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NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE This is the first in-depth radio special for which all three Doors agreed to speak on the record about their whirlwind career from 1966 through Jim Morrison's death in 1971 and the mysterious circumstances under which he lived and died. Throughout the 1970s, L.A.'s top disc jockey, Jim Ladd, had made no secret of his love for The Doors and always played them nightly on his shift. Ladd was also one of the very first pioneers of the "syndicated radio special," meaning he wrote, interviewed, hosted and distributed to 135 cities a weekly radio production about a band of his choice. In 1979, following the release of the 'An American Prayer' album and preceding the release of the bestseller No One Here Gets Out Alive book, I approached Jim about doing a four-hour special on The Doors. He almost laughed at me. The longest specials he had previously done were a two-part two-hour one for Pink Floyd and another two hours on Led Zeppelin. "Do The Doors even have four hours of music?" He asked. I told him I'd be able to deliver outtakes then-never before heard as well as interviews with the key players to be included in this special. I told him my goal was to have its airing be the same month as No One Here Gets Out Alive, the book, was to be published. We came very close. So in the Spring and Summer of 1979 the show aired, every Monday night for an hour, in 135 markets. All of the participating radio stations gave away copies of the book and complete sets of all of The Doors albums to the lucky winners who correctly answered questions culled from the book. No One Here Gets Out Alive soon became the best selling rock book ever written. Warner Books bought commercial time on the special and Ladd used the book as the basis for the show he ultimately produced. Since that time Jim Ladd has become the unofficial "voice" of The Doors. As of this writing, he has just completed another special, on the tribute album of Doors music, 'Stoned Immaculate,' featuring Creed, Stone Temple Pilots, Smash Mouth, The Cult and others performing their favorite Doors songs. The three Doors, Robby Krieger, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek, granted their only interview regarding this tribute album for a Jim Ladd written and hosted syndication special. Perhaps in the not too distant future, Bright Midnight Archives may obtain the rights to this new show and distribute it. But in the meantime, No One Here Gets Out Alive, this CD box set of the original Jim Ladd radio show which has now adopted the name of the book, remains the most enduring and definitive Doors story ever produced. Bootleg copies of this radio special, in its original 4-LP format, go for upwards of five hundred dollars and they are third- and fourth-generation copies and the sound is horrible. Only 150 copies of the 4-LP set were originally produced in 1979 and there never was a repressing. Almost without exception, the personnel at the radio stations that received those original copies kept them, and the black box which contained them, for their personal collections. They are impossible to find. My last copy went to Oliver Stone for research for The Doors film. Fortunately, my younger brother, Chip, had a copy he had only played once and taped. That original is the basis from which Bruce Botnick has worked his magic to turn out this compact disc edition. No One Here Gets Out Alive is more than a radio documentary of The Doors - it is a treasure and a must have for any Doors collector. - Danny Sugerman November 2000 TRACKS &AUDIO CLIPS>>>> TOP

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