Talk:Spinal Tap (band)

Current drummer and former members

Scott "Skippy" Scuffleton was the drummer at the last Tap gig (in Wembley arena) but the article says "Fate Unknown". I'd change it myself, but it'll just get changed back by someone like it always does :(

Additionally, Spinal Top are known to get on guests during Big Bottom / their shows generally, and at the Glastonbury festival these guests were Jarvis Cocker and Jamie Cullum... both of whom have been added to the "Former Members" section. We should split this out into some kind of "Celebrities to have played live with Tap" section, because those two aren't really former members and it might be nice to get list of guest musicians going. If we're going down that road, TAP had Keith Emerson, Justin Hawkins and Andy Scott at the Wembley gig! I may go and change this one myself actually... but watch how quickly it gets put back...

82.36.210.84 (talk) 18:27, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh what a shocker, somebody's undone my changes. Jarvis Cocker (a live guest they had on ONCE) is now listed alongside all the canonical fictional tap members. Good work whoever changed that ;) On a serious note though this needs to be changed because it's wrong, but i'm not going to waste my time changing it again only for it to be undone 2 minutes later. *walks away* —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.210.84 (talk) 21:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Just checked back to see if anyone had done anything about this - as i said before, I'm happy to change it as long as i get some kind of assurance that It's not going to be undone five minutes later by someone! Just to clarify on the points:

1) Skippy Scuffleton was the drummer at the most recent 'tap gig, so shouldn't be in the deceased section.

2) Jarvis Cocker, Jamie Cullum, and a whole bunch of other people there ARE NOT canonical members of spinal tap, they are special live guests that they've had on during their limited live performances. If you ARE going to have those people listed as canonical members, then there are MASSIVE gaps in the list (Justin Hawkinsand Keith Emerson, for example, played at Wembley with Tap and aren't listed..). However, if (sensibly) you're going to have them seperated from the canonical members (because, they aren't!), then a new section "Live Guests" or some such would be much better, and I think would embelish the article nicely. I have this information, along with citations, but I'm not changing it unless i get some kind of assurance that somebody's not just going to hit "undo" five minutes later.

So in closing, you have non-tap members listed in the tap-members section! 82.36.210.84 (talk) 22:30, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

I can't believe, four months later, that this issue hasn't been addressed! Am gonna go and make a quick alteration to the page in an attempt to get the attention of the guy that just clicked "undo" last time I made an alteration (same guy who didn't even justify me with a response last time he did it). have I got the wiki ettiquete all wrong? If i do, can someonw please tell me how I should be doing this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.213.28 (talk) 22:16, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Album Covers

Someone needs to add the albums covers for the fake albums. Some are really funny such as Shark Sandwich. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 130.85.244.48 (talk • contribs) .

Yeah, seems like a good idea. They show them at certain points in the film, so I guess their use should fall under { {film-screenshot}}. I'll try and get some screengrabs later today. --Doug (talk) 14:28, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Uploaded 3: Image:RockAndRollCreation.jpg, Image:SharkSandwich and Image:IntravenusdeMilo.jpg. If someone could integrate these into the article I would be very grateful. Thanks! --Doug (talk) 14:52, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

I just put the pictures into the article, enjoy. --Doug (talk) 21:57, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

At one point it says that the cover to the relgious album is "Rock and Roll Creation," but im pretty sure that album was called "The Gospel According to Spinal Tap."

^That was the working title. They explain it in the movie

"The gospel according to Spinal tap. This ponderous ... collection of religious rock psalms is enough to prompt the question 'on what day did the lord create spinal tap, and couldn't he have rested on that day too" - that's the extent of the mention for this album. They have a *song* called "rock and roll creation" (the one where Smalls gets stuck in the pod) but I don't remember this being mentioned as being the title. Why would the review as read by Marty have the working title on it?

Unless it was on the deleted scenes, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that i am 100% sure that the album is called "The gospel according to spinal tap". "Smell the glove", if I remember, does get referred to as a working title (just before St Hubbins says "Wait till you see the cover, very provocative indeed!"). 82.36.210.84 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 17:45, 8 July 2009 (UTC).

Spun off from This is Spinal Tap

In theory, separating the details about the expanded universe of the mostly fictional band from the film in which they appeared should help with the organization of both articles. 69.3.70.58 05:03, 14 October 2005 (UTC).

Agreed. Good idea. --Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 22:19, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

At one point it says that the cover to the relgious album is "Rock and Roll Creation," but im pretty sure that album was called "The Gospel According to Spinal Tap."

