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In This is Spinal Tap, David asks Ian if he has seen Duke
Fame's album. Ian replies, "Yes." "So you've seen
the cover?" Ian replies, " No." How do you see
a record without seeing the cover? (Naaudiart)
Was Ian a good manager? Yes! He located those mandolin
strings. He straightened out the room situation with Tucker "Smitty"
Brown. He got "Smell the Glove" released. He calmed
Nigel down in the midst of the catering catastrophe. And he's
a much better manager than Jeanine. Under Jeanine's "leadership,"
the band played theme parks and air force bases. And Nigel quit!
Most of the catastrophes of the 1982 tour were not Ian's fault.
Not even the tiny Stonehenge, which led to Ian's split with the
group. OK, some of the tour's problems were partially Ian's fault.
He should have examined the napkin more carefully. He should
have led Tap to the Xanadu Star Theater's stage. I blame the
pod incident on the roadies, though. (Joe Blevins)
In an online survey, fans voted "These go to 11"
as their favorite line. See the Tap FUQ for runners-up.
Which are the most Tap-like bands? The nominees: KISS, Def
Leppard, Saxon, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Kingdom Come,
Black Sabbath, Scorpions and Ten Years After (their frontman,
Alvin Lee, looks like a larger version of David St. Hubbins,
and they had an album called "Stonehenge").
The July 1995 issue of the British music magazine Encore
includes four pages of Tap memories from musicians such as Sade,
Michael Stipe, Alice Cooper and Paul McCartney.
Tap is featured in The Love Book holding a photographer’s
cheesy Love sign.
Is that Nigel looking at amps in the background of the
music store scene in The Blues Brothers?
The umlaut in Spinal Tap’s name has caused some controversy.
One fan comments: "I see no reason to conclude that those
two dots are an umlaut. It’s just as sensible to think of
them as a diaresis. Considerably funnier, too. Trying to pronounce
the ‘n’ separately from the ‘i’ and the ‘a’
yields a much weirder sound than trying to modulate its tone."
Svein Halvorsen, keeper of Tappus Norwegicus, posted this
flash: "The Norwegian title of the film (translated back
into English) is " 'Help, we’re in the pop business.'
"
Tap makes an appearance on the Metallica video, A Year and a Half
in the Life of Metallica, Part 2, taped April 20, 1992, at
the Freddie Mercury tribute at Wembley Stadium. Here's a transcript.
Among the anagrams created from Spinal Tap are Slap a
Pint, I Lap Pants and Pain Splat.
The editors of Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary added
rockumentary to its latest edition.
Another question, considering the line where Nigel says
"we were much closer than brothers" and the way he
hated Jeanine — is that a hint they were having a homosexual
relationship? (Ed Coury)
PLEASE DON’T BE A STUPID IDIOT! (Na Audiart)
Do you ever find yourself using quotes from This is Spinal
Tap in real life? When I'm talking about someone I haven't seen
in years, I always say, "They are currently residing in
the 'where are they now' file." When you're trashing someone
behind their back, "What a wanker!" comes in handy.
And "Shit Sandwich" is a good generic negative review
for any song, movie, TV show or music video. Others: "Kick
this ass for a man!" (when apologizing), "Hello Cleveland!"
(when hopelessly lost), "Have a good time all the time"
(whenever anyone asks you what philosophy of life is, or when
giving advice), "I believe virtually everything I read."
(when you've been suckered into believing some phony story),
"Yeah, I got two hands" (when someone asks if you can
help with something). (Joe Blevins)
I’ve been browsing this newsgroup for awhile. I’ve
been confused as to whether some of you understand that Spinal
Tap is a joke! Did anyone catch on to the fact that David St.
Hubbins is Lenny from Laverne and Shirley, Nigel Tufnel is comedian
Christopher Guest, and Derek Smalls is the same man, Harry Shearer,
that does the genius voices of the likes of Mr. Burns on the
Simpsons? These men are talented, yes, but they are not a band,
they are a comedy team. So when someone asks "are they a
band?" isn’t the answer "no?" I’m sure
most of you understand that, right? Most of you aren’t rockin’
out to Sex Farm Woman thinking it is the best rock song you’ve
ever heard, are you? You see the intelligent humor in all of
this, don’t you? (Diamond Dog)
What are you talking about? Get ahold of yourself, man. (Doug
Morris)
One obvious mistake in The New Rolling Stone
Encyclopedia of Rock 'n Roll entry on Spinal Tap is that
it has Tap as being "the loudest band in England" instead
of "one of England's loudest bands." Still, it's an
honor for Tap to have an official entry in a rock reference work.
I can imagine the boys reading their entry...
Derek: Have you seen this, then? We've been included in
this Rock 'n Roll Encyclopedia jobber 'ere.
David: Next step: Tap in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.
Derek: I thought we were already in the Rock 'n Roll Hall
of Fame.
Nigel: No, we're in the Rock 'n Roll Corridor of Fame.
It's like the Hall of Fame, but, uh...
David: Different.
Nigel: Yeah.
David: More selective.
Nigel: Yeah. (Joe Blevins)
How is it that This is Spinal Tap, a highly influential
film, has escaped the attention of film snobs who make up theories
about every film that comes down the pike? Is there no deeper
"meaning"? Perhaps the film is an allegory about family.
Spinal Tap is a surrogate family, with David and Nigel as the
children and Ian as the father figure. There is evidence to support
the theory that David, Nigel and all the members of Tap are children
in adult bodies. Derek's "preserved moose" dialogue
shows that he is aware of this childish state. Jeanine represents
adulthood and responsibility. She threatens to break up the family
by removing David from the picture; at least that's how Nigel
sees it. David and Nigel are brothers, in a sense. Nigel says
he and David are "closer than brothers" because "brothers
always fight," but this comment is followed by a scene of
Nigel and David fighting — childishly. They have a brother-like
relationship. (Joe Blevins)
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