Spinal-Tap-trailer - YouTube Spinal-Tap-trailer Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Sep 10, 2011 Stylistically the movie is a parody of rock documentaries, purportedly filmed and directed by the fictional Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner). The faux documentary covers a 1982 United States concert tour for the fictional British rock group "Spinal Tap" to promote their new album Smell the Glove, but interspersed with one-on-one interviews with the members of the group and footage of the group from previous points in their career. The band was started by childhood friends David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) during the 1960s.

Originally called "The Originals", then "The New Originals" to distinguish themselves from the existing group of the same name, they settled on the name "The Thamesmen", finding success with their skiffle/R&B single, "Gimme Some Money". They changed their name again to "Spinal Tap" and enjoyed limited success with the flower power anthem, "Listen to the Flower People". Ultimately, the band found their long success in heavy metal and produced several albums. The group was eventually joined by bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), keyboardist Viv Savage (David Kaff), and a series of drummers, each of whom mysteriously die under odd circumstances, including spontaneous human combustion, a "bizarre gardening accident"[3] and, in at least one case, choking to death on the vomit of person(s) unknown ("you can't dust for vomit"); of the death of one of whom the police said "this is a mystery better left unsolved". DiBergi's interviews with St. Hubbins and Tufnel reveal that they are competent composers and musicians, but are dimwitted and immature.

Tufnel, in showing his guitar collection to DiBergi, reveals an amplifier that has volume knobs that go to eleven; when DiBergi asks, "Why not just make ten louder and make that the top?" Tufnel can only reply, "These go to eleven." Tufnel later plays a somber quasi-classical composition on piano for DiBergi, claiming it to be a "Mach piece" (a hybrid between Mozart and Bach), before revealing the composition to be entitled "Lick My Love Pump". As the tour starts, concert appearances are repeatedly canceled due to low ticket sales. Tensions continue to increase when several major retailers refuse to sell Smell the Glove because of its sexist cover art and there is growing resentment shown towards the group's manager Ian Faith (Tony Hendra). Tufnel becomes even more perturbed when St. Hubbins' girlfriend Jeanine (June Chadwick) — a manipulative yoga and astrology devotee — joins the group on tour and begins to participate in band meetings and attempts to influence their costumes and stage presentation. The band's label, Polymer Records, opts to release Smell the Glove with an entirely black cover without consulting the band.

The album fails to draw crowds to autograph sessions with the band. Category Detail view of Movies Page as Summary: In 1982, British heavy metal rock band, Spinal Tap, arrives in New York City on a promotional tour for Smell the Glove , their first album in several years, and documentarian Marty DiBergi films them. In an interview with Marty, founding band members and childhood friends, Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins, describe their formation in 1964. Although they first called themselves The Originals, the musicians changed their name to The New Originals to distinguish themselves from another band with the same name, but later became The Thamesmen. Nigel, David and bass player Derek Smalls explain the strange deaths of their past drummers. At the tour’s opening night party, Spinal Tap is greeted by hostess Bobbi Flekman, an “Artist Relations” manager at Polymer Records, and she introduces them to the label’s president, Sir Denis Eton-Hogg.

The next day, as Spinal Tap is chauffeured through the city, David demands to know when Smell the Glove will be released, but their manager, Ian Faith, dodges the question by mentioning a New York Times review. Ian claims that Polymer is focusing its distribution efforts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, instead of New York, because it is a “rock ‘n roll town.” At Fidelity Hall in Philadelphia, the band performs “Big Bottom” to a cheering crowd. Later, as the band attends a recording industry convention in Atlanta, Georgia, Ian again evades Spinal Tap’s inquiries about their album. Ian adds that the cancellation of their show in Boston, Massachusetts, is negligible because “it’s not a big college town.” Hosting another cocktail party for the band, Bobbi tells Ian that Polymer is offended by Spinal Tap’s record cover design, which portrays a naked woman on all fours, chained to a leash, with a glove shoved in her face. After a phone call from Eton-Hogg, Ian informs the band that the release of Smell the Glove has been cancelled because of its “sexist” cover.

Bewildered, Nigel questions “what’s wrong with being sexy,” but Bobbi argues that Polymer has no leverage with big retail chains such as Sears and Kmart, who are boycotting the album, because Spinal Tap’s past records were not successful. Fielding Spinal Tap’s protests, Bobbi promises to work out a compromise with Eton-Hogg. At their next performance, Nigel complains to Ian about the snack food backstage. During the show, Nigel leans backwards playing a solo in the song “Hell Hole” and a roadie helps him to his feet. In an interview with Marty, Nigel shows the filmmaker his guitar collection and custom Marshall amplifiers that surpass the maximum volume of “ten” and “go to eleven.” At a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, Spinal Tap discovers their reservations have been downgraded and, in the lobby, they are snubbed by fellow rocker, Duke Fame, who attracts the attention of girls David presumes are Spinal Tap fans. When Duke’s promoter brushes them off, Spinal Tap complains that the rocker’s album cover is just as exploitative as theirs, but Ian explains it is permissible because Duke is tied up as the “victim,” not the girls.

Ian then announces that the Memphis show is cancelled because of “lack of advertising funds.” When Marty interviews Ian about the declining popularity of Spinal Tap, the manager argues that their “appeal is becoming more selective.” On a phone call with his girlfriend, Jeanine Pettibone, David conveys that more shows have been called off, but he is delighted to learn she will join them for the remainder of the tour. Nigel, however, is displeased by the news and becomes further downtrodden when a radio disc jockey plays a Thamesmen song and announces that Spinal Tap is in the “’Where are they now?’ file.” In an interview, Spinal Tap discusses their 1967 hit single, “Listen to the Flower People” and the spontaneous combustion of their drummer. During a sound check at Shank Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeanine surprises David with her arrival and Ian presents the band with long-awaited, pressed copies of Smell the Glove . Displeased that the cover is devoid of an image, David complains that its color is depressing and Nigel says that it is “none more black,” but Ian encourages the musicians to persevere. However, Spinal Tap’s next show is besieged with absurd technical problems.