Typography

The page I linked to this one from has every appearance of the band name written, somehow (i don't know how in the world the letters ended up in a computer font) with the dotless "i" and the umlauted "n" - shouldn't this page follow that fashion also?

It can be shown with unicode as Spin̈al Tap... We should put it in with Template:Wrongtitle, but I believe the fear is that many browsers do not support that character. --DDG 17:02, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

MS Explorer won't show it so I removed the character.--72.237.107.17 (talk) 18:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I believe that the n should have an umlaut over it. 128.151.71.18 13:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

I second that motion. --Meesheek 23:53, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Redirect

Is there a reason Spinal Tap redirects to the disambig page? --badlydrawnjeff (WP:MEMES?) 18:28, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

No good one, that I can see… In fact, I think this article should be moved back to Spinal Tap. Wiki Wikardo 16:39, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

merge

there isn't much here in the first place, and this was merely a fictional band appearing in a single film. it would be easy to add a section in This is Spinal Tap on the actual band info. Joeyramoney 06:37, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Although the film presented a fictional band, they went on to do proper tours and have 2 proper albums for sure and possibly more. Spinal Tap played 4 or 5 nights at The Royal Albert hall in the early 90s... at first I thought that they obviously neded to be merged... but I don't think so now... perhaps the MOVIE page shoould have the fictional names (DAVID/NIGEL/DEREK) and the band page should have the real names (Christopher Guest/Harry Shearer/Michael McKean). These guys REALLY play on the albums. There are 2 different DVDs and 2 different CDs at least... I think they should remain seperate. The film IS still a huge cult hit. --TheLedHead 03:59, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

The article in theory is an excellent idea; there is far more to Spinal Tap than simply the movie. But the article is poorly worded and the layout is terrible. I think some cleanup, not a merger, is in order. 24.224.143.211 21:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree with the chap at 24.224.143.211! Let's give it a go! Harry Shearer does half the voices on the simpsons... Christopher Guest is married to Jamie Lee Curtis... and all three of them are Saturday Night Live alumni... The spinoff/mockumentary films such as BEST IN SHOW are worth a mention too.. --TheLedHead 23:36, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Imitated sound

For example, "Gimme Some Money" is similar to the Beatles' "Money (That's What I Want)" (and its appearance in This is Spinal Tap is a parody of the Beatles' famous appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show) and "Big Bottom" is similar to Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls."

I think that "Gimme Some Money" is more similar to "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker. While I don't care to dispute the second comparison, it's an insult to Queen. - Calmypal (T) 19:32, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Either way, it's original reserach and specualtion and needs to be removed. Candy 19:21, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Remake Of Gimme Some Money

I just heard this remake in a television commercial and it's not the original. Who recorded the remake? PolarisSLBM 17:53, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

It's common for commercials to use soundalike versions recorded by studio musicians to avoid paying artist royalties.GuySperanza (talk) 03:38, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

Is there a genuine Tap expert out there?

All the talk and discussion centres around maybe's perhap's and guess work. I have just seen the 1984 movie, so I figured the best way to see if something really existed was if it was for sale............Amazon will sell you Bitch School, Break Like the Wind, The Majesty of Rock, This is Spinal tap, Return of Spinal Tap. Some of these are still available on cassette and vinyl! Sulker 09:03, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Redirect

I've redirected Spinal Tap here, rather than the disambiguation page. There's already an "other uses" tag at the top of this article in case someone is looking for the lumbar puncture. I did this because I think someone who types "Spinal Tap" (capitalized) would be looking for the band. I left "Spinal tap" and "spinal tap" as they are, pointing to the disambiguation page. --Bongwarrior 08:04, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Somebody Needs to Get a Clue

'This article or section may fail to make a clear distinction between fact and fiction.'

There's actually a point there. This was a fictional band, but then they did do actual albums, tours, and TV appearances. When referring to the band, it's important to note fictional events as opposed to real-life situations. They have a certain life of their own beyond what's in the movie.GuySperanza (talk) 03:41, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

St. Hubbins

It's been a long time since I saw the movie, so is the name David "Saint" Hubbins? If so, there should be no full stop/period - ie: St and not St. as this would make the name David "Street" Hubbins. Thanks, Lion King 18:45, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

This must be a British/American difference. In the States, "saint" is always abbreviated with a period/full stop. Anyway, this one is definitely David St. Hubbins.18.241.7.241 20:20, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Still "fictional?"

