Why Don Dokken owns the band name Dokken
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- čas přidán 10. 10. 2023
- Don Dokken explains to us why he is the sole owner and has the rights to the band name Dokken. This is some major insight into what went on behind the scenes on the business end of the band.
Watch the full episode up now • Don Dokken | Ep. 208
#dokken #gunsnroses #musicbusiness - Hudba
I'm seeing a lot of sarcastic responses on here saying how obvious it is why he owns the name. Guys, watch the video, it's not as straight forward as you may think!
Boy Don sounds bitter when George's name comes up.
@@BkBk-gy6vr Considering how George has constantly dragged Don through the mud for over 2 decades, I don't blame Don at all.
Amazing that Don leaves out most of the details regarding the lawsuit related to the band name "Dokken" - The reason he did not own the name was because the band's original recording contract specified ownership of the name would be split 25%, 25%, 25%, 25% - After the band broke up - none of the four members could legally use the name. (And that was confirmed by the judge that handled the case) - Fast forward to the reunion for the album Dysfunctional and subsequent tour: Don's attorneys had to negotiate a buy back of the name "Dokken" from the other three members. Lynch, Pilson and Brown accepted $150,000 each, along with their agreed upon return to the band for a three album record deal (two studio albums and the live acoustic album) and a determined percentage of touring revenue, excluding merchandise since they were surrendering any ownership claims to the name.
Its the publishing rights that split ownership..otherwise the founder can prevail. Most record deals steal the publishing rights at signing. Dont know about Geffen.
Don’s speaking voice is uncannily similar to Wayne Newton. Wow.
I was gonna say Casey Kasem...but yeah Wayne Newton ...😅😅 I can see that...
It really is.
I like how he basically said, I wanted to essentially trick my audience into thinking It was a real Dokken album, lol
Don Dokkens's "Up From The Ashes" was a great album. BTW, Billy White was definitely older than eighteen when he joined up with Don for that album. He might have contacted him many years before while Billy was in Watchtower. I know this because Billy was my guitar teacher... Interesting story about the name ordeal.
I absolutely love that album. The guitar work is amazing from start to finish. 🤘
Hmm, I couldn't imagine why. Could you imagine another band with nobody named Dokken in it, using his own name, and telling him he can't? That woudl be like Sammy and Michael trying to call their band Van Halen.
Don Dokken seems like a very solid dude!! He knows whats up. \m/
God, I love Up From The Ashes, what a killer record!
🤘
Totally agree. As much of Lunch fanatic as I am, Up From The Ashes was amazing!
@@tfrost33elkhuntermmmm lunch
don is a down to earth guy..love him..love dokken
Because the name Schwarzenegger was already taken
Seen that line up in NYC at the Ritz , Don blew the roof off the freakin place
DON DOKKEN IS PURE LEGEND!! HIS NEW ALBUM IS GONNA BE AWESOME!!!🎼🎸🥁👊🍻🤘😎😊💯🔥🎶
Hell yeah!
🙄
Saw Dokken open for Judas Priest in 1986 in El Paso! Great show but I'm still miffed they didn't play "Breaking the Chains."
I remember it was 1997, and I was at the store and I saw a CD with a cool cover. $6.99 for a full album? I figure, why not? I was 16 and guitar solos were so taboo in '97. I was so glad Up From the Ashes was was full of amazing shredding and it was so AMAZING! I had never heard of Dokken and it was the Don Dokken album that led me to one of my fav. bands!
Rockin' w/ Dokken!
Rokken with Dokken 😉
I saw dokken at alpine valley wis,monsters of rock..epic❤
I have to say, vocals are not great live now..to b honest..i love Don dokken..but,live..now..it's hard for a guy
Don is a smart man, he prevailed in the end
Interesting to know the story behind it. Up from the Ashes was an incredible album, and honestly as a whole, probably better than any other complete Dokken album. IMHO
Up from the ashes is super great awesome album... I love it!!!!!
☀️🐺🌙🐺🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🪓
One of the best records of 80's.. Just listened to it this morning and it still sounds amazing..just amazing
UFTA is an amazing album. It's better than ANY Dokken album that came after it. It's a shame it's not technically a part of the Dokken discography. It deserves it's place. It also cements the fact that Don really did write most of the Dokken songs. There wasn't a single person from the original band on that album and it sounds EXACTLY like an 80's Dokken album. Don's a talented guy.
