The Best Of The Doors

The Best Of The Doors on Elektra, catalog number S270407, is the official US 8-track release of this long-running compilation, dated July 1987. This format variant sits in a specific window of 8-track's twilight years in the American market, making it an unusual artifact for a release cycle that was simultaneously pushing CD versions of the same title. The LP configuration of this compilation had already been out since 1985, and the double-length cassette followed that same year, so this 8-track arrived alongside the June 1987 CD issue as part of a broader Elektra push to saturate formats before the format itself became commercially extinct.

The 8-track housing itself follows the standard late-era Elektra cartridge construction, with the label's familiar branding on the shell. The cartridge shell on the S270407 pressing is typical of the period, molded in black plastic with a printed label affixed to the face. The artwork replicates the compilation's cover design, which features the band's name and title in the graphic style consistent with the 1985 LP release. Given that 8-tracks by 1987 were being manufactured in declining quantities, quality control on these late pressings could vary, and collectors should inspect the pinch roller and tape splice carefully on any copy they acquire. The foam pad behind the tape, which keeps tension against the playback head, has a well-documented tendency to disintegrate on cartridges of this vintage, so condition of the internal mechanism is as important as the shell's exterior. There are no inserts included with this format; you get the cartridge and nothing more, which is consistent with standard 8-track packaging of the era. No lyric sheet, no booklet. The label printed on the cartridge face lists the program sides clearly: four programs across the cartridge's continuous loop, with tracks distributed across the A, B, C, and D sides. Anyone picking this up should check that the program-change tone is functional and that the auto-changer mechanism engages cleanly between programs.

The track sequence on the S270407 8-track runs across four programs. Program one opens with Break On Through (To The Other Side), moves through Light My Fire and The Crystal Ship, and includes Spanish Caravan, Strange Days, and Love Me Two Times. Program two carries Five To One, Waiting For The Sun, People Are Strange, and When The Music's Over. Program three delivers Hello, I Love You, Roadhouse Blues, L.A. Woman, and Riders On The Storm. Program four closes with Touch Me, Love Her Madly, The Unknown Soldier, and The End. Collectors should note a track order discrepancy between the item's listed sequence and the Discogs-documented track listing; the Discogs data places Spanish Caravan in the A4 position rather than alongside People Are Strange in the second program. This kind of sequencing shift between the printed tracklist and the actual cartridge program order is not unusual for 8-track reconfigurations, where runtime balancing across four equal-length programs often required moving tracks from their LP sequence. All eighteen tracks pull from the studio catalog, with no live material or outtakes, making this purely a greatest-hits survey drawn from the band's seven studio albums. For deeper context on those source recordings, The Doors Complete Studio Recordings is the reference point for the full studio canon. The Discogs community data for this specific variant shows only 5 collectors currently reporting ownership against 24 who have it on their want list, a ratio that suggests this 8-track pressing is genuinely scarce in the current market, not because it was a limited edition, but because late-run 8-tracks from 1987 simply did not survive in large numbers. For comparison, other format variants of this same compilation are cataloged separately at The Best Of The Doors, The Best Of The Doors, and The Best Of The Doors, each representing distinct pressings or formats, so make sure you are tracking the right object.

The S270407 8-track is not a pressing anyone would prioritize for audio quality or completeness, and the compilation itself is widely available across other formats. What makes this copy worth tracking down is purely format-specific: a legitimate late-era US 8-track of a major Elektra Doors compilation, manufactured at the very end of the format's commercial lifespan. The 5-to-24 have-to-want ratio on Discogs tells you the demand from format collectors is real and the supply is thin. If you are completing a format run of this compilation or rounding out a late-period 8-track collection, this is a legitimate find. Go in with eyes open about condition risks inherent to the format at this age.