Notes on Ed Wood and A STRANGE PLACE TO LIVE IN
Below are the album notes for the new Alternate Histories record, A STRANGE PLACE TO LIVE IN, a collection of music inspired by the work and life of Edward D. Wood. Jr. You can preview the album and buy it on vinyl by clicking here, or learn more by reading on...
“The world is a strange place to live in.” — GLEN OR GLENDA, written by Ed Wood
Edward D. Wood Jr was born on October 10, 1924, in Poughkeepsie, New York. After serving in World War II he made his way to Hollywood where he wrote and directed numerous short films, advertisements, and a handful of feature films including GLEN OR GLENDA (1953), BRIDE OF THE MONSTER (1955), and most famously, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1957). He was the subject of the Tim Burton biopic ED WOOD (1994) and is sometimes held up as The Worst Director of All Time.
Yet I am here to tell you…
Edward D. Wood Jr. is not the worst director of all time; he’s a hero. Wood’s stories are full of passion, enthusiasm for the characters, and a desperate desire to connect with an audience. His films persist because of their corniness, their endearing clumsiness, their DIY ramshackle “let’s put on a show” quality.
And despite his many failures, Wood never gave up. Through constant artistic compromises, making money writing seedy short stories, and battling his own limitations & alcoholism, Wood sat down at his typewriter each day to write. He never, ever, gave up.
To put it another way, who is more deserving of scorn: a filmmaker with pennies on the dollar who desperately tries to fulfill their vision, or a corporation who literally deletes finished movies for a tax write-off? In a world of AI slop where movies are approved and branded as verified content, what could be more heroic than someone who shared their mistakes with the world, warts and all?
There’s also what we would now describe as Wood’s queerness. Others are far more qualified to talk about Wood’s relationship to the queer community, how he spent his life wearing women’s clothing and underwear because he enjoyed it. The same way he enjoyed the company and friendship of many in the underground queer circles that populated the science fiction and movie worlds of Hollywood in the 1950s. Wood’s first feature film (which he wrote, directed, and starred in) was GLEN OR GLENDA, a movie that, while it has its flaws and uses words & terms we wouldn’t today, is nonetheless an open-hearted plea for tolerance and understanding. It’s a voice from the past, a profound denouncement of the idea that transness or queerness is a modern concept. It’s a tribute to living life as your truest, most authentic self.
This album is an attempt to celebrate Ed Wood’s career and his life. It’s not the soundtracks to his movies (which were mainly lifted from stock libraries and obscure European classical works), and it’s not a spooky Halloween record (well, not all of it). Instead it’s a eulogy for an artist whose ambition outstripped his talent.
In songs like “First Love” and “Care a Little,” we take a trip through the life of a charismatic and romantic young man who hid a secret for years before finally making a movie about it. “Jungle Guitar,” “Crystal Ball,” and “Anniversary Hop” tell the story of a filmmaker hustling in the wild world of b-movies, a world that would give him the fame he desired but only long after his death at age 54.
Songs like “Tell Me,” and “Cold Wine” describe the declining days of a writer whose resources never matched his imagination, a tragedy about an artist who descends into disreputable films and alcoholism. Finally “City of the Angels” and “Tomorrow’s Gone” provide the sad ending for a bitter man who was evicted from his home and died in a friend’s spare bedroom in North Hollywood.
A STRANGE PLACE TO LIVE IN is a celebration of Wood’s creativity, complexities, and ultimately his humanity. It’s my tribute to the man who gave Bela Lugosi a final act. The man who made an explicitly queer film in 1953 that is still watched today. The man who used Akdov Telmig (Vodka Gimlet spelled backward) as a pseudonym on work he wasn’t proud of. The man from Poughkeepsie who served in the military wearing women’s underwear. The man who pounded away at his typewriter every day. The man who gave the world PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.
— Matt Buchholz, 2024
