<<<  Let's be honest. Of all the singers in all the world, the name Ian Astbury wouldn't be top of the list to fill Jim Morrison's shoes in The Doors.

But a mere 32 years after the iconic Morrison died somewhat mysteriously in Paris, Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger have indeed put The Doors back together with the ex-Cult singer in Jim's place.

Nobody seems more surprised by this unexpected twist in rock history than psychedelic cowboy Astbury himself. Ian Astbury has had a long emotional involvement with the music of The Doors, but never expected to wind up as their lead singer. A fan of Jim Morrison, and a friend of Doors biographer Danny Sugerman, he auditioned to play Morrison in the Oliver Stone movie The Doors, but is happy the role went to Val Kilmer. "It focused on the sensational, but he was a grounded guy. He didn't talk in lyrics or take acid 24 hours a day." Ian Astbury first heard The Doors listening to Radio Luxembourg on a transistor radio under his pillow late at night. "I was mesmerised. It was better than anything on Radio 1. And later in the '80s a lot of clubs in Liverpool played The Doors. Bands like Echo and even Joy Division were influenced by them. "The Doors were a rite of passage for us. Hearing Morrison sing The End in Apocalypse Now was just incredible."

Surviving Doors Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger invited Ian Astbury to join The Doors as lead singer after meeting him on a VH-1 tribute show. "It's a monolithic place in the pantheon of music and I was initially nervous," he admits. "But I'm not trying to emulate Morrison. I'm adopting and adapting his work." Not exploiting it then? "No, Robbie and Ray waited 30 years to revive the band. How much more faithful could they be?"

"When I sat down with them and realised they were doing it for the best reasons I was quite happy," says Ian Astbury of his decision to become a Door. "It's not a tribute show, I see it as honouring Morrison. It's actually quite demanding...the most disciplined thing I have ever done. "When we first started doing shows, I was too reverent, but that's not what The Doors' energy is about. There's no schtick, it's integrity and passion."

The Doors will be playing all their hits when they tour the UK next month – Light My Fire, Riders On The Storm, Hello I Love You et all. But not The End? "No, won't touch that. They feel that was Jim's holy ground," says new singer Ian Astbury. "At one point they had me performing his poems but I didn't feel comfortable. "We're talking about doing a new record but may use other sympathetic artists like Henry Rollins and Interpol."

Ian Astbury says his first UK tour with the reformed Doors next month will also be his last.

"It's a limited project. People don't realise The Doors didn't play live too much and only played England once, in 1968. They were sophisticates. Oliver Stone
distorted them."