The bandmembers of Vandenberg tried the same with Adrian Vandenberg. Six lawsuits, but the lost.
The lost?
@@Fearzero They lost.
Up From the Ashes is one I still listen to today from time to time. One of my favorites.
Up From The Ashes is the best work of Don Dokken's career.
Now this is one down to earth man been a fan since the beginning of Dokken in the early 80's
Love Don,straight up dude
Your name is Don Dokken. Dokken is a band name.
This is the same old story....MONEY..it will turn friends and family against each other...Good for Don for taking a stand and holding his ground
Up from the ashes is my favorite album from Dokken
wow great insite to the history.. love it!
Yes Don, It was a solo band. As you said, "the band had broken up".
He didn't want the PERCEPTION that it was a solo album. A real Dokken album would have sold much better. He knew that. That's why he wanted to be able to market it that way.
@@robeddy3722 Oh yeah. He's being very disingenuous. Basically he's saying it's my band so anyone I play with could be considered Dokken.
Great points Don
But what Don isn’t acknowledging is that the band known as “Dokken” wouldn’t be that without the others, especially George Lynch. So his album was essentially a solo album even though he wanted to call it “Dokken”. If I’d have bought that thinking it was the same band & then found out it was just Don and some replacement members, I’d have definitely felt ripped off.
Axl was similar in this regard, he thought he was Guns N Roses and the others didn’t matter
The whole turmoil actually starts with don. After that yes I agree that lynch is one of the problem too
Common sense kinda tells me , it's his last name Obviously, Like "Van Halen", or "Bon Jovi".
Though technically that's not how Jon's name is spelled so it may be a sticking point if it ever went to court. Dokken on the other hand.....
He owns it because it's his last name
Brilliant!😂
It doesn’t work that way. That’s why he had to trademark it.
Look at what happened to Ozzys band, the Blizzard of Ozz. Never signed or trademarked anything, so Sharon and Oz took everything. Even though is was his name, it was thier band.
The guy just explained that it didn’t work out that way.
"They all went broke from snorting all their money up their nose". Classic Don.
Politics and greed. The same two things that are destroying the world.
Don't forget Envy and Sloth, you know people voting for free shit they didn't earn...
Amen to that....money is the root of all evil....that's why scumbags get into politics in the first place and I'm not saying all politicians are bad but any pea brain can differenciate between the two
Whenever you interview Don, hire a good fact checker. Like a lot of eighties guys he tends to run amok with revisionist history
Like what in particular?
Too many things to list. Ask anyone who knew Don back in the day, the truth wasn’t his long suit. He even once denied wearing a wig, so did Vinnie funny enough
But his name is don dokken so how is he lying ?
A crucial detail he keeps leaving out is it was in the band’s deal that those four guys had to be Dokken, that prevented anyone from leaving and starting Dokken with a bunch of other guys. Don tried that and the others sued to stop him.
I consider Up From the Ashes a Dokken album, always have.
2:01 At least gold for sure.
Up from the Ashes is probably the best album Don ever laid down.
I think I be one first who Up from ashes, a real super album
why is everyone in the comments so anti DOKKEN?
watch something else ,I guess.ever listen to a dokken SONG b4...#eatit
Love Dokken, but pointing out; saying so flippenly "after snorting all their money up their noses." Is it any wonder they can't get along? Even if it's true (no doubt it is) it's just a dumb thing to say.
The truth is never dumb.
I'm guessing he own the band name because his name is Dokken
Not really like the G&R thing. The Dokken guys might have needed money. Slash & Duff didn't. They went back because Axl finally got his head on straight & became more human & besides Guns& Roses is not Axl's name. Dokken is Don's real name. Only thing in common is both bands got back together. Well G&R for the most part.
As I said, they reunited right after Slash got a costly divorce. So money may likely have been a factor.
Why did they originally pick the name Dokken for the band? It's not like Don hired a bunch of session players to record the songs he wrote, right?
Yeah, it was Don & some other guy's first. Don originally played guitar & sang. He hired everybody. Dokken was the original name also because Don put the whole thing together & that's what he decided on.
The original album in Europe was "Don Dokken" changed the band name for the same album to "Dokken" later (US et al).
At the end of the day, a singer always has a lot of power. I'm sure some guys playing clubs didn't care. It's certainly an original name. When you're 20 years old you're not thinking this could come back to haunt me
@@MrOctober44 Guitar players (even ones as great as Lynch) CAN be replaced without a big change in the sound. Same for bass players and drummers.
