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      • 8. From Common Sense to nonsense
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      • 12. For Goodness Sake
      • 13. A Perfect Prayer
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      • 15. What My Shoes have Taught Me
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      • 18. The Motivation of a Sucide Terrorest
      • 19. The Message of the Terorist
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      • 21. Real Thanksgiving
      • 22. I have been Robbed!
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      • 37. The Whiner
      • 38. Reckoned Righteous by Works
      • 39. Are New Year's Resolutions Biblical?
    • 2003 Articles 40-53 >
      • 40. One of the Greatest Need America
      • 41. Your Memorial Table
      • 42. George W. Bush Verses Saddam Hussein
      • 43. Learning to Listen
      • 44. The Problem with Gambling
      • 45. Memorial Day
      • 46. My Ecounter with an Orthhodox Jew
      • 47. Scott Free
      • 48. What My Auto Accident Taught Me
      • 49. The Decline in Family Living
      • 50. Give Me a Problem
      • 51. Decoding the Da Vinci Code
      • 52. Thanksgiving is not a Holiday
      • 53. What a Christmas Present!
    • 2004 Articles 54-67 >
      • 54. What Do You Mean by that?
      • 55. What are Parents to Do?
      • 56. "The Passion of Christ"
      • 57. Martha Stewart's Greatest Lesson
      • 58. Same Sex Marriage
      • 59. A Tribute to a Servant
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      • 62. Kerry's Logic
      • 63. The Olympic Spirit
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      • 66. Now that the Election is over
      • 67. Tribute to My Mother
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      • 71. Do We Need a Pope?
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      • 73. Examples Worthy of Note
      • 74. How Two Different People Learned to Get Along
      • 75. "The God who Wasn't"
      • 76. Katrina and Now Rita!
      • 77. Would You Say "No" to $4 Million?
      • 78. "In God We Trust"
      • 79. The Redemption of Tookie Willaims
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      • 80. Is Religion a Problem?
      • 81. The Rights of the Born
      • 82. Did You Hear What She Said about Muslims?
      • 83. Judas: Betrayer or Best Friend?
      • 84. Weekend or Week--Beginning?
      • 85. A Tribute to My (Spiritual) Father
      • 86. Your Relationship to the Word of God
      • 87. What an Opportunity!
      • 88. America's Four Gods
      • 89. How to Deal with Your Enemies
      • 90. The Case for Systematic Exposition
      • 91. Don't Miss the Message
    • 2007 Articles 92-104 >
      • 92. I can Afford it!
      • 93. The Gospel according to Patricia
      • 94. The Functional Church
      • 95. Who wants to Deal with a Taxman?
      • 96. Vital Virtures
      • 97. Have You Grown up Yet?
      • 98. A July 4th Reminder
      • 99. The Volume of Silence
      • 100. Biblical Illiteracy
      • 101. A Modest Political Propospal
      • 102. How to Handle Credit Cards
      • 103. When it is Tough to be Thankful
      • 104. Romney's Religion
    • 2008 Articles 105-114 >
      • 105. Continue
      • 106. A Tribute to Jack
      • 107. Why Good Ftiday?
      • 108. Happy Birthday
      • 109. The Most Important Room in the House
      • 110. The 80-20 Rule
      • 111. Be Sensible
      • 112. To Be Like Christ
      • 113. Sweet Reasonableness
      • 114. The Other Benefit of Christmas
    • 2009 Articles 115-126 >
      • 115. What Determines who Obtains Eternal Life?
      • 116. The Healing Touch
      • 117. The Function of Dysfunction
      • 118. When Your World Falls Apart
      • 119. 24-7-365
      • 120. To Complain or not to Complain
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    • 2010 Articles 127-138 >
      • 127. Don't Ask; Don't Tell
      • 128. A Forest Dark
      • 129. The Rule of Law
      • 130. The Hits and Miss of Grace
      • 131. People Need the Lord
      • 132. Examples Worthy of Notes
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      • 135. My Favorite Poem
      • 136. Let's Put the Cross in its Place
      • 137. "Don't Spare Me"
      • 138 The Unseen Message of Christmas
    • 2011 Articles 139-147 >
      • 139. What Parents Should Teach their Children
      • 140. How to Avoid Having to Serve
      • 141. What Happen to Mike?
      • 142. An Atheist Recommends God
      • 143. Surprise
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      • 146. Get in the Way
      • 147. "Let George do it."
    • 2012 Articles 148-160 >
      • 148. Truth or Consequences
      • 149. Don't Leave Home without it
      • 150. Take a Break
      • 151. The Worth of an Individual
      • 152. A Tribute to Nana
      • 153. Jesus Crossed the Line
      • 154. Thomas Jefferson
      • 155. Taxes
      • 156. You Must be Present to Win
      • 157. A Grandfather's Wish
      • 158. Trials. Temptations, and Tests
      • 159. Is There a Santa Claus?
      • 160. A Tribute to Sumner Wemp
    • 2013 Articles 161-172 >
      • 161. How to Finish Well
      • 162. Rewards
      • 163. Spiritual Binging
      • 164. There is no way out of this one
      • 165. Half Empty or Half Full
      • 166. Nones
      • 167. Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
      • 168. God's Answer to Atheism
      • 169. Obedience
      • 170. The Problem of Fellowship with God
      • 171. Character Development
      • 172. For Mercy's Sake
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      • 173. Lies
      • 174. Endure to the End
      • 175. Teaching Children How Money Grows
      • 176. The Principle of Delay
      • 177. By Their Fruit
      • 178. Sermons that Changed My Life
      • 179. If Paul Harvey were the Devil
      • 180. The Principle of Practice
    • 2015 Articles 181- >
      • 181. In Wrath Remember Mercy
      • 182. Choosing the Right Shepherd
      • 183. The Lord's Requirements
      • 184. Your Ear Lobe. Thumb, and Big Toe
      • More articles will be added as they are written
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  • 1185. What is Your "Attitude" tiward Scripture?
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Would You Say "No" to $4 Million

