WAITING FOR "STRANGE DAYS": THE STRANGEST TELEVISION SPECIAL OF THE DOORS' CAREER

 

 

In early September 1967, the recording sessions for the Doors' second album ("Strange Days") were just finished and the band was waiting its official release, which would take place on September 25, 1967. In this context, the group participates in a TV show filmed in New York (Murray the K Show), which can be considered the strangest appearance ever made by the Los Angeles quartet.

The first part saw them starring in a music video where Jim Morrison lip-syncs "People Are Strange", with the rest of the Doors behind him. The song was included in the album that was about to be released and was also chosen as the first single extracted from that LP in those very early days of September.

So far nothing strange had happened after all. Anyway, in the second part of the show we find The Doors as protagonists of a short film, a segment which belonged to a longer release, which we could call a spy story set in the distant future.

In the sketch there are some girls dressed to look like fascinating creatures from outer space, who rob a bank, neutralize opponents and escape in a car. While driving away they encounter The Doors standing on the side of the road.

The car pulls over, and one of the girls snatches a necklace from the neck of Jim Morrison who had approached the car as if to seduce them. In later scenes The Doors try to retrieve the pendant.

We leave the story open-ended, as the short video is available on Youtube (necklace part here). However, the questionable quality of this TV special, which took place twenty days before the release of "Strange Days", gives us one of the most curious and weirdest moments in the band's career.