However, a singer is VERY, VERY noticeable when a change is made. Precious few bands have changed singers and still maintained their following. VH is one. Some would argue that it worked because people went to see EVH anyway.
Don has said numerous times, all four of the bandmates agreed on the name Dokken after they could not use their original name. The 25% equal split was because Don wanted it that way, mainly because Mick and George were working second jobs early in their career. Though the thing I never understood was why Jeff didn't join Lynch Mob if all three were in solidarity that they could continue without Don. So many stories have come out over the years, it's impossible to know the real truth. You just take it with a grain of salt.
Interesting he mentions "Dancing in the streets" by Van Halen another last name band.
Hmmmm… this is the second story I’ve heard Don tell and it’s very different from the first story he told about BUYING his name back from them
Why Don Dokken owns the band name Dokken ... because it's his own family name...
It was a brand that they all built.
he owns it because.....it's his last name
Up from the ashes. Not the best album. I liked song mirror the best. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.
Don Dokken Up From the Ashes charted. It didnt do as well Def Leppard
Axel played hardball and forced slash and duff to sign away rights while gnr was together and on tour.
Dokken was already broken up and mick was with a formed and touring lynch mob.
It is his last name. So surprisingly they got money and a share of it. Which is bizarre.
While most other bands around that time from Motley Crue to Guns n Roses sang about getting laid and partying, Dokken's music was
It was...?
It was love songs with balls!!!!
HIS NAME THE END Judge's !
Up From The Ashes is better than any Dokken album. Don’t get me wrong, I love the classic Dokken stuff, but Up From The Ashes is just so damn awesome from start to finish.
I love it- he’s 100% correct about that
dogsh!t Mick n Bowie mess.🤣
I really wonder why!?!?
Can you say Axl rose
You don't cover "Dancin' in the Streets" ? Van Halen- Eddie hated the song.
Yep. Diver Down sucked IMO. It was DLRs favorite of the 6 I read. Go figure?
Dancing IN The Streets, not Dancing On The Streets, and it was a major hit when it came out.
And it wasn’t by The Shirelles. It was Martha Reeves And The Vandellas.
Agreed it was super cheesy stupid.. both of them are way better than that
@@billgoforth7426to be fair it was a one off charity single to raise money as part of Live Aid… hence the cheap video. Don’s incorrect about Jagger and Bowie doing an album/project.
@@philliphackney7451 thanks for the info. That works for me for a good cause at the time.. been a fan of Jagger and Bowie. For many years.
Yeah but it still sucked and don't get me started on the video...
He might own the name, but he doesn’t own the legacy. That’s shared between George, Jeff, Mick and Don.
i'd be pissed also. . Don's a good guy just wants what's fair
Im gonna go out onna limb n say its because its HIS last name ..... great now Im stuck out on this stupid limb ! can someone call one of thoze red trucks with the big ladders please ...
Up From The Ashes was a good album but Wicked Sensation blew it away Don was a great singer but George was and still is a great guitarist and even though the band is named Dokken they would've been nothing without Mr.Scary
Where is Billy White in 2023?
I ask the same question about Rowan Robertson. After that first Dio album he all but disappeared.
It’s nothing like GNR Axl held his band and audience hostage and Guns N Roses isn’t Baily what Don did is completely different the band was over and or on hiatus what Axl did was shrewd and dickish even if Axl had good intentions of protecting the brand. I got no problem with how Don handled this however Axl refusing to perform until the band signed all rights over to him at a date of a world tour is a total different thing.
Not sure about that story. As Axl has pointed out, they could have sued him or had It overturned for duress. His name is legally Rose
@@MrOctober44 that’s not his birth name and he refused to go sing until they sign the right away with a sold out crowd basically all the biographies tell it that way . I don’t hate Axl I think he’s been misunderstood but Dokken was Dons band before the guys were there Guns were 5 guys who started from the beginning as equal and I heard DD shared the money equal with the band but it was his songs and his vision from the start he was being a great guy sharing everything equal
@@brandonjackson5865 That's not true. Traci Guns was the original lead guitar player, not Slash. Nor was Steven Adler or Duff original members. As far as Dokken, they all had a hand in the songwriting. Great guy for sharing? He was going nowhere until he hooked up with them and has almost no success without them
@@MrOctober44 Yeah they i how many hits did Traci co write, and at when did Axl change his name, it’s not the same thing George and them using the name is more like DLR using Van Halen than its g n r thing.
