This month, we caught up with musician John Glosson to take a look at a quirky off-beat song called "Jesus and Spider-Man" by the now defunct Steven King Trio off their album "Meet the Family". The Trio, made up of John (Bass/Vox/Sax), and cohorts Chris "Cheech" Chiara (Drums/Vox) and Steven King (no relation to the horror writer), have disbanded.
John was the writer and singer of "Jesus and Spider-Man".
[Ed - The links we had for free download of this MP3 are no longer available, sorry.]
[Ed - Links for downloading music from John's new band Waybetter also dead, sorry.]
SpiderFan:: How long have you been a Spider-Man fan?
John Glosson: I've been a Spider-Man fan since I can remember. I was growing up during the first Underoos revolution, so I had a pair of Spider-Man Underoos. So...since I was like 4 years old in 1977.
SpiderFan: Is this your first Spider-Man song? Do you have any others planned?
John Glosson: This was my first Spider-Man song, and I don't have any plans to write another as of yet...but you never know. I've started a new band called Waybetter. If I were to write another, I think I'd make it a sad song. Maybe a song about Gwen Stacy or how hard it is being a superhero. A dramatic ballad about life, loss, and being exposed to radiation. Peter's had a hard life I think. Maybe I'll write one and record it just for distribution on this page?
SpiderFan: Sure, that would be great! Are you currently reading the comics? If so, any thoughts?
John Glosson: I'm not reading many comics these days. I keep up with Green Arrow and a few other titles. The last Spidey book I read was ...is it Ultimate Spider-Man? I read the first 4 issues of that, and liked it. I think comic companies are trying too hard to change these heroes that've been around for 40 or 50 years, and it just cheapens it for me. Killing Superman, paralyzing Batman, etc. From what I can remember, Spider-Man stories have always been pretty cool. I liked the symbiote costume, the whole Ben Reilly story, Cosmic Spidey, etc...but Spiderman 2099? I didn't care for that.
SpiderFan: What's the story behind this song? Is there any, or were you just having fun?
John Glosson: Yeah, I pretty much was just having fun. Years and years ago, I was watching a Robin Williams performance and he was making fun of Oral Roberts (I think) and mentioned "I will now compare and contrast Jesus and Spider-Man." I thought that was hilarious and it stuck with me for years. I even met Robin a few years back when I was an extra on Patch Adams, but I hadn't written the song yet.
SpiderFan: Does this make you technically a Christian rock band?
John Glosson: It's funny you should ask that. We actually had a guy get really mad about this song at one of our shows. He confronted me after our set and asked me "What did that song mean? You makin' fun of Jesus?" I didn't know what song he was listening to, but he must've really been reading into it. I thought the song had a fairly positive message. I thought he'd forgive me, being a Christian and all, but instead he called me a few choice names and left the building. No Spider-Man fans have ever threatened me with violence or called me names. I guess they saw through to my point.
SpiderFan: What were some of your favorite Spider-Man stories - comics, toons, anything?
John Glosson: I had a Spider-Man toy I liked a lot. It was all plastic, about 12" tall, and his arms and legs weren't bendable. He had one hand sticking up that had an electric winch in it, a hole in his belt where you could plug in a real, working flashlight, and you could look through the back of his head and spin a wheel for the Spider Sense effect. I still have it, but the winch doesn't work and I lost the flashlight.
SpiderFan: I'm guessing that's the Remco Energized Spider-Man figure. See The Spider-Man Toy Vault. So, anything significant about 1983, or did it just fit well into the song?
John Glosson: In 1983 I was in 3rd grade, I had a girlfriend named Velvet Bowling. She dumped me after a week to go out with my best friend, Johnny Ramsey. She dumped him the next week to go out with Brandon Knight, and Johnny and I were cool again. That's all I really remember about 1983. I'd be interested to know what was going on with Spider-Man in 1983....
SpiderFan: You can find out right here in our Comics - 1983 page!
We wish John well with his new band "Waybetter", and hope to hear a Gwen Stacy song someday.
"Jesus and Spider-Man" by the Steven King Trio Lyrics by John Glosson I went out to lunch with Jesus just the other day And I have to admit that I was kind of scared about What he might say to me But he just looked at me and said John, I don't think I'm as popular as I used to be I was hoping maybe you could help me start a show on MTV. I said come on Jesus, man you've got to be kidding me. I said that network sold out way back in 1983. I went out to have a beer with Spider-Man last night He told me that he's tired of his job and he never really liked to fight I said come on Spider-Man you know you really don't have it so bad I mean just look at the Incredible Hulk he rips his clothes and turns green Whenever he gets mad I said you really shouldn't complain, I mean just look at Mary Jane She's really quite appealing, and whenever she's around, I bet you get that funny feeling Like your Spider-sense is tingling Jesus and Spider-Man, doing the best they can to make the world a better place Spider-Man and Jesus, doing their best to please us But it just ain't good enough it's never ever good enough I saw Jesus walking down the street one day last week He just tried to walk on by I don't think he really wanted to speak to me I said hey Jesus, man you know I just saw something really strange Spider-Man was sitting on the corner begging the Hulk for some spare change He said Come on John, man you got to be kidding me Doesnt he know Bruce Banner hasnt a job since 1983. I walked up to Spider-Man he was sitting on his corner He was looking pretty sad and asked me if he could bum a quarter I said come on Peter, man you really don't have it that bad But I know they killed your uncle Ben and you never even really had a dad He said, come on John, damn don't talk to me that way Mary Jane has gone and left me, and I think she's gone to stay