Spinal Tap
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Spinal Tap to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
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Spinal Tap Biography
Some people who have grown up in a post-'80s generation fail to
recognize the rock group Spinal Tap, and the reason they probably don't
is because the band is totally fictitious. Spinal Tap comes from the
1984 satirical movie This Is Spinal Tap, a Rob Reiner film starring
actors/comedians Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer.
The film, which poked fun at such bands as Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith,
placed the comics as members of a wacky, ill-minded '70s band facing a
popularity dive in the '80s. The picture was a moderate success, and
the supporting soundtrack (in which the cast members even played their
own instruments) was a smash hit. In fact, the soundtrack itself
described the rock & roll of the '80s so well that it made many
people who hadn't seen the movie think that Spinal Tap was a real
group. According to This Is Spinal Tap, the band's story goes as
follows:
Good friends David St. Hubbins (McKean) and Nigel Tufnel (Guest) of
Great Britain joined forces in 1964 after seeing their similar musical
tastes, forming the Originals. After finding out that there was already
a group of that title, they would go through a series of name changes
until finally joining up with bassist Ronnie Pudding and drummer John
Stumpy Pepys, becoming the Thamesmen. They released two minor hit
singles, Gimme Some Money and Cups and Cakes, songs that
established them as a unique and noticeable band. After a tour in the
United Kingdom, the group would continuously change their name until
finally settling on Spinal Tap, hiring keyboardist Denny Upham. Pudding
would leave shortly afterwards to form Pudding People, and was replaced
by Derek Smalls (Shearer). With this lineup, the band recorded Listen
to the Flower People, which would be released on the 1967 single
Spinal Tap Sings Listen to the Flower People and Other Favorites. A
surprise hit, the single went gold in the United Kingdom and the band
toured worldwide, although their following LP, We Are All Flower
People, was rather unsuccessful. After Upham was fired and replaced
with Ross MacLochness, the group released Matchstick Men (1968) and
Silent but Deadly (1969), their first live album.
The band's success came to a halt when Pepys died in a bizarre
gardening accident in 1969. He was replaced with Eric Stumpy Joe
Childs, and this lineup would release Brainhammer (1970), Nerve Damage
(1971), and Blood to Let (1972). Intravenus de Milo, which was the
group's seventh record and released in 1974, is still known to be the
first album to ever reach the status of bronze, which a band can only
attain if one million copies of an album are returned. Childs choked to
death on an unknown offender's vomit that same year, and was replaced
with Peter James Bond for the 1975 release The Sun Never Sweats. A tour
would follow, inspiring their second live album, Jap Habit. Shortly
afterwards, MacLochness and manager Glynn Hampton left the band to
pursue their own interests. They were replaced with keyboardist Viv
Savage and manager Ian Faith, who would both take part in the minor hit
LP Bent for the Rent. Trouble began when the group sued their record
label, Megaphone, for back royalties, but the label counter-sued,
claiming they had a lack of talent. The band reluctantly stayed with
this label until 1977, when their latest release, Rock and Roll
Creation, became a surprise hit in the United States due to the hit
single Nice n' Stinky. They quickly signed with Polymer Records and
began to record their new album, but were halted when Bond
spontaneously combusted on-stage. He was immediately replaced with
drummer Mick Shrimpton, and the group released Shark Sandwich in 1980,
which contained the hit Sex Farm. Shark Sandwich was followed by a
European tour, but demand for the band's U.S. appearance grew so large
that they decided to tour America in support of their 1982 album, Smell
the Glove.
Spinal Tap's 1982 tour got off to a bad start when some of their
biggest gigs were canceled, and they were forced to play in much
smaller arenas. Smell the Glove's release would also be postponed after
the public expressed disdain for its sexually explicit cover. (When the
album was finally shipped, both sides of the cover were solid black, a
decision made by Faith rather than the band members.) U.S. appeal
continued to decrease, and the band grew further apart due to Hubbins'
and Tufnel's opposing ideas. A mistake in prop sizing would prompt the
group to fire Faith and replace him with Hubbins' mistress, Jeanine
Pettibone. Shortly afterward, Tufnel momentarily quit the band,
frustrated with their sudden downfall and Pettibone's poor management.
Unable to find a decent replacement, what was left of the group talked
about retiring after the tour, but this idea was soon forgotten when
Tufnel and Faith returned for the band's final U.S. performance and one
Japanese gig. Despite Shrimpton's sudden combustion and his short
replacement, Joe Mama Bessemer, in hiding after many of the group's
props were reported stolen, both shows were a success. In 1983, the
band would split and go their separate ways. Hubbins married Pettibone
and opened up a soccer clinic, Tufnel retired to his home in London
to begin an inventing career, and Smalls joined and toured with the
Christian metal band Lamb's Blood. Both Savage and Faith would die
under unusual circumstances.
It wasn't until 1992, when Spinal Tap seemed almost forgotten, that
rumors began to erupt (in real life) that they had re-formed and were
working on a new album. The band proved these rumors true when they
appeared on the MTV Music Awards (with new drummer Ric Shrimpton and
keyboardist C.J. Vanston), announcing their return to the spotlight
with their upcoming album, Break Like the Wind. The record was released
that fall, featuring the hits Bitch School and Majesty of Rock,
along with appearances by Slash, Cher, and Joe Satriani. The band
embarked on another tour, finishing in London to record their first and
only live video cassette, Return of Spinal Tap, to be released in 1993.
After the tour, they once again faded away.
Although Spinal Tap may never release another album, film another
movie, or do another tour, their work provides rock fans with authentic
'80s metal that, ironically, surpasses the work of many of the artists
they imitated. A song entitled Goat Boy was recorded for an IBM
commercial in 1995 and an official Internet site was set up in 1996,
showing the public's interest in keeping this mythical band alive. And
while McKean, Guest, and Shearer express no desire to ever don the
silly wigs and outrageous costumes again, hope remains in the hearts of
the many metal fans they reached that Spinal Tap will once again make
their triumphant return. ~ Barry Weber, All Music Guide
Written by Barry Weber