1237. Spinal Tap / This is Spinal Tap. 1984. 5/5

Everybody who has an interest in music of any genre has surely been exposed to the absolute joy that is the Rob Reiner mockumentary called “This is Spinal Tap”, starring the amazing trio of Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, along with a terrific supporting cast that help to make this parody – or is it? - of the music business. If you are one of the few who have NOT seen this, then stop listening to this episode right now, and go and find it and watch it. THEN you can come back here and listen to what I have to say about this album, which is the soundtrack to this movie.
OK. Are we good? Right. Let’s move on.
So the mockumentary follows Spinal Tap on their ill-fated tour of the United States, and apart from the ‘behind the scenes’ filming, there are the parts of the ‘mocko’ that concentrate on the concert scenes, with scenes showing the songs being performed on stage, as well as several playback scenes where songs from previous albums are shown of the film clips made for TV shows in the past.
All of this is very cleverly done, with the songs matching the style of songs from each era that they are taken from. But in order to do this, these songs had to be written and recorded in the first place, and that is where the extreme musical talent of McKean, Guest and Shearer comes into play. Because they DO write and perform all of the songs in this show, and they are quite brilliant. Yes, they are meant to be a parody of the genre, and yes, their double entendre lyrics are both quite accurate as well as being perfectly formed – but beyond that, they make buying this soundtrack a worthwhile option, because most of the songs are actually quite good WITHOUT relying on the comedy aspect of them. Which makes the show far more brilliant that it would have been without them and makes this album worthwhile listening to as well.

The soundtrack contains all of the songs that are used in the movie, and also has the plain black cover, in which the movie contains the great line by Guest’s Nigel Tufnell saying, “you ask yourself how much more black could this be... and the answer is none... none more black!” In the movie the album with the all black cover is Spinal Tap’s new release called “Smell the Glove”, whereas this is not THAT album, it is just the soundtrack album.
In order to show off the songs of the career of Spinal Tap in the film, the writers had to produce a number of songs of a varied genre in order to portray those times. That’s why you have songs such as “Cups and Cakes” on here, that is tied to the era of the early 1960’s, and then a song such as “(Listen to the) Flower People” that has the hippy era of the late 1960’s as its genre based musical style, and “Gimme Some Money” that comes across in the same sort of era. These are the songs that are cut in when the band is asked about their history, and they are well written to equate to that part of the film.
Then you have the songs that are written to not only be a part of the “Smell the Glove” album, but the songs off their previous albums, albums with the great titles such as “Rock n Roll Creation”, “Bent for the Rent”, “The Gospel According to Spinal Tap” and “Shark Sandwich”. Some of them are brilliant songs in their own right, and others are great songs for the right moment.
These songs come in two sections – the songs with lyrics that are unambiguously double entendre lyrics, and the ones that have the hard rock music anthemic lyrics. “Big Bottom” and “Sex Farm” are very much in the first category, leaving nothing to the imagination. These are the kind of songs Spinal Tap lead guitarist Nigel Tufnell thinks are being described as ‘sexy’ by their record company execs, when in fact they are describing them as ‘sexist’, not something he seems to understand. Then you have the terrific “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” which mixes both, the lyrics that play both ways but backed up by the hard rock drums and guitars that make for a great song. And then there is the pure rock songs, such as “Heavy Duty”, the slower and heavier grinding track which describes the life of a band with heavy duty rock and roll. This is followed by “Rock and Roll Creation”, a song that imagines the creation of rock much in the way of the creation of the universe. And then the song that could be a part of so many bands of the 1980’s,”Stonehenge”, with that excellent synth keys opening before the band breaks in for the first riff and vocals, and the song is off. This is a killer track, which in the movie of course is interrupted by the 18-inch stone arriving on stage that should have been 18 feet.
All of these songs are perfectly written and performed for their place in the movie, but are also so well written that the soundtrack becomes a brilliant album in itself, filled with songs that you will sing along to long after you have watched the movie a hundred times over.