In a Chicago, Illinois, Holiday Inn hotel room, the band meets the Midwestern promoter for Polymer, Artie Fufkin, but when he takes them to a record store album-signing event, no one attends. Later, at the Xanadu Star Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, the band gets lost backstage. At a diner, the band tells Ian that the black album cover has been a curse and, in an effort to improve their image, David presents Jeanine’s drawings for Zodiac sign costumes. Disparaging her ideas, Nigel uses a napkin to design a Stonehenge stage prop and Ian says he will have it constructed. Before the Austin, Texas, show, however, Ian realizes Nigel’s drawing specified a height of eighteen inches instead of eighteen feet, but he compensates for the discrepancy by hiring two little people to dance around the Stonehenge prop and the musicians are outraged. After the show, David berates Ian for turning their performance into a farce; and, when he suggests that Jeanine co-manage the band, Ian quits.

During a recording session, Nigel blames David’s poor concentration on Jeanine and after the band arrives in Seattle, Washington, Nigel becomes more enraged when he learns she booked their concert at Lindbergh Air Force base. There, Lt. Hookstratten tells Spinal Tap that the base is celebrating an “at ease weekend,” but the audience is disturbed by the band’s performance of “Sex Farm.” When Nigel’s wireless amplifier picks up a radio feed, he throws his guitar down and storms off stage. Later, as Jeanine looks for Nigel’s replacement, David tells Marty that he will never again play with his lifelong friend. Spinal Tap arrives at Themeland Amusement Park in Stockton, California, to discover they are second billed to a puppet show and decide to improvise a set under the name “Jazz Odyssey.” At the end-of-the-tour party, David refuses to admit Spinal Tap is finished, but Derek suggests that they focus on different projects. Before the last show, Nigel appears backstage with a message from Ian. “Sex Farm” has hit the charts in Japan and Ian suggests the band re-form for a Japanese tour.

Although David shrugs him off, he later invites Nigel to join him onstage while the band performs “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock It Tonight.” Despite radio interference on his amplifier, Nigel plays his trademark solo. At Kobe Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Spinal Tap performs for a sold-out audience with a new drummer. Production Company: Voyages and travel Note: The summary and note for this entry were completed with participation from the AFI Academic Network. Summary and note were written by participant Melissa Pope, a student at Oregon State University, with Jon Lewis as academic advisor. Before the opening credits, the film begins with an introductory statement by the character “Marty DiBergi,” played by director Rob Reiner. Marty, who is the fictional director of the rock music “rockumentary” This Is Spinal Tap , describes his appreciation for the British band Spinal Tap and says that his film follows their 1982 comeback tour to promote the album Smell the Glove .

When Marty’s introduction concludes, the film opens with the following fake production qualifier: “This is Spinal Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi.” In the end credits, the character’s name is spelled “Marty DiBergi.” According to a 6 Mar 1984 Village Voice article, writer-comedians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner came up with the idea to spoof a British rock band in 1978, while working together on The TV Show , Reiner’s television parody special for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Shearer told Village Voice that the actors “started adlibbing” the characters that would become members of the fictional band Spinal Tap while filming a satirical version of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) television music variety show Midnight Special .

Before developing the film, the troupe wrote eleven songs and performed in concert with the band Iron Butterfly at Gazzarri’s on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, CA, where, according to Shearer, they were taken “’at face value.’” He noted that they chose to portray a heavy metal band because the genre was “’ossified’” and “’easier to grab hold of comedically.’” Shearer added that heavy metal songs consisted of only three chords, which made them easier to write and perform. In a 21 Sep 2000 Guardian article, McKean noted that a year and a half after The TV Show was produced, Reiner was looking for feature film projects to launch his career as a director and pitched the idea of a “fake documentary” about the band to Marble Arch. As reported in a 25 May 1984 HR article, Marble Arch commissioned the troupe to develop the concept into a script, but instead they submitted a twenty-minute “demo” and an outline.

McKean’s Guardian article stated that although the troupe met daily in 1980 to give Spinal Tap a “believable past,” watching rock music concert footage and documentaries, they never intended to write a script and planned to improvise the dialogue. Marble Arch tentatively agreed to produce the project, but the company went bankrupt and the troupe assumed the film was never going to be made. According to HR , United Artists expressed interest until its merger with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and eventually Embassy Pictures, which was run by Reiner’s former producers on the hit television show All in the Family , committed to the project. A 25 Apr 1984 NYT article reported the film’s budget was set at $2.2 million. In spring 1982, the filmmakers began to hire cast and crew, according to McKean, and principal photography began later in the year. NYT stated that due to the limited budget, the five cities represented in Spinal Tap’s U.S. tour were all filmed in Los Angeles. This Is Spinal Tap marked Reiner’s debut as a feature film director.

As reported in a 23 Mar 1984 BAM article, director of photography Peter Smokler, who had previously worked on rock music documentaries such as Jimi Plays Berkeley (1974, see entry), used hand hand-held cameras and 16 mm film to accentuate the picture’s “documentary feel.” Studio production notes from AMPAS library files stated the film was later “blown up” to 35 mm for theatrical release. McKean told BAM that Reiner, in the role of Marty, posed unscripted questions to the members of Spinal Tap in the film and “the first time we’d heard them” was when the cameras were rolling. Editing was unusually challenging because of the improvisational dialogue. According to BAM , “whole sections” were cut, such as a subplot with rock singer Cherie Currie, who was cast as the band members’ love interest. BAM reported that the film’s release was supported by MTV videos and a soundtrack album from Polydor Records, This Is Spinal Tap , which represented the film’s soundtrack as well as the fictional record, Smell the Glove .

As noted in various contemporary sources, including BAM and HR , the troupe wrote and performed the music in the film with the assistance of Reiner. A 25 May 1984 NYT news item commented that the band was playing “real engagements” such as a spot on Saturday Night Live and at the New York, NY, club, CBGB’s. The film’s end credits roll over outtakes of “interview” footage with Spinal Tap. The end credits also include the following acknowledgements: “We wish to thank the entire cast for their creative contribution to this film. Nigel’s guitar collection courtesy of Norman’s Rare Guitars; Concert sound & light services by Electrotec Productions Inc.; Drums provided by Ludwig Drums; Thanks to B. C. Rich and Zildjian Cymbals." Spinal Tap | Rock Peaks Spinal Tap Know a thing or two about this artist? Want to help make this page better? Earn points and win prizes. Find out what's involved Track Spinal Tap on Late Night in 1992 The quintessential rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap is available as a single DVD purchase , and as part of a Collector's Set .

