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Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess, first published in 1989, is the personal memoir of late author and The Doors' publicist Danny Sugerman, who went on to manage Ray Manzarek's solo-career. [1]
In the book, Sugerman recounts his life, beginning with his childhood in Beverly Hills that was pleasant until his father filed for divorce from his mother. Sugerman asserts that this event, as well as the resulting difficult relationships he had with his father and stepfather, set the stage for his later self-destructive addictions and behavior. The stepfather detested the sight of a man or adolescent boy with long hair.
According to Wonderland Avenue, after the premature death of Danny Sugerman's adolescent friend and "teacher", Jim Morrison, he became friends with and then went on to manage rock singer Iggy Pop before the singer ended up in a California state mental hospital suffering with severely excessive drug and alcohol addiction, and Sugerman ended up in a private hospital.
Wonderland Avenue covers the first eight years of Sugerman's show business career, commencing with his first job at age 12 opening the Doors' fan mail, and concluding just beyond his 21st birthday, when he is a frail and severely drug-addicted mental patient who has been given less than a week to live. His exposure to the decadent music industry world of parties, groupies, and drugs at such a young age would facilitate a relentless heroin addiction [among other addictions][ citation needed ] that nearly killed him. Notable in the book is Sugerman's close personal friendship throughout his adolescence with late Doors frontman Jim Morrison, who served as a kind of mentor to Sugerman, and his post-Doors activities in L.A attempting to manage the flagging career (and supervise the behavior of) an increasingly unstable Iggy Pop. This section of the book is titled "the blind following the blind."
The book chronicles, in graphic detail, the decadence of the LA rock and roll lifestyle, lived to its most degrading and shocking extremes, in the early to mid-1970s. In the book's conclusion, Sugerman says he is clean and sober, and he sometimes wonders what Jim Morrison would say to him if he could comment on his new way of life. Sugerman adds that although we have no way of knowing, he believes Morrison would say, "Feel the pain. Don't try to escape from it." In 1988, as Sugerman writes this conclusion to his book, he notes that many people about whom he has written are dead. He adds that Iggy Pop has learned to maintain a gap between his real self and the character that his fans have seen onstage, and that the real man and the character "have reconciled their differences and are functioning as a happy team."
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s, primarily due to Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona and legal issues. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era's counterculture.
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, and also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
James Newell Osterberg, known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor, and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who were formed in 1967 and have disbanded and reunited many times since. Often called the "Godfather of Punk", he was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR. In 2010, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Stooges. Pop also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, for his solo work.
The Soft Parade is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on July 18, 1969, by Elektra Records. Most of the album was recorded following a grueling tour during which the band was left with little time to compose new material. Record producer Paul A. Rothchild recommended a total departure from the Doors' first three albums: develop a fuller sound by incorporating brass and string arrangements provided by Paul Harris. Lead singer Jim Morrison, who was dealing with personal issues and focusing more on his poetry, was less involved in the songwriting process, allowing guitarist Robby Krieger to increase his own creative output.
Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style filled with jazz shades. This album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: "Hard Rock Café" and "Morrison Hotel". Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists.
L.A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971 by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime, due to his death exactly two months and two weeks following the album's release, though he would posthumously appear on the 1978 album An American Prayer. Even more so than its predecessors, the album is heavily influenced by blues. It was recorded without producer Paul A. Rothchild after he quit the band over the perceived lack of quality in their studio performances. Subsequently, the band co-produced the album with longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick.
"Moonlight Drive" is a song by American rock band the Doors, released in 1967 on their second album Strange Days. It was edited to a 2:16 length for the 45 rpm single B-side of "Love Me Two Times". Though a conventional blues arrangement, the track's defining feature was its slightly off-beat rhythm, and Robby Krieger's "bottleneck" or slide guitar, which creates an eerie sound.
The Doors is a 1991 American biographical film directed by Oliver Stone and written by Stone and Randall Jahnson. It is based on the history of American rock band the Doors and their influence on music and counterculture. The film stars Val Kilmer as singer Jim Morrison, Meg Ryan as Morrison's girlfriend Pamela Courson, Kyle MacLachlan as keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as lead guitarist Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as drummer John Densmore, Billy Idol as Cat and Kathleen Quinlan as journalist Patricia Kennealy.
Wonderland may refer to:
The Idiot is the debut studio album by the American musician Iggy Pop, released on March 18, 1977, through RCA Records. It was produced by David Bowie and primarily recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France. The album followed the break-up of Pop's band the Stooges in 1974 and a period of drug addiction for both Pop and Bowie, after which the two moved to Europe in an effort to kick their addictions.
Daniel Stephen Sugerman was the second manager of the Los Angeles–based rock band the Doors. He wrote several books about Jim Morrison and the Doors, including No One Here Gets Out Alive, and the autobiography Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess.
Pamela Susan Courson was the long-term companion of Jim Morrison, singer of the Doors. Courson stated she discovered Morrison's body in the bathtub of a Paris apartment in 1971. She died three years after him, in 1974. She was later legally recognized as his common-law wife.
No One Here Gets Out Alive was the first biography about the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band the Doors, Jim Morrison, published in 1980. Its title is taken from a line in the Doors' song "Five to One", and the book is divided into three sections: The Bow is Drawn, The Arrow Flies and The Arrow Falls, for the early years of Morrison's life, his rise to fame with the Doors, and then his final years and death. The book was written by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman.
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison was an American author and journalist. Her published works include rock criticism, a memoir, and two series of science fiction/fantasy and murder mystery novels. Her books are evenly divided between the series The Keltiad and The Rock&Roll Murders: The Rennie Stride Mysteries.
"Lust for Life" is a 1977 song performed by American singer Iggy Pop and co-written by David Bowie, featured on the album of the same name. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it at No. 149 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", re-ranking it at No. 325 in their 2021 updated list.
Barney Hoskyns is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages.
Danny Fields is an American music manager, publicist, journalist, and author. As a music industry executive from the 1960s to the 1980s, he was one of the most influential figures in the history of punk rock. He signed and managed Iggy and the Stooges, signed the MC5 and managed the Ramones, and worked in various roles with Jim Morrison, the Velvet Underground and the Modern Lovers. In 2014 The New York Times said, "You could make a convincing case that without Danny Fields, punk rock would not have happened."
"Strange Days" is a song by the Doors, released in 1967 as the opening track on the album of the same name. Along with other album tracks, it was composed before the date it was recorded; a live performance recorded in May 1966 was captured on the 2016 album London Fog 1966. The track is also recognised as one of the earliest showcases for the use of the Moog synthesizer.
James Douglas Morrison was an American singer, songwriter and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his energetic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, erratic and unpredictable performances, along with the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.
Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is a live album by the American rock band the Doors, released on February 23, 2018, on Rhino Records. The concert was recorded at the Isle of Wight Festival in England on August 30, 1970, and this was released by Eagle Rock Entertainment. It was the group's final appearance as a foursome outside of the US and also the last full filming of a Doors concert.
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