@@brandonjackson5865 Now you're going into another subject. I've never heard that they wanted the name. They prevented Don from using the name without them.
That Mick Jagger / Bowie song was perfect on the day a certain someone didnt get re-elected though. lol
The lesson to be learned, Women will take you to the cleaners , Pre nup or dont get married
He's lying the judge said u need 3/4 of the original members to use the name dokken he payed Jeff 250,000 for his share
You shouldn’t have to fight for your name
Well.. he could fix that and say hes dyslexic and reverse the name to Nekkod...as in butt Nekkod.
Too bad that your full name made it sell less copies. Dokken was a band name.
once again the attorneys are the ones that won at the end of the day I don't see how they could take his name away it was his band his name that judge sucks
What law school did you graduate from? lol
@@pulsarlights2825 you are 100% correct! The peanut gallery on here is just that, the peanut gallery. They are not lawyers and have zero legal knowledge of the law! Basically, whoever owns the right to the name, is in the driver's seat$$$. One observation on this legal case is why it took so much time for Don Dokken to figure out how he needed to trademark his name? This is proof that he never received the correct legal advice from his lawyers, especially since the record industry at that time, and to a lesser degree today, revolved around song royalties, publishing, and who had the rights to the name of the band! I would also cite "Grand Funk Railroad" as another relatively recent example!
Was this question really relevant??....It's his band,...why else wouldn't he own the name??
Did you watch?
Pretending that his last name is no difference then a band name Is disingenuous.
Cuz his name is Don Dokken
Don mention catagory popularity towards units/groups. Example would be a sidewalk entertainer, placed nearly nothing within actual practice, equipment being questionable. But are walking noriety within it's not the actual music execution, it's truly a popularity, cookie cutter, contestent people's choice awards. Attended 1986 L.a. sports arena Priest/Dokken venue. Both were extraordinary entire set list. Then viewed approx 8-years into future priest ,also dokken both multitudes years practice, world wide live tours, were not even inducted into hall music. But cookie cutter chosen ones actually were. Goes to show you, most don't or wouldn't know a legacy muscian if they were directly before them. As long as there popular, there musicians as example. Another good one, was couple same enthusiasts, mentioned schon was nothing more than average guitarist. But consider popular to be inductees to hall fame. Which most being within catagory, lack within variety, tracts are very plain jane. Lack variety, also Jane is overlooked, popularity supercedes. Even though there nothing more than cookie cutters in circuit.
Why? Because it is his last name!
Why does Don Dokken own the name DOKKEN…..?
I can’t imagine why….?
Yeah yeah. I know. The lawsuit and all. Laugh a little! 😂
So, Gerald Ford could make cars with the blue oval “Ford” logo on them? Yeah, not how business works, Don.
"Dah, really?🙄
Don is right about dancing in the street video Bowie/Jaggar is pretty lame !
I dont get it, he acts so nice but blasts his bandmates.... i dont know why jeff george and mick still plays with him. A karaoke guy sounds better than him nowadays.. sorry don.
Dokken sucked in the eighties who cares about them now?
You have a right to your opinion but there are people who would disagree with you on that! They had alot of fans back in the 80's as a band. Each member has gone on to be successful on their own with the exception of Mick Brown who choose to quit entirely.
George had drug problems both cocaine and steroids over the years, I wonder if he took the mRNA jab and all the boosters....
I don't think George took The Stab. He's still alive. ☺😀😁😂💉
He's a liberal of course he took the jab
Up From the Ashes is WAY better than Wicked Sensation
Why wouldnt he...it is HIS NAME?!?!?!?!!!
Because it's a brand that all of them built.
PATHETIC EXCUSE>>>THEY KNEW IT WAS HIS NAME WHEN IT STARTED>>>I bet Lynch didnt play game with Lynchmob (and it actuall;y wasnt..it REALLY was curated by Dokken and only taken back up when Lynchmob failed..SOO SORRY@@thorpenator9148
Um I would have called it false advertising had he gotten his way and released that as a Dokken album. None of the original members? Get out of here. Can't he accept the Don Dokken album was essentially a solo album? If nobody cared, then maybe he should realize the importance of those other guys who made up the band before and made the name and sold the albums. You know. the guys who made the band popular. It wasn't all about Don now was it?