But for the best live Spinal Tap material, check out The Return of Spinal Tap . This movie consists primarily of Spinal Tap's 1992 Royal Albert Hall concert. Order By: 1 day 9 hours ago Read the original article on Wikipedia Spinal Tap on Wikipedia Scan from DVD box art of This is Spinal Tap Background information The Originals, The New Originals, The Thamesmen Origin Heavy metal, hard rock, comedy rock, psychedelic rock Years active 1964–1984, 1992, 2001, 2007, 2009–present Labels Polymer, Megaphone (fictional); Polydor, MCA Associated acts Past members See: Former members Spinal Tap (stylized as Spın̈al Tap, with a dotless letter i and a metal umlaut over the n) is a parody band spoofing the style of British heavy metal groups. The band first appeared on a 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called The T.V. Show, starring Rob Reiner.

The sketch, actually a mock promotional video for the song "Rock and Roll Nightmare", was written by Reiner and the band, and included songwriter/performer Loudon Wainwright III on keyboards. Later the band became the fictional subject of the 1984 rockumentary/mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap. The band members are portrayed by Michael McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (as Derek Smalls). This Is Spinal Tap was accompanied by a soundtrack album of the same name. In the years following the film's release, the actors have portrayed the band members at concerts and released music under the Spinal Tap name. Guest, McKean, and Shearer toured in the United States in April and May 2009[1] and performed as Spinal Tap in a "One Night Only World Tour" on June 30, 2009 at Wembley Arena in London, three days after playing the Glastonbury Festival.

Support at Wembley Arena came from the same trio's fictitious folk music band The Folksmen.[2][3] Contents 5.2.3 Bass guitar, backing vocals 5.2.4 Drums, percussion 8 External links Background Although the 1984 film portrays the band hailing from the United Kingdom, all three actors who play the principal band members were actually born in the United States. (Christopher Guest, however, was raised in both countries, and he currently has dual citizenship and a title of nobility: Baron Haden-Guest.) Fans of Spinal Tap have assembled details about the band based on fictional film, albums, concerts, and related promotional material, including a discography and a list of the band's former members.[4] Spinal Tap's fictional history includes a succession of drummers, all of whom are said to have died in strange circumstances, one in a "bizarre gardening accident," another who "choked on vomit" (a reference to John Bonham's and Bon Scott's deaths) but not his own vomit (in a back-handed reference to Jimi Hendrix's death),[clarification needed] and two from "spontaneous human combustion" onstage.

Additionally, it is claimed that police described one of the deaths as a mystery "best left unsolved." Reunited Spinal Tap "reunited" in 1992 for Break Like the Wind, an album produced in part by T‑Bone Burnett, an accomplished musician and record producer. The album was accompanied by a promotional audition for a new drummer attended by Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction, Gina Schock of The Go-Go's, and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, who auditioned in a fireproof suit. A promotional concert tour followed, which included an appearance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, where they performed "The Majesty of Rock," a song they dedicated to Freddie Mercury and released as a single. The band also released the single called "Bitch School." On July 1, 1992, Tap crossed five time zones for three performances in St. John's, Newfoundland; Barrie, Ontario; and Vancouver, British Columbia, for MuchMusic and Molson's Great Canadian Party. For each performance of "Stonehenge", the miniature monument prop was delivered on stage in a courier envelope.

In 2000 the band launched a web site named "Tapster" where their song "Back from the Dead" was made available for download. Tapster was a parody of Napster, a peer-to-peer file sharing network.[5][6] In 2001, the band "reunited" for the nine-city "Back from the Dead Tour" that began on June 1, 2001, at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The tour included a show at Carnegie Hall in New York City and ended in Montreal in mid-July at the Just for Laughs festival. The opening act for some of these shows were The Folksmen, the folk trio seen in the film A Mighty Wind, and also performed by Guest, McKean, and Shearer. In 2007, Tap reunited again, this time to help combat global warming. "They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming," said Marty DeBergi (portrayed by Reiner).

"Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing – that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler." This reunion also included the release of a new song called "Warmer Than Hell". The band played on the London leg of the SOS/Live Earth concert series, and Rob Reiner has directed a short film (entitled Spinal Tap) which was released on the Live Earth website on April 27.[7] The film reveals that Nigel Tufnel is now working as a farm hand looking after miniature horses. He plans to race them. David St Hubbins is currently working as a hip-hop producer and Derek Smalls is in rehab for being addicted to the Internet. A new album, Back from the Dead, was released on June 16, 2009.

The album consists mostly of re-recordings of songs from the original film's soundtrack, as they would have sounded had they really existed and been recorded in a studio.[8] On April 6, 2009, the band announced a one-date "world tour," performing at London's Wembley Arena on June 30, 2009.[9][10] Support on this night came from The Folksmen. The band unexpectedly also self-confirmed for Glastonbury Festival 2009 during an online interview on May 8, 2009 in the Philadelphia Daily News following a "Unwigged and Unplugged" show in the city.[11] In November 2012, it was announced the band members would be reuniting for a new BBC show co-written by Christopher Guest, called Family Tree. Other appearances The band appeared as the musical guests on an episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the spring of 1984. Barry Bostwick was the host. At this time producer Dick Ebersol approached Shearer, Guest and McKean to join the cast. Shearer and Guest accepted.

