. He was replaced by keyboard player Ralph Schuckett . In what has been called the band's finest hour, drunken customers in a Park Avenue club heckled them so brutally that Ralph Schuckett , the usually gentle organist, hurled a few choice words back at them. The band walked off

1755-440: The sessions for the band's debut, both versions were deemed unsatisfactory. A conventional blues arrangement, "Moonlight Drive" features a defining slightly off-beat rhythm and Krieger's bottleneck guitar , which create an eerie sound. The LP's first single, " People Are Strange ", was composed in early 1967 after Krieger, drummer John Densmore , and a depressed Morrison had walked to the top of Laurel Canyon . Densmore recalled

1800-447: The song's writing process in his book Riders on the Storm : Densmore and Krieger, who had then been roommates, were visited by a seemingly dejected Morrison. At the suggestion of Densmore, they took a walk along Laurel Canyon. Morrison returned from the walk "euphoric" with the early lyrics of "People Are Strange". Although Morrison was the Doors' primary songwriter, Krieger wrote several of

1845-819: The stage, retired to the Albert Hotel, and woke up in the morning to find that they had become underground heroes. A notable track from the Clear Light album was "Mr. Blue," a psychedelic version of a folk song written by Tom Paxton and a popular request on underground radio at the time. Lasting over six minutes, the rather sinister, psychedelic song is considered a classic of the genre. Its lyrics, which alternate between spoken word and song, include verses opening with such lines as, " Good morning, Mister Blue, we've got our eye on you, " " Step softly, Mister Blue, we know what's best for you, " and " Be careful, Mister Blue, this phase you're going through .... " The album also included

Clear Light - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-515: The success of its predecessor, it was "arguably the one the band itself most appreciated musically and creatively", according to author David V. Moskowitz. Music journalist Stephen Davis considers Strange Days the best Doors album and "one of the great artifacts of the rock movement." Strange Days was recorded during tour breaks between May and August 1967 at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood (the same studio as their first LP). In contrast to

1935-537: Was edited to a 2:37 length and released as the second single (after "People Are Strange") from the album, and reached No. 25 on the charts in the US. Upon release, "Love Me Two Times" was considered to be somewhat risqué for radio airplay, and was banned in New Haven, Connecticut , for being "too controversial", much to the dismay of the band. "Horse Latitudes" showcases Morrison's spoken-word poetry , who confirmed that he penned

1980-512: Was going to be bigger than anything the Beatles have ever done. But there was no single. The record died on us. It never really conquered like it should have. –Producer Paul A. Rothchild. I'm really proud of our second record [ Strange Days ] because   ... It tells a story. It's a whole effort. Someday will get the recognition it deserves. You know? I don't think many people were aware of what we were doing. –Lead singer Jim Morrison, in

2025-503: Was soon to follow, and after having started work on a second album the group disbanded in 1968. Two tracks from the sessions for the second album surfaced in 2006, "Darkness of Day" and "What a Difference Love Makes"; the latter showed the group moving into more commercial territory due to Kortchmar's influence. Cliff De Young went on to become an actor in more than 80 films and television series. Dallas Taylor , who had played previously with John Sebastian and alongside Lowell George in

#104895