I first watched this film sometime towards the end of my high school years, and I’m pretty sure it was late on a Saturday night on commercial TV when it came on, and like a lot of people I wasn’t 100% sure of what I was watching on that first time. It was obvious that it was a parody, but also it was a very good one, so much so that because it was filmed in the documentary style you couldn’t be certain that it WASN’T real. When it was finally released on VHS and you could buy it, and watch it over and over again, was when it became ingrained.
Sometime in the early 1990’s, I was browsing at a regular haunt, Redback Records in Wollongong, when I came across this soundtrack on CD, and at first I thought it might actually be “Smell the Glove”, the album Spinal Tap released in the film, because it had an all black cover with nothing else depicting what it was. I’m pretty sure I bought it with that belief, so that when I arrived home and discovered it was the soundtrack, Ithink I had some disappointment. That of course was overcome by hearing full versions of all of the songs from the film, and being able to listen to them whenever I wanted. And that is the beauty of this soundtrack. Sure, they might be parody songs, but they are very good ones and enjoyable to listen to. Well... I think they are enjoyable, anyway.
One of the best albums that was released in the 1990’s was an album called “Break Like the Wind”, which Spinal Tap released ten years after this mockumentary, and is leaps and bounds ahead of this, because it was written and recorded as an album, not a soundtrack. I love it to this day. But this album still provides lots of laughs, and while playing it at work over the last couple of weeks, and singing along to all of the songs, I have had a ball. And, if ever anyone was going to do a cover version of a song, and ramp it up and metalize the crap out of it, it should be this song.

152. Spinal Tap / Break Like The Wind. 1992. 4.5/5.

What style of comedy bands do you take seriously? I’m sure you know what I mean. Artists like Weird Al Yankovich have been making brilliant parodies of songs for decades. Tenacious D, the combination of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, has been touring and releasing music for more than two decades now. I mean, while the material is comedic and amusing, it is still REAL music, isn’t it! Their albums sell exceptionally well and they are considered serious artists. So just how do you categorise the band Spinal Tap, who were famously brought to life in the ‘mockumentary’ “This is Spinal Tap” by Academy Award winning director Rob Reiner and serious hard working actors Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. Do you take them seriously as a band? I ask the question, because they released what could be considered as the follow up to that album that acted as the soundtrack to that mockumentary, and it was a stand alone release with no other reason than to sell albums. The album’s name was “Break Like the Wind”.

Most people in the world have seen the 1984 movie “This is Spinal Tap”, which introduced the world to the fictional English heavy metal band on their tour of the United States, which trod through their extensive history as well as the disastrous events of that tour. It perfectly encapsulated the excesses and strained relationships that occur in a touring band, by creating this massively humorous and brilliantly written dialogue about a band being acted out as a serious documentary. Genius. And the songs themselves as written by the trio were brilliant. “Big Bottom”, “Stonehenge”, “Rock and Roll Creation”, “Sex Farm”, “Tonight I’m Going to Rock You Tonight”, and “Hell Hole” for which they eventually did a music video. Everything about it is brilliantly done, and I personally never get tired of watching it. But, I must admit that I never expected to have anything else come from it.
And yet, eight years later, from out of nowhere, an album by Spinal Tap was announced. What the hell? Where the hell did this come from, and did they really think that they could write songs that would make people go out and buy the album? I mean sure, I bought the soundtrack to “This is Spinal Tap” (which I will forever always call ‘Smell the Glove’ as it was named in that movie), but I’m a bit of a fanatic sometimes. But did these three – Michael McKean as David St Hubbins, Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnell, and Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls – really have what it took to BE Spinal Tap? The answer of course is an emphatic yes, and I should have been ashamed of myself to think otherwise. The fact that they then promoted it by playing live gigs, including one at Royal Albert Hall that was filmed and released as a concert video, is proof enough that they were more than talented enough to do so. That they wrote and performed all of the songs, played all of the instruments, sang all of the melodies and harmonies... it must be a terrible thing to be talented, but that they also did all of this in their personas is just the icing on the cake. But, I hear you asking, is it any good? Well, honestly, I think this song sums it up perfectly, everything that Spinal Tap stands for.

