Beyond Metal: Crispin Glover
Crispin Hellion Glover - an actor, a director, a singer, a writer, a weirdo. A genius to put it short.
Son of a less-popular actor, Bruce Glover (never seen any flick with him, I'm afraid), and with strong Czech heritage (he even has a property there, where he shoot a movie with his late father).
The masses will probably known him the most for being in the first "Back to the Future" movie, where he played the role of George McFly (the father of the protagonist). He didn't appear in the sequel, due to the dispute with the director, alas his likeness was used without his permission, which resulted in a fat lawsuit and a lot of money for our hero (good work, screw hollywood).
He does seem to be typecast, as he tends to play odd, bizarre, neurotic characters with some serious personal issues. He does seem to love it, as in order to promote "Rubin & Ed", he did an in-character interview for Letterman, which became legendary, due to Glover's antics.
With that said, the actor tends to be picky about the projects in which he wants to appear, and it's not about money, but rather, artistic freedom. Hence he managed to appear in such acclaimed works, like the serious, dark thriller "River's Edge", as well as a rather ridiculously stupid, campy slasher "Simon Says". It's not a problem, as it's all about fun for Mr. Glover. His career highlight is probably "Willard" (2003), where he plays the lead character. Every respected actor has at least one such role.
But beside acting, Glover is also a director, albeit a very niche one. He did start a surreal trilogy which he called "What Is It?", alas I haven't seen it, as the movies were screened in only selected theaters, usually with an extra introduction and FAQ with Glover.
If that doesn't amuse you. Glover also writes books, albeit I only managed to find two: "Rat Catcher" (1988), which is a remix of a public domain book about rat catching (this seems to be something of an obsession for Glover, as "Willard" also focuses on this subject), with bizarre illustrations and unusual presentation, namely photocopied pics from the original, with adnotations. You have to see for yourself, to understand what I mean. It does look more like a Necronomicon, rather than your standard book. The second work is "Oak-Mot" (1989), which follos the pattern. The story itself is not quite comprehensible, as it tells a story of siblings, with one of them being killed, and the other venturing into a dangerous relationship.
Now, I mention these books for a reason, because we are reaching the actual reason for today's post: the sole album by Crisping Hellion Glover, which is more than weird, it's Avantgarde, in vein of The Residents. "The Big Problem ≠ The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be." (1989), which is the actual title, created with the help of an unlikely duo, Barnes & Barnes. The CD itself presents a big question and a challenge:
The phone number is inactive, so don't bother trying. Albeit I've found a testimony, that if one called, and left a proposed solution on the answering machine, they would receive a postcard from Mr. Glover himself. Isn't it nice?
The clues are supposedly to be found both within the booklet, as well as the lyrics. But as a whole, the project seems to exist as a way to promote the aforementioned books, as there are excerpts from the books, read by the man himself, to a spooky midi-ambient music in the background. The rest of the album features three unusual covers, the famous "These Boots Are Made For Walking" (with the most known version sung by Nancy Sinatra), "Never Say Never To Always" (originally by Charles Manson), and "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (a XIX century Pop song).
There are additional 4 original songs in and 3 hidden bizarre tracks. Among the originals, is the "Clowny Clown Clown" to which Glover directed a video, which sounds like a Mr. Bungle outtake. "Auto-Manipulator", a rap song about fapping, and two eerie, ethereal songs. That's not much to chew, but I guess it's good enough. Oh and Weird Al Yankovic has a cameo in the final reading excerpt from "Oak-Mot".
Is the album worth a try? Is Pope a Catholic? OF COURSE! Just don't listen to it under influence, though.
There was a supposed sequel planned, called "The Big Love"*, but it remains unreleased. Truly, Crispin Glover is a man of mystery. And while his star has faded over time, as even bigger weirdos took over the mainstream culture, I still have a soft spot for Glover, as he has something that many other eccentric individuals don't - Class and Style. We certainly need more people like him.
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* hey, maybe that was The Big Problem?
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