When I heard that Ray Manzarek of The Doors had passed on the chance to have their song "Break on Through to the Other Side" licensed by Cadillac for millions of dollars (that’s right, millions with an "s"), I couldn’t believe it. I know that Ray is still a very active, vital, and busy musician. I also know that he could have re-recorded a version of that song himself (if Cadillac had licensed just the song itself and not the master recording) and personally made a ton of money. I was imagining his reasons for turning down the offer: Maybe he didn’t want the association with a product; maybe he didn’t need the dough; maybe he didn’t feel the offer was big enough?? The mind boggles.
This all came up when Universal called me for a license on the song I co-wrote with Eddie Money called "Shakin’ "—a hit song from the 1980s that is the #1 in airplay anytime there’s an earthquake in L.A. (We’re long overdue.) Eddie is performing the song on the TV show King of Queens, and I needed to give them my permission and a sync license.
I said to her, "Any license that Eddie agrees to is OK by me as long as it’s not for Shake ‘n Bake." She laughed and we both commiserated about all the "bad placements" of licensed songs. She was surprised by BB King’s ubiquitous presence on TV. I mentioned the Led Zeppelin tracks behind Cadillac, and then she told me about Manzarek. We both thought his stance was refreshingly original in this age of the awkward marriage between licensed music and the selling of a product. In the old days, no self-respecting rock musician would get caught dead "selling out." But now I have heard that bands are even recording songs with a particular advertiser in mind, hoping to later interest that brand in a big campaign featuring their song. For a whopping fee, of course.
So, do we already have enough music in the world? Yeah, probably. Why should we paint any more pictures when we already have the Mona Lisa and Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can? And why bother going to a new Broadway show that may or may not be as good as The Sound of Music? I’d rather see a good old revival any day. And I guess I’m getting used to hearing the same 30 songs on the radio on every radio station, over and over again. Who needs to try something new? You know me—I always order the same thing on the menu. It saves you from the possibility of disappointment.
But last night, I had a Grolsch beer with my Pollo Loco take-out and toasted Ray Manzarek. For whatever his reasons, he’s my new hero. And you can tell "Shake ‘n Bake" I’m not interested. Unless, of course, they want us to write some original "custom music" for their new campaign. Then I’m completely available.
