This Column Goes to Eleven written by Steve Reynolds
"It's such a fine line between stupid
an' clever."
"These go to eleven."
"You can't really dust for vomit."
"Hello Cleveland!"
These
phrases have become imbedded in most music fans' brains
since the release of "This Is Spinal Tap." Every
band (trust me, every single one) can come up with a moment
in their career that seems like an outtake from this classic
film. At this point it's become even more than just a film
- it's part of the fabric of rock music. "Tap"
has spawned two CD's, two TV specials, a live edition of
the VH1 show "The List," a book and numerous on-stage
jokes. This year, Tap has returned to make suffering through
the first year of this century that much easier.
"This
Is Spinal Tap" (Studio Canal) wasn't a box office success,
but it gained a huge following through home video. Then
came a laserdisc with almost four hours of extras.
Now much of this extra footage is on the new DVD version
of the film. The creators of this dead on parody, Michael
McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest
(Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls),
recorded a new track of running commentary (while in character)
for this DVD. The commentary misses at points, but is worth
it even if you've watched the film hundreds of times. The
DVD also includes a portion of Spinal Tap's appearance on
the Joe Franklin show, to which words cannot due justice.
Along with the new DVD, the two Spinal Tap albums, (the soundtrack
to the film and Break Like the Wind, both on UMG) have
been remastered and reissued. It's hard not to fracture a
rib laughing at such lyrics as "The more it stays the same,
the less it changes" from "The Majesty of Rock" or "You're
sweet but you're just four feet, and you still got your baby
teeth, you're too young and I'm too well hung" from "Tonight
I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight." And considering all these songs
were meant as comedy, they still rock pretty hard.
Perhaps
the best part of all this Tap activity is This Is Spinal
Tap: The Official Companion (Bloomsbury). This book includes
all the dialogue from the film and the outtakes, the lyrics
to all the songs and an A to Z glossary of all things Tap.
Where else could you find out there was an unreleased Tap
album called Flak Packet? Or that Radiohead singer
Thom Yorke considered himself part of "the post-Spinal Tap
generation?" This is one indispensable book.
In the end, no music collection can be
considered complete without the film and its soundtrack. Remember,
any day that you can watch, listen or read about Spinal Tap
is your lucky bun day.
These
phrases have become imbedded in most music fans' brains
since the release of "This Is Spinal Tap." Every
band (trust me, every single one) can come up with a moment
in their career that seems like an outtake from this classic
film. At this point it's become even more than just a film
- it's part of the fabric of rock music. "Tap"
has spawned two CD's, two TV specials, a live edition of
the VH1 show "The List," a book and numerous on-stage
jokes. This year, Tap has returned to make suffering through
the first year of this century that much easier. 
"This
Is Spinal Tap" (Studio Canal) wasn't a box office success,
but it gained a huge following through home video. Then
came a laserdisc with almost four hours of extras.
Now much of this extra footage is on the new DVD version
of the film. The creators of this dead on parody, Michael
McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest
(Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls),
recorded a new track of running commentary (while in character)
for this DVD. The commentary misses at points, but is worth
it even if you've watched the film hundreds of times. The
DVD also includes a portion of Spinal Tap's appearance on
the Joe Franklin show, to which words cannot due justice.
Along with the new DVD, the two Spinal Tap albums, (the soundtrack
to the film and Break Like the Wind, both on UMG) have
been remastered and reissued. It's hard not to fracture a
rib laughing at such lyrics as "The more it stays the same,
the less it changes" from "The Majesty of Rock" or "You're
sweet but you're just four feet, and you still got your baby
teeth, you're too young and I'm too well hung" from "Tonight
I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight." And considering all these songs
were meant as comedy, they still rock pretty hard.
Perhaps
the best part of all this Tap activity is This Is Spinal
Tap: The Official Companion (Bloomsbury). This book includes
all the dialogue from the film and the outtakes, the lyrics
to all the songs and an A to Z glossary of all things Tap.
Where else could you find out there was an unreleased Tap
album called Flak Packet? Or that Radiohead singer
Thom Yorke considered himself part of "the post-Spinal Tap
generation?" This is one indispensable book.
©
Figgle 2001-2003