‘This Is Spinal Tap’ 40th anniversary: Reflecting on the greatest rockumentary of all time
It’s been 40 years since the members of “one of England’s loudest bands” released their rockumentary. Although critics caught on to the humor fairly quickly and praised it, it took a little longer for “This Is Spinal Tap” to find commercial success. But once it caught on, this fictional band found a fan base just as crazed as any real rock group, and have been having fun with it ever since. We’re taking it all the way up to 11 as we reflect back on the origins of the (somewhat arguably) greatest fake rock band of all time. Read on as Gold Derby celebrates the “This Is Spinal Tap” 40th anniversary.
Something special happens when a group of pals gets together and creates art – and it’s clear they’re having fun while they’re doing it. In 1979, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest worked on a pilot for a sketch comedy program called “The TV Show.” McKean, Guest and Shearer, along with Loudon Wainwright III and Russ Kunkel, performed a parody music video as the band Spinal Tap. During this time, McKean was still performing on “Laverne and Shirley,” and, with his TV costar David Lander, released the album “Lenny and the Squigtones,” with Guest playing guitar, credited as “Nigel Tufnel.”
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A few years later, the four talented friends sketched out a comedy that parodied rock documentaries, such as “The Last Waltz” (1978), that were popular at the time, and how self-aggrandizing many tended to be. McKean, Guest and Shearer created their “Spinal Tap” personas of British heavy metal band members David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls, respectively, while Reiner directed and costarred as filmmaker Marty Di Bergi. And it was literally just a sketch — the scenes were sketched out and the actors improvised most of the dialogue. With veteran documentary cinematographer Peter Smokler taking control of camera work, the film is so realistically like an actual documentary, many people thought it was a real documentary based on a real band.
The trio of comedians remain fully in character, and the American-born men are fully convincing as British-born school chums who have lucked into rock ‘n’ roll fame. From the groupies, to the girlfriend who comes between bandmates, to mishaps onstage, to the getting lost backstage, it seems to be a true behind-the-scenes adventure into a the life of an aging rock band. However, many moviegoers didn’t get the actual joke, and the movie didn’t do well commercially when it was first released March 2, 1984.
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But eventually, St. Hubbins, Tufnel and Smalls, along with keyboardist Vic Savage (David Kaff), found a cult following. They do seem to have a bit of trouble keeping a drummer, what with all the spontaneous combustions and choking on vomit, as well as the “bizarre gardening accident” mystery that is “best left unsolved,” and good luck to the next chap to take up the sticks for them. Nonetheless, the core band of St. Hubbins, Tufnel and Smalls became so popular that the group has reunited over the years, releasing albums and appearing at concerts. They’re become so real that it’s almost like they are real … even though they really aren’t.
The film has had a huge impact on satirical filmmaking, and Guest has become known for writing and directing his own improvised films. He, McKean and Shearer also occasionally perform as the fictional folk music trio “The Folksmen,” who are the subject of his 2003 film “A Mighty Wind.” The Folksmen has been the opening act for Spinal Tap, with the three men appearing in character in each of their fictional bands.
Now, 40 years later, there is a sequel in the works about Spinal Tap. Wonder if they can still take it to 11?
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