146: Spinal Tap - This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

“We pretend to be a rock ‘n’ roll band, and they pretend to be our fans.”

–Michael McKean

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Hello, Cleveland! This week, Producer Mike continues his quest to make Discord & Rhyme more metal by turning it up to 11 with an episode on England’s loudest band, Spinal Tap. The fictional Spinal Tap consists of guitarists David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, bassist Derek Smalls, and a series of cursed drummers, whose misadventures are chronicled in the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. The real Spinal Tap consists of Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, three exceptionally gifted comedians who know what makes metal tick and are very smart at playing dumb. And that extends to the movie’s soundtrack, whose songs walk the line between sophisticated songwriting and sounding like they could conceivably have been written by three boneheads. Because why waste good music on a brain?

Miscellany

• A deleted scene Mike didn’t mention but is one of his favorites is one where Spinal Tap appear on a radio call-in show, and a caller asks if they still play “Stonehenge.” When the band explain that they’ve dropped it from the set as a “conceptual decision,” she responds, “That was like the best thing you guys did!” Which suggests that while Spinal Tap themselves were deeply embarrassed by the Stonehenge prop mishap, the song was a fan favorite and the audience loved it.

• The Folksmen have occasionally opened for Spinal Tap, and have sometimes been booed by audiences who didn’t understand that they were the same band. In fact, they originated in a 1984 SNL skit from when Michael McKean hosted to promote This Is Spinal Tap.

• One funny detail John forgot to mention is that, when David sings, “it's like a Mozart symphony,” the snippet they play isn't from a symphony at all: it’s from “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” which is a serenade typically arranged for string quintet.  

Other links 

• A frustratingly low-res video of Spinal Tap performing “Big Bottom” with David Gilmour in 1991 (YouTube)

• An excerpt from Nigel Tufnel’s National Geographic interview (YouTube)

• Pete and the Escapologists - Chronicles of a Dead End (Bandcamp)

• Discord & Rhyme’s This Is Spinal Tap playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Mike DeFabio (host)

• John McFerrin (moderator)

• Rich Bunnell 

This Is Spinal Tap tracklist 

1. Hell Hole

2. Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight

3. Heavy Duty

4. Rock and Roll Creation

5. America

6. Cups and Cakes

7. Big Bottom

8. Sex Farm

9. Stonehenge

10. Gimme Some Money

11. (Listen to the) Flower People 

Other clips used 

Spinal Tap/The Folksmen:

• Break Like the Wind

• Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare

• Never Did No Wanderin'

• Barnyard Symphony

• Jazz Oddyssey I

Others:

• John Lennon - Remember

• Lenny and the Squigtones - Night After Night

• Jethro Tull - Back to the Family

• Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water (Live in Osaka)

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - Your Gold Dress

• The Fall - Athlete Cured

• AC/DC - The Jack

• Mountain - Mississippi Queen

• Pink Floyd - In the Flesh?

• The Who - The Punk and the Godfather

• Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah

• Yes - America

• The Alan Bown! - Toyland

• Paul McCartney - English Tea

• David Bowie - The Laughing Gnome

• Yes - The Fish

• The Who - Bell Boy

• Black Sabbath - Trashed

• The Rolling Stones - Off the Hook

• Status Quo - Pictures of Matchstick Men

• The Flower Pot Men - Let's Go to San Francisco

• The Folksmen - Children of the Sun

• Electric Six - Rock and Roll Evacuation

• A Mighty Wind Ensemble - A Mighty Wind

• The Lonely Island - Equal Rights

• Black Sabbath - Spiral Architect

Band/album personnel 

• David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) – lead vocals and guitar, bass guitar (7)

• Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) – lead guitar, mandolin, and vocals, bass guitar (7), co-lead vocals (1, 5, 9)

• Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) – bass guitar and vocals, co-lead vocals (5)

• Viv Savage (David Kaff) – keyboards and vocals

• Mick Shrimpton (Ric Parnell) – drums and percussion

• Harlan Collins – synthesizers

• John Sinclair – keyboards

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Spinal Tap - Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream This Is Spinal Tap and other albums by Spinal Tap at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.