(McKean would not join until ten years later, by which time original producer Lorne Michaels was back at the show's helm.) Shearer's stint on SNL the following season—his second, the first having been the 1979–80 season—was to be short-lived, following creative disputes with the show's management. Shearer has said that when Ebersol made the offer during the Spinal Tap guest appearance, "I didn't realize that guests were treated better than cast members." In 1985 at the invitation of Ronnie James Dio, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer took part in the heavy metal benefit project Hear 'n Aid, to raise money for Ethiopian refugees. McKean and Shearer met dozens of real-life metal stars, many of whom were huge fans of Spinal Tap. The musicians greatly enjoyed meeting McKean and Shearer and sharing their own stories of disastrous gigs and malfunctioning special effects. As part of the promotion surrounding Break Like the Wind, Spinal Tap was portrayed in "The Otto Show" episode of the animated series The Simpsons, for which Shearer is a principal voice actor.

The Simpsons follows the approach of the original film by presenting the group as if they were a real group. During the disastrous performance, a massive devil balloon on the stage does not inflate properly, and Nigel is temporarily blinded by lasers. Later in the episode, their tour bus is accidentally pushed off a cliff due to Otto's reckless driving. On July 1, 1992, as part of MuchMusic's Canada Day "Great Canadian Party" festival, Spinal Tap completed an unprecedented tour of Canada in less than 24 hours. Jetting across five time-zones, the band played St. John's, Newfoundland, Barrie, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia. That evening, during a performance of "Stonehenge", Tap received their signature, triptych set-piece via Canada Post in a small, bubble-wrap envelope that Derek Smalls signed for onstage. Bemused, Smalls tore open the packaging, and revealed to the cheering crowd the prop which looked to be half the size of the original 18 inch Stonehenge rock from the film. In 1993, Nigel Tufnel appeared in the rockumentary Joe Satriani: The Satch Tapes.

In 1994, The Return of Spinal Tap was released on video; most of this was live material from a 1992 performance at the Royal Albert Hall, but it also included some interviews and follow-up on the band members. In 2000, while promoting Tapster.com, Spinal Tap appeared and performed on the short-lived series VH1 The List and appeared on the Late Show. In 2006, Nigel Tufnel appeared in a Volkswagen TV commercial highlighting their offer of a free, exclusive First Act guitar with the purchase of qualifying automobiles. The guitar features knobs and inlays with the Volkswagen logo and pre-amps that allow it to be played through the car's stereo system. Also in 2006, the song "Gimme Some Money" was used in a TV commercial[citation needed] for Open from American Express, "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" appeared in Harmonix's video game Guitar Hero 2 and "Christmas with the Devil" appeared in BBC One promo spots for the network's Christmas program.

In 2007, while accepting an award from the BBC Two program The Culture Show, Christopher Guest broke into Nigel Tufnel, and considered what his wife and kids would make of the Mark Kermode shaped award.[citation needed] On July 7, 2007 Spinal Tap played at Wembley Stadium in London[12] along with many major bands and groups as part of Live Earth, a Climate Change awareness concert. Their set included a new song written for the occasion, "Warmer Than Hell." During their final number, the song "Big Bottom," St. Hubbins and Tufnel both picked up basses. Spinal Tap was also joined by "every bass player in the known universe," including Nate Mendel (of the Foo Fighters); Robert Trujillo, Kirk Hammett, and James Hetfield (Metallica); Gordon Moakes (Bloc Party); and Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA), of Beastie Boys. They were also joined on back-up vocals by Annette O'Toole, Michael McKean's wife.

In May 2008, Nigel Tufnel appeared in the National Geographic show Stonehenge Decoded, expounding his nonsensical theories about Stonehenge and who was responsible for building it. His claims to have invented "decoder" experiments capable of unveiling the true purpose of the monument are, as yet, unproven. McKean, Guest and Shearer have made several appearances as their alter egos The Folksmen, including the television shows Saturday Night Live and Mad TV and the film The Return of Spinal Tap. On March 2, 2009, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer held a press conference at the House of Blues in Los Angeles to announce their forthcoming album of new and old Spinal Tap songs, plus a 2009 "Unwigged & Unplugged" tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film, This Is Spinal Tap. According to an L.A.

Weekly report, when MTV News' Kurt Loder asked the trio "if they had plans beyond an album and tour, Shearer answered, 'We're gonna bomb Iran.'"[13] The tour also features songs from the Folksmen and others from throughout the trio's career. On April 1, 2009, Guest, McKean, and Shearer played on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the musical guest. On June 15, 2009, Spinal Tap performed on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien as the musical guest. On Saturday, June 27, 2009, Spinal Tap performed on the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival with Jarvis Cocker guesting on bass during "Big Bottom," and also inviting Jamie Cullum on stage to play keyboards. One of the unexpected highlights for Tap fans was a rendition of the newly written overture from the mythical Jack the Ripper musical Saucy Jack.

Also on the bill were Kasabian, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Bruce Springsteen.[14][15] On Tuesday, June 30, 2009 Spinal Tap performed at Wembley Arena with The Folksmen as support. A variety of special guests featured including Keith Emerson (joined them on organ/keyboards – which he later destroyed during the show), Justin Hawkins from the Darkness and others.[16] On July 27, 2009, the band performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as the musical guest announcing their retirement and shortly thereafter their comeback. The next day, Tuesday, July 28, 2009, they were the musical guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. On August 25, 2009, Spinal Tap released a seven-minute short film titled Stonehenge: ‘Tis a Magical Place celebrating their 25th anniversary. The video is distributed through INgrooves and is available only on iTunes.

The short film depicts the founding members of Spinal Tap making a pilgrimage to Stonehenge for the first time.[17][18] The Folksmen Main article: The Folksmen The same trio of actors (Guest, McKean and Shearer) also portray the fictitious American folk music revival band The Folksmen, who first appeared on November 3, 1984 episode of Saturday Night Live. Some Spinal Tap concert appearances in the 1980s and beyond have even featured Guest, McKean, and Shearer opening for themselves as The Folksmen. The folk trio is also featured prominently in the 2003 Christopher Guest-directed "mockumentary" film A Mighty Wind. Current members David St.

Hubbins (portrayedby Michael McKean) – lead vocals, rhythm & lead guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar (1964–present) Nigel Tufnel (portrayed by Christopher Guest) – lead guitar, backing & lead vocals, bass guitar, piano, violin, violin bow, mandolin (1964–present) Derek Smalls (portrayed by Harry Shearer) – bass guitar, backing & lead vocals (1967–present) "Caucasian" Jeffery Vanston (portrayed by C. J. Vanston) – keyboards, backing vocals Gregg Bissonette (as himself) – drums, percussion Former members This list contains both fictional former members of Spinal Tap and celebrities that have played with the band.