From the very first time I heard this album, I was caught. Trapped. Encapsulated. If you’ve seen the movie, then you have an idea of what is to come in regards to the songs and the way the lyrics are written and pieced together. Because the use of sexual innuendo and double entendres, as well as nonsensical phrases are all a major part of the song writing of Spinal Tap the band. Nothing sums that up better than the opening track and lead single “Bitch School”, a song essentially about sending your pet to training school to become a better dog, except of course the inference is that is not a female dog that is being spoken of. “Diva Fever” and “Cash on Delivery” have the same sort of innuendo going on in their lyrics, but so beautifully camouflaged as to have either side of the argument be considered carefully.
But then you have a song like “Just Begin Again”, one that is laughable in lyrical content. And yet, because of the duet between David St Hubbins and guest singer Cher, it becomes an amazing song. Indeed, Cher’s vocals on this song are quite amazing, the best she had done in years, and it turns the song into a real showpiece.
Along with this are songs such as “Rainy Day Sun” which could easily have been a flower-power hit such is its lyrical imagery and easy paced musical content. It sits well with the final song on the album which is “All the Way Home”, a song that was actually outlined in the original movie as being the first song that David and Nigel wrote together, and as such it is very much in that late 50’s early 60’s pop rock style. Most of you will have watched the movie and sung along with David and Nigel as they piece together the lyrics from years ago... “I’m sitting here beside the railroad tracks, and I’m waiting for that train to bring her back...” The band even has some environmentally aware songs, such as “Stinking Up the Great Outdoors”, and then Nigel Tufnell on lead vocals on “Springtime”. And not to forget their own excellent addition to modern day Christmas carols, which is played in my house every year, then excellent “Christmas with the Devil”. Many of the songs throughout the album have guest artists lending their backing vocals to tracks, such as Cher mentioned earlier, and Timothy B Schmidt of Eagles fame. But there are also plenty of big name guitarists who lend their very impressive riffing to many of the songs. Steve Lukather pops up on “Just Begin Again” as well as playing piano on “Clam Caravan”, Dweezil Zappa plays on “Diva Fever”, and on the ground breaking title track there is a plethora of guests all lending their talents, including Lukather, Jeff Beck, Slash and Joe Satriani, all of which makes it an absolutely epic track.
And still, perhaps the song that best sums up the band is “The Sun Never Sweats”. It is hard, it is unique, its lyrics use nonsense phrases that still somehow completely make sense within the context of the song. It’s a beauty, and amongst all of the great and best known songs here is perhaps unfairly overlooked in the grand scheme of things.

I still remember the first time I heard this album. The first few times actually. It was barely a couple of weeks after it was released, and the band I was in at the time travelled to western NSW to play a gig. In my car were four drummers (not all from the same band) and all tapped the hell out of the car on the way up to all the albums we listened to. When we arrived at our destination, a couple of hours before anyone else arrived, we got a case of beer from the drive through (as we had a couple of under agers with us), sat in the car park, and drank it dry. While we did so, one of our number pulled out a copy of this album. The rest of us had no idea it had been made, and so we put it on to listen. And laughed loudly all the way through. And so we put it on again and did the same thing. After two cases of beer and several listens, as I mentioned earlier, I loved it. That gig was memorable for so many things and so many stories, but this is one of my most lucid and clear memories of that day and night.


Yes, this is a terrific album. Different moods dictate which songs I enjoy the most whenever I put it on, but the four I have played here today are certainly the money shots. Both “Bitch School” and “The Majesty of Rock” charted in the UK and the US, and I still think that both “The Majesty of Rock”, and the song I am about to play, could easily be performed every night even now if a band wanted to take them on. Unlike the soundtrack to the original movie, this is actually an album that holds its own and can quite easily be put on and played all the way through without reaching for the skip button. It’s a true album, even if the band that wrote and recorded it is for all intents and purposes a fictional unreality. In many ways, that’s what makes this even more remarkable.