With actual albums out and the Tap "reforming" again this year, can we still call them "fictional?" Madeeha2 12:45, July 06 2007 (UTC)

Well, the article does say "mostly fictitious", which I think is a pretty fair assessment. --Bongwarrior 07:34, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Of course they are still fictional! Fictional names. Fictional history. Fictional accents. Fictional hairstyles. Fictional nationalities. The fact the actors continue to play the same characters in new performances (even if in a new medium) does not make them into real people! When a character from one TV show, like, say, Ali G, makes a live appearance as "himself", it is still just an actor playing that same character, and still all fictional, just in a new medium/venue. Format 08:13, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

True enough, but they play their own instruments and write their own songs, which does blur the line. When they play a concert, they aren't "acting" like they're playing. From a reality standpoint, they are more analogous to The Monkees, who sort of "morphed" into a real band as time went on. --Bongwarrior 02:27, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

The Monkees is a good analogy. The only real difference between the two is that The Monkees really tried to become a serious and accepted band. Spinal Tap don't take themselves seriously. I actually think bands like Slipknot blur the line too because all of the members of that band are (or at least orignally were) known by pseudonyms. The whole band was a fascade, which bears little difference to ST. The only difference is that there's a fictional lore and history behind Spinal Tap. --linca^linca 09:20, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

The band itself was invented as a work of fiction. Things can't change from fiction into non-fiction. The name of the band and the grouping of members is a fictional invention. The fact that those particular members are in there together, is itself the fiction. They always really played as part of the fiction. Live performances now are continuing the original fiction. Format 22:45, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

What is a real band, Format? If it's an entity that performs songs on a stage, as the most simple definition would imply... -Toptomcat 06:52, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

A real band is one not invented within the script of a fictional comedy movie. Are you really saying that Spinal Tap are a non-fictitious band? A fictional character who is a TV presenter, who then appears as that character presenting something on television, is still fictional. The fact that the actors use their real-life skills in bringing the band to life ("they are really playing") does not make it a non-fiction band. When Steve McQueen plays a fictional character driving a car, while utilising Steve McQueen's real-life driving skills, that does not make his character become non-fictitious. Claims the band are "mostly fictious" need a credible external reference. Format 08:51, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

So nothing that originates in a work of fiction can ever become real? I think the boundary is a lot fuzzier than you think. See The Monkees, as already mentioned, and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The philosophical movement of Objectivism began as the fictional philosophy of characters in novels written by Ayn Rand. Jules Verne's novels had air war, submarines, and space travel before any of those existed in reality. Functional reproductions of fictional Bat'leth have been created by Star Trek fans. 'Real' and 'fictional' are not binary; there are degrees of both. 'Mostly fictitious' describes Spinal Tap to a tee. -Toptomcat 03:13, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

I gave up on this argument but will respond now. "Inventions", like that of the submarine, are not "fiction". You are describing a few concepts that had no physical instance, that later were built or created physically. Reproductions of a Star Trek model does not mean the original concept of what the model is based on is no longer fiction. Bat'leth will always be fiction. (The props department presumably build one for initial filming?) The members of the Spinal Tap band are fictional, they simply are not real people. The band and its history were made up in a film script. Their records and the people that made them, and even the record label, never existed. Are The Folksmen "mostly fictitious" too? Format (talk) 08:29, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Fact vs Fiction Discography

"Christmas with the Devil" was/is a real 45 rpm single. I remember getting, holding in my greedy paws, and playing, it on campus radio in the mid-eighties. Pretty good Christmas novelty song. On the B-side was a scratch-mix version - exactly the same as the A-side but prefixed with a few seconds of a needle plowing a new path through vinyl. 207.34.103.3 22:17, 9 July 2007 (UTC)stumpy

Pop?

Why is Spinal Tap pop or pop/rock? --91.97.45.110 11:40, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, that's from the "flower power" era part of the film, where they play a pop song called "Listen to the Flower People." --Shrapnelwolf 04:17, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Another 'up to 11' reference for trivia?

The Guitar Hero forum ScoreHero.com has the shop slogan "turn it up to 11 with official ScoreHero merchandise!" is this worth adding to the trivia section? [Lucothefish, 10 August 2007 16.10]

Can Typing "Spinal Tap" somehow direct here?