Guitar, backing vocals "Ricky from San Francisco" (1982) Rhyan Gordon (1992) also played baseball bat Keyboards, backing vocals Jan van der Kvelk (1965) Tony Brixton (1965–1966) Denny Upham (1966–1968) Ross MacLochness (1974–1975) Viv Savage (David Kaff) (1975–198?) also played keyboard bass. Savage was allegedly killed when he went to visit the grave of former drummer, Mick Shrimpton, whose grave exploded due to methane gas build up.

John Sinclair (1982) Jon Carin (Amnesty International performance in 1991) Jamie Cullum (Glastonbury 2009) Ronnie Pudding (1964–1967) (Portrayed by Danny Kortchmar) Danny Jarman (1967) David Gilmour (Amnesty International performance in 1991) Tim Renwick (Amnesty International performance in 1991) Pino Palladino (Amnesty International performance in 1991) Cody Wheaton Drums, percussion Actual Gary Wallis (Amnesty International performance in 1991) (Wallis pretended to explode at the end of the performance) Jody Linscott (Amnesty International performance in 1991) Mick Fleetwood (2000) Todd Sucherman (2009) Deceased John "Stumpy" Pepys (1964–1966) (Portrayed by Ed Begley, Jr.

in the video "Gimme Some Money") Died in a bizarre gardening accident that the authorities said was "best left unsolved." Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs (1966–1967) Choked on vomit of unknown origin, perhaps but not necessarily his own, because "you can't really dust for vomit." Peter "James" Bond (1967–1977) (Portrayed by Russ Kunkel whose character was mistakenly credited as the name of the previous drummer) Spontaneously combusted on stage during a jazz-blues or blues-jazz festival on the Isle of Lucy, leaving behind what has been described alternately as a "globule" or a "stain" Mick Shrimpton (1977–1982) (Portrayed by R. J. "Ric" Parnell) Exploded onstage. Joe "Mama" Besser (1982) (Portrayed by Fred Asparagus). Claimed he "couldn't take this 4/4 shit"; according to an MTV interview with Spinal Tap in November 1991, he disappeared along with the equipment during their Japanese tour.

He is either dead or playing jazz. The name is a play on that of Joe Besser, who similarly had a short-lived and ill-fitted stint as a member of The Three Stooges. Richard "Ric" Shrimpton (1982–1999) Allegedly sold his dialysis machine for drugs; presumed dead. Sammy "Stumpy" Bateman (1999–2001) Died trying to jump over a tank full of sharks while on a tricycle in a freak show. Scott "Skippy" Scuffleton (2001–2007) Fate unknown. Chris "Poppa" Cadeau (2007–2008) Eaten by his pet python Cleopatra. Plus 9 other drummers at various times (Probably between 1970 and 1981) all of whom are dead. Tambourine Jeanine Pettibone (1982) After she left, Jeanine opened her own Irish clothing store named Potato Republic. Stewart Ikin (1982) – Backing Tambourine-Left the band to join Creme Brulee.

Consider to be death as a joke[clarification needed]. Oliver Ridout (Amnesty International performance in 1991) Billy Murgatroyd (1996) Murgatroyd is the only Tambourine player of the band to be killed, overdosing on coffee creamer. Harmonica Little Danny Schindler (1965–1966) Horns Keelan Hegarty (1965–1966) Geoff Clovington (1965–1966) Dan Taman (1967) Died while falling off a train as it was entering Kings Cross station, his body was never recovered. Backing vocals Andy Sutcliffe (1987) died beating himself to death with his own shoes. Session members Dweezil Zappa – guitar on "Diva Fever" Cher – vocals on "Just Begin Again" Slash – guitar on "Break Like the Wind" Steve Lukather – guitar on "Break Like the Wind" Joe Satriani – guitar on "Break Like the Wind" Jeff Beck – guitar on "Break Like the Wind" Timothy B.

Schmit – backing vocals on "Christmas with the Devil," "Cash on Delivery" Steve Vai – guitar on "Short And Sweet" John Mayer – guitar on "Short And Sweet" Phil Collen – guitar on "Short And Sweet" Actual discography This Is Spinal Tap (1984) U.S. No. 121[19] Break Like the Wind (1992) U.S. No. 61[19] UK No. 51 Back from the Dead (2009) U.S. No. 52[20] Singles "Christmas with the Devil" / "Christmas with the Devil (Scratch Mix)" (1984) "Bitch School" / "Springtime" (1992) UK No. 35 "The Majesty of Rock" (1992) UK No.

61 "Back from the Dead" (2000) "Warmer Than Hell" (2007) "Saucy Jack" (2009) (released as free MP3 download from official website)[21] Bootlegs Ultra Rare Tap, Volume 11 (unknown date) None More Black (unknown date – a three-CDR set) The Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Creation (unknown date) Discography Spinal Tap Sings "(Listen to the) Flower People" and Other Favourites (1967) We Are All Flower People (1968) Brainhammer (1970) The Sun Never Sweats (1975) Bent for the Rent (1976) Tap Dancing (1976) Rock 'n' Roll Creation (referred to as The Gospel According to Spinal Tap in the film) (1977) Shark Sandwich (1980) The Incredible Flight of Icarus P.

Anybody (1969) Heavy Metal Memories (1983) "All the Way Home" (1961) – an unreleased demo "Gimme Some Money" (1965) "(Listen to The) Flower People" (1967) "Breakfast of Evil" (1969) "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" (1974) "Stonehenge" (1975) "Bent for the Rent" (1976) "Tap Dancing" (1976) "Rock 'n' Roll Creation" (1977) "Sex Farm" (1980) "No Place Like Nowhere" (1980) "Hell Hole" (1982) Top Hit for Nows (1968) Audible Death (1969) Got Thamesmen on Tap (unknown date) Maximum Tap (unknown date) It's a Dub World (unknown date) Unreleased/unfinished material SEXX!