Last year, Cadillac® dangled $15 million in the front of the rock group The Doors for permission to use their song “Break on Through (to the other side)” to hawk its luxury SUVs. John Densmore, the drummer, said, “No thanks!” Here is the story.

The rock group, The Doors, was formed in 1965. It consisted of Jim Morrison, the lead singer, John Densmore, the drummer, and two other band members, Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger.

As the decade of the 60s was ending, The Doors was offered $50,000 to allow their biggest hit, “Light My Fire,” to be used as a commercial for the Buick Opal. At the time, Morrison was in Europe. In his absence, the other three agreed to the deal, but when Morrison returned, he was furious. As a result, the deal was never consummated. In 1970, The Doors entered a written agreement that any licensing would require a unanimous vote. Jim Morrison died in 1971.

Armed with the power of a legal contract, John Densmore has again and again said, “No” to offers for the use of their songs in commercials. He says such use of their music would trample their legacy. He is unalterably opposed to such commercialization.

Using popular rock music in commercials is now common and profitable. Led Zeppelin pitches Cadillacs, the Rolling Stones—Ameriquest Mortgage, Paul McCartney—Fidelity Investments and Bob Dylan—Kaiser Permanente. Nevertheless, there are holdouts including Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Carlos Santana, and, of course, much to the chagrin of the rest of The Doors, John Densmore.

When Apple Computer offered $4 million for commercial use of one of their songs, Densmore vetoed the idea and when Cadillac came with $15 million in hand, it was thumbs down again. Densmore will not even allow the remaining Doors to use the name “Doors” for a reorganized group that does concerts. That conflict landed in court and in August of this year, Densmore won!

His reasoning borders on the sacred. He says, “On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That’s not for rent.” The remaining Doors have opened the door for Densmore to team up with them again for a concert tour. He refuses to do that! He explains, “I would love to play with The Doors and play those songs again. I would. And I will play again as The Doors. Just as soon as Jim shows up.” That is going to take a while. Jim’s heart gave out in 1971.

If I understand the math correctly, Densmore is saying “No” to almost $4 million ($15 million split four ways). Now, there is a drummer who marches to a different drum beat. It makes me want to ask myself, “What are my convictions? How much are they worth? Would I compromise a conviction for $4 million?”

                                    © G. Michael Cocoris, 10/10/2005
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