(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Hernia Shark Sandwich[22] Nigel Tufnel's Trilogy in D-minor, including song with the working title "Lick My Love Pump" David St. Hubbins' / Derek Smalls' Saucy Jack, a musical based on the life of Jack the Ripper The title song from the musical was released in 2009 as a free MP3 download from the official Spinal Tap website[21] Solo releases Nigel Tufnel's Clam Caravan (1979) Pyramid Blue (unknown date) It's a Smalls World (1978) Ross MacLochness Doesn't Anybody Here Speak English? (unknown date) References ^ "Live Daily: Spinal Tap Alums Plot Comedy Tour". Retrieved 2009-03-04 ^ "Spinal Tap announce 'world tour'". BBC. BBC. April 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-17. ^ Gundersen, Edna (April 14, 2009). "THIS is Spinal Tap? Don't wig out, dudes; they're still funny".

USATODAY.com. USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved 2009-04-17. ^ "The Ultimate SPINAL TAP Discography: Index". November 10, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-17. ^ "Make Your MP3 Player Go To 11, Spinal Tap Launches Tapster & Releases MP3". The Mac Observer. August 1, 2000. Retrieved 2010-08-13. ^ "Tapster". Web.archive.org. October 18, 2000. Archived from the original on October 18, 2000. Retrieved 2010-08-13. ^ "Spinal Tap reform – Film – Entertainment". theage.com.au. April 26, 2007. Retrieved 2014-07-26. ^ Petidis, Alexis, "Still Smelling the Glove", The Guardian Weekend 30.05.09 p.

26, "The Back From The Dead album is out on 22 June" ^ "Spinal Tap announce one night 'world tour' | News". Nme.Com. April 6, 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-13. ^ "Spinal Tap announce 'world tour'". BBC. April 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-07. ^ [1] Archived May 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. ^ Glaister, Dan (July 6, 2007). "Rock'n'roll to the rescue". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-04-09. ^ Babayan, Siran. "Spinal Tap: Unwigged and Unplugged at its House of Blues Press Conference," L.A. Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-03-03 ^ Grundy, Gareth (June 27, 2009). "Spinal Tap at Glastonbury 2009". London: the guardian.

Retrieved 2009-06-28. ^ "Spinal Tap performance highlights". bbc Glastonbury online. Retrieved 2009-06-28. ^ "Spinal Tap One Night Only World Tour 2009". The Evil Jam. Retrieved 2011-01-02. ^ Scott Thill (August 25, 2009). "Spinal Tap Erects Stonehenge Short on iTunes Only". Wired.com. ^ "Shorts International and INgrooves Release Spinal Tap's New Short Film". Screen Daily. August 25, 2009. ^ a b Billboard, Allmusic ^ "Jonas Brothers Turn Trying Times into Billboard No. 1". MTV. June 24, 2009. Retrieved 2014-07-26. ^ a b "Saucy Jack, A Free Exclusive Download of a Brand New Track Fresh from the Studio". Spinal Tap. Retrieved 2010-08-13. ^ "Spinal Tap A to Zed: Shark Sandwich". Spinaltapfan.com.

Retrieved 2011-01-02. External links The complete "This is Spinal Tap" script Spinal Tap Fan site This is Spinal Tap at IMDb.com Theeviljam.co.uk h2g2 - Spinal Tap - the Band - Edited Entry 1 Conversation Usually if I show up at an evening like this it is because there is some greater, more profound meaning. Unfortunately, tonight is totally devoid of any meaning whatsoever. So will you please welcome home at last, live from Hell, Spinal Tap. - Bob Geldof , The Return of Spinal Tap. This is a story about some of nature's great survivors, although many would contend that there is little 'natural' about them. These are survivors who have succeeded, despite them having less brainpower than a stegosaurus. These are men who survived an upbringing in the made-up inner London borough of Squatney to make their mark on the world. These are Rock Musicians. They have survived mysterious deaths of band members and more name changes than Prince and P Do Wah Diddy Daddy combined. They have watched the scene they once belonged to vanish into the pages of musical 1 history, yet they have carried on regardless.

They have released albums that were both ignored by the record-buying public and hated by the critics, yet they are perhaps one of the most influential bands of all time. They are Spinal Tap. This is Spinal Tap In 1984 an improvised film, written by and starring four American comedians, was released to the unprepared masses. Variously described as a 'rockumentary' or a 'mockumentary', it followed the 1982 US tour of British heavy metal band Spinal Tap. It captured the spirit, the energy, the tensions and the complete absurdity of rock and roll, and more than that, it was side-splittingly funny. The set-up was that this was film-maker 2 Marty DiBergi's ( Rob Reiner ) look inside the workings of a band that had been performing for 20 years. The band are on their promotional tour for their new album, Smell The Glove, and are faced with an unresponsive public - in manager-speak, their audience was getting more selective - and inept management as well as other problems along the way.

Introducing the Band The line-up of Spinal Tap for the film was: David St Hubbins ( Mike McKean ) - Lead Vocals and Guitar. With his flowing blond locks, huge ego and incredible vanity, St Hubbins is the archetypal rock singer. He was born in Squatney in 1943 and met Nigel Tufnel in 1951. He sees himself as the heart and soul of the band 3 and co-writes most of the songs (mainly the tuneful bits) with Nigel. He suffers, like many rock singers, from thinking that he is very deep and in touch with his spiritual side. His girlfriend is Jeanine Pettibone, who acts as a kind of Yoko Ono figure. She wants to dress up the band as their star signs and tries to take over the management of the band. Nigel Tufnel ( Christopher Guest )- Lead Guitar and Vocals. Tufnel was born in 1944 in Squatney. He is the more musically creative of this songwriting partnership. His composing style is described as 'pompous, overwritten and pseudo-important'.

Nigel's guitar solos are known to last long enough for other members of the band to leave the venue, taxi to a restaurant, eat a meal and taxi back before he has finished. He is possibly even less in-touch with reality than David. Being the guitarist with a rock band has led him to have a reputation as a ladies' man. He is very possessive about his guitar collection. He released an album entitled Nigel Tufnel's Clam Caravan. Apparently, it was originally Calm Caravan but the printers got it wrong and Nigel decided to leave it as printed to add an air of mystery. It was the low point of his career. Nigel's bizarre hairstyle is based on that of British blues guitarist Jeff Beck's. Nigel walked out on the band mid-tour but came back at the last show. Derek Smalls ( Harry Shearer ) - Lead Bass. Derek hails from the West Midlands town of Nilford-on-Null and was born in 1941. He was in a number of bands before joining a pre-Spinal Tap Spinal Tap. He sees his role in the band as being in between the two creative forces of the band.

He has described himself as the lukewarm water to Nigel and David's fire and ice. When the band briefly split up in the 1970s he released a solo album, It's a Smalls World, completely devoid of melody. Derek has a large handlebar moustache and tends to wear leather strapping on stage. Viv Savage ( David Kaff ) - Keyboards. Viv is the only member of the group blessed with actual talent. He lives to a simple philosophy 'have a good time, all the time'. Mick Shrimpton ( RJ Parnell ) - Drums. The job of a Spinal Tap drummer is one that is shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows what kind of bizarre gardening accident killed the first drummer, John 'Stumpy' Pepys. While it was known that the second drummer, Eric 'Stumpy Joe' Childs choked on vomit, it was never known whose vomit it actually was. It is a mystery why Peter 'James' Bond spontaneously combusted on stage. Another mystery was how long Mick Shrimpton, formerly of the Eurovision House Band, would survive. He exploded at the end of the film.

Ian Faith ( Tony Hendra ) - Manager Ian is a volatile manager who wielded a cricket bat in order to trash rooms if his charges didn't. He was generally incompetent and disliked by the band. He walked out when David and Jeanine said he needed help running the band. Jim (as Himself) - Skull Jim is the large skull that is part of the band's stage set. No self-respecting heavy metal band should be without a giant skull. A Brief History of Spinal Tap Tufnel and St Hubbins wrote their first song together in 1961. They formed a band called The Originals. However, because there was another band called The Originals, they then became The New Originals. A few name changes later they became the Thamesmen 4 with John 'Stumpy' Pepys and bassist Ronnie Pudding and had a hit with the beat record 'Gimme Some Money'. The band went through a huge number of name changes before settling on Spynal Tap. However, they wanted to cash in on the trend of misspelling band names, so they changed it to Spinal Tap. It was only much later they found out they were actually using the correct spelling!

Derek joined to replace Ronnie Pudding. As Spinal Tap they released the single '(Listen to the) Flower People' and the album We Are All Flower People. They then adopted their trademark rock style. Between 1970 and 1976 they released eight albums including Intravenus de Milo 5 , Jap Habit and Tap Dancing. They sued their record label for back royalties and were counter-sued for lack of talent. The band suffered a number of name changes, disintegrated and then reformed again for Rock 'n' Roll Creation, Shark Sandwich and Smell the Glove. The Final Tour? The film follows the band on tour with backstage happenings interspersed with concert footage and interviews. It starts out with a sell-out gig and an album launch party in New York . Things go downhill as they head down the Eastern Seaboard. Polymer, the record company, decide not to release the album straight away in New York as the market in the city isn't right. Another problem with the album is that some stores refused to stock it, objecting to the cover, which depicted a tied-up, half-naked woman being forced to smell a glove.

The new album cover is plain black with no writing on it anywhere. Gigs are cancelled in Boston, Memphis and across the Mid-West. The band play a gig in Cleveland, Ohio and get lost in the back of the theatre. Their luck does not improve as the tour goes on, as almost nobody turns up for the album's signing sessions. Shortly after Jeanine arrives in Milwaukee, Ian leaves. The straw that breaks the camel's back is when he is left to get a life-sized replica of a Stonehenge triptych for the band's Druidic epic ' Stonehenge '. Nigel draws a design on a napkin; however, he confuses inches and feet. The desired majestic effect of the resulting piece of scenery is rather ruined as it is in danger of being crushed by the dancing dwarves on stage. In Seattle , the gig gets cancelled and Jeanine gets them a gig at an airforce base, which is a disaster, and that leads to Nigel walking out. The next gig is at a festival in San Francisco where the band are second on the bill to a puppet show. On the up side, however, they are given the bigger dressing room.

The tour reaches Los Angeles where Derek and David agree to call it a day after the gig. While getting themselves ready for the gig send-off, Nigel arrives with news that they have made it big in Japan and a tour has been offered to them over there. The final gig is a massive success in front of screaming fans. The band really does go out with a bang as Mick Shrimpton explodes. The Return of Spinal Tap In 1992 the group returned to the screen with a film made from the footage of their live concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It is interspersed with interviews with characters from the original film and celebrity thoughts on the band. In the time between the two films a lot has happened for the members of the group. Ian Faith 'died', an event that led to much celebration from the band. However, it was later suggested that Faith had actually faked his death. Joe 'Mama' Besser, Mick Shrimpton's replacement, vanished and was pronounced missing, assumed dead. Mick's twin, Richard 'Ric' Shrimpton, is drafted in as the band's 13th drummer. David and Jeanine got married.

David now teaches girls football and helps out in the couple's two shops. One sells itchy Irish clothing, the other is a new age shop. He also mentors bands. Nigel spent most of his time inventing. He invented a collapsible wine glass that can't hold liquids and a capo 6 for an amp. He also started a travel for pets scheme. Derek joined his dad's phone sanitising company. He had invested in property in the Docklands of which construction was never finished. He bought another flat in which to live until the other one was built, but that one wasn't finished either. He joined the Christian rock band Lambsblood and played the Monsters of Jesus festival. Marty DiBergi, blamed by the band for what they saw as a stitch-up job in This is Spinal Tap, now works from a shelf in a corridor next to a payphone. His only feature film after working with the band was Kramer Vs. Kramer Vs. Godzilla which apparently bombed. The film opens with the support act, The Folksmen, being told they would not be needed. The three candy-striped musicians, played by Guest, McKean and Shearer, would later reappear in the film The Mighty Wind.

The film was aired on American television in 1992. The Spinal Tap comeback was in full swing with appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and The Simpsons 7 . The Return of Spinal Tap was released on video in 1993. Tappisms Spinal Tap has become such a well-known part of rock culture it's become difficult to work out what has influenced Spinal Tap and what Spinal Tap has influenced. Many musicians, including Slash and Sting, have come out as saying how true to life the events of Spinal Tap are to being in a real band. Black Sabbath claimed that the Stonehenge fiasco was based on their American tour where they planned to have a life-sized Stonehenge set and dwarf acrobats dancing on top of it. When they arrived in America they couldn't fit the set into any of the venues. Since the tour happened in 1984 and that was the same year that Spinal Tap was released, it is doubtful that there is any truth in the claim. However, in The Return of Spinal Tap a clip is shown of roadies trying to squeeze an oversized Stonehenge through the doors of the Royal Albert Hall!

Some of the other ideas from the film to have come into common usage are: Turning it up to 11 - While showing his guitar collection to Marty, Nigel points out a special feature of Spinal Tap's amplifiers. All the volume controls go up to 11 instead of 10, which is one louder! Marshall, the company that supplied the amplifiers started making amps that went up to 11 in response to artists like Eddie Van Halen demanding them. Of course other companies went further and made ones where the controls went up to infinity. In general musician parlance 'turning it up to 11' means, 'lets go very loud!'. Bizarre gardening accident - This is a now a legitimate excuse for a drummer leaving a band. Some drummers stick with the oldies like 'I'm just going out to make a phone call'. Exploding on stage is just showing off! Let's do it in dobly - When talking about Smell the Glove Jeanine shows her limited knowledge of music production by announcing that heavy metal should not be recorded in dobly. Obviously, she meant 'Dolby'. This induced mocking by Nigel.

Recording engineers and producers refer to this when artists who have no concept of production start trying to tell the engineers how to do their job. Of course if you look into the history of any band you will find moments that would not look out of place in the Tap films, be it fans falling through the roof of a Kinks gig in Seattle to the Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithful and chocolate confectionery. The film had the band play at the Shank Hall in Milwaukee. The gig in the movie was filmed in Los Angeles. However there is now a real Shank Hall and its logo is a miniature Stonehenge. Proof, if proof were needed, that Spinal Tap are a force for good in the world came in the 1998 film, Small Solders. McKean, Shearer and Guest voiced the alien Gorgonites in their battle with the evil Commando Elite, voiced by original cast members of The Dirty Dozen. Celebrities on Tap There is a long line of celebrities who made cameo appearances in the Spinal Tap films. These are just a few of them: Patrick MacNee - The star of The Avengers played Polymer Record's boss Sir Denis Eton-Hogg.

MacNee was not comfortable with the improvisational nature of the film, so all his scenes had to be scripted. Paul Shaffer - David Letterman's long-serving band-leader played inept promoter Artie Fufkin. Many of his parts, including the scene when he smashed an egg on his head to convince the band to appear on radio, were cut from the final film after the scene at the radio station didn't work. Shaffer was also involved with another great fictional band. He arranged a lot of the Blues Brothers' music and appeared in Blues Brothers 2000. Cher - Cher provided backing vocals for 'Just Begin Again' for The Return of Spinal Tap. She did not appear in the film; instead a portrait of her was projected into the hall and a pair of moving lips was super-imposed on it. According to St Hubbins, they begged and pleaded before she finally agreed not to join the tour. Billy Crystal - This comedy actor appeared as Morty the Mime, who ran the 'Shut Up And Eat' mime catering company in This is Spinal Tap. Dana Carvey of Wayne's World fame appeared as the mime waiter.

Albert Lee - The legendary British guitarist appeared in The Return of Spinal Tap where he played the solo in 'Break Like The Wind'. This was the second seminal reunion concert that he had played at the Albert Hall; he played with the Everly Brothers nine years earlier. Martin Short - Martin Short appeared in The Return of Spinal Tap to explain the role of Spinal Tap in getting Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky together. And a worthy mention: Mick Fleetwood - Mick Fleetwood was one of a large number of celebrity drummers, including Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees and Debbie Peterson of The Bangles, who attended open auditions to be Spinal Tap's tour drummer. Fleetwood, well aware of the nature of the job, arrived in an asbestos suit! Given the soap opera that was Fleetwood Mac, Spinal Tap must seem like a welcome break.

The Songs Some of the band's songs include: 'Tonight I'm Going to Rock You' - A combination of fist-pumping rock riffery and underage groupies that could have almost come straight from the mind of Jimmy Page: You're sweet but you're just four feet And you've still got your baby teeth, You're too young and I'm too well hung but Tonight I'm gonna rock you 'Big Bottom' - If you look back into the roots of rock music, back into the blues, an ample female rear-end was a work of art to be celebrated. Spinal Tap's celebration of the female form used three bass guitars, a catchy riff and innuendo-filled lyrics. In The Return of Spinal Tap Jim the skull is joined by Jill the giant bottom: My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo I like to sink her with my pink torpedo 'Diva Fever' - This is best known for Nigel's solo in The Return of Spinal Tap. While he indulges in biting guitars, throwing horseshoes at guitars, firing guns at guitars and playing while juggling, the rest of the band leave the stage. Derek goes to a restaurant and David gets a facial, leg-wax and pedicure.

1 This may possibly be the only time that the word 'musical' is used in conjunction with Spinal Tap. 2 He mainly made short advertisements. 3 Well, which singer doesn't? 4 When the band were warming up for 1992's Return of Spinal Tap they played a gig at London's Borderline Café billed as 'The Thamesmen - Acoustic Matinee Performance'. 5 Described as 'treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry '. This was the first album to achieve gold status in sales and platinum in returns. 6 A capo is a device normally fitted to the fingerboard of a guitar used to raise the pitch. 7 Harry Shearer provides many of the voices for The Simpsons including Montgomery Burns, Ned Flanders, Principle Skinner, God, The Devil and Hitler.

Question: Which fictional rock band was previously called "The Originals", "The New Originals", "The Originals" again, and the "The Thamesmen"?
Answer: Spinal Tap