Every time I attempt to do so, I am greeted with Lumbar Puncture, which includes a grotesque picture of a person receiving a "spinal tap," which I don't wish to see. Thanks. 72.241.105.214 (talk) 01:38, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

"Spinal Tap" (capitalized) does redirect here, but "Spinal tap" (uncapitalized) directs to the medical procedure, with the reasoning that people who capitalize are probably looking for the band, while people who don't are probably looking for Lumbar puncture. It seemed to be the best compromise to direct people to the desired article. And yes, that picture is pretty foul. --Bongwarrior (talk) 01:53, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Alan White is not a 'guitarist' - he's a drummer61.64.195.188 (talk) 18:30, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

It's not as bad as it looks. All the orange is the iodine they used to disinfect the area. The part that's actually painful really just looks like a needle in the skin. 171.71.36.248 (talk) 22:35, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes RockDoc

I just saw the RockDoc on VH1 Classic about the band Yes. There were so many moments where all I could think of was Spinal Tap. There's a scene where the guitarist(?) is sitting at a piano demonstrating how he worked out this classical sounding piano piece. Also, one of the final songs played reminded me of Stonehenge and of the violin guitar solo. It appears to be footage from the 70s. If anyone else has seen this, do you think it's worth mentioning? 69.208.89.16 (talk) 21:04, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes! I saw that too and was immediately reminded of Tap. It was definitely old enough for them to have seen it. I'm just not sure if there are direct similarities. If someone could find the film, I think it would be worth looking at. --Kmann108 (talk) 04:27, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

cleanup needed.

This article needs cleanup that it mixes real life appearances and canon appearance together. SYSS Mouse (talk) 19:28, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Fictional details vs Real World details

A few times I've tried to change the infobox details to reflect the real-world "band" (played by US actors, founded in 1982) instead of the fictional band (English musicians, founded in 1964) and each time it's been changed back. I've just had to revert it again, but if anyone wants to discuss it here, there are details on wp policy at Wikipedia: WAF regarding writing in a real-world perspective. Kaid100 (talk) 14:02, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Yeah i agree completeley (see my comments about the blending of fictional members and live guest musicians in the "Former members" section). 82.36.210.84 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 18:26, 6 July 2009 (UTC).

The TV Show

The lead states: "They first appeared in a 1978 ABC comedy special, The TV Show." This is not discussed anywhere else in the article. I searched around some websites and found very little to indicate that the band appeared in The TV Show, although the actors portraying the band did appear. This either needs some sourcing, or it should be removed. Ward3001 (talk) 04:32, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Not only that, the opening contains self-contradictory years for this event:

Spinal Tap is a parody heavy metal band that first appeared on a failed 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called "The T.V. Show", starring Rob Reiner.

The band first appeared in a 1978 ABC comedy special, The TV Show.

Or was the special in 1978 followed by a series in 1979? It still needs clarified to say which is the debut even if that is the case. Jock123 (talk) 19:04, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Further info. The “Unwigged & Unplugged” DVD of the three actors performing live acoustic versions of their songs, includes them talking about and showing the clip they made for The T.V. Show, and yes, the “band” did appear, performing Rock ’N’ Roll Nightmare. Further to the comment about the special not being mentioned elsewhere in the article, the reference to Loudon Wainright playingkeyboards doesn’t get followed up either as a real or ficticious member of the group. Jock123 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 11:55, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

Drummers

I don't know if I would ever be able to prove it but they had a sit-in drummer at one show at the Universal Ampitheatre in 1992. Apparently shortly before the show the drummer (Ric Shrimpton?) broke his leg and it was announced that Spinal Tap would not be able to play due to the drummer being out of commission. A concert attendee who was a drummer and knew all of Spinal Tap's material ran backstage and somehow conveyed to the band that he could play all their songs and they let him play for that one concert so that the show could go on. This was told to me by a friend who worked at a record store with me who knew the substitute drummer. It sounded like an outrageous story but I believed the guy who was telling me this was sincere. A couple months later when they had the Spinal Tap TV special I saw that Ric's leg was in a cast, or he had crutches or something.

You may not believe this but I think some sort of mention of it should be made here. If you think I'm trying to get some type of glory for making up Spinal Tap stories, well, I'm making this comment anonymously so I'd never be able to get credit for it.

Also, somebody should mention in the main entry that the band is working on new material: http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/61983169 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.164.215.102 (talk) 09:00, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

+"Ric Shrimpton" actually appeared on stage on crutches , with a leg in a cast , and still played. ( I forget the reference appearance...may have been the "Break Like the Wind" Tour. ). I assumed it was a joke relating to Tap drummers and mishaps. Harvey J Satan (talk) 00:16, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Your Story is very true, as I'm interviewing Ric on the subject. More info. email twilson1188@yahoo.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.62.194.227 (talk) 20:49, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Official Myspace

Somebody should add a link to their official MySpace page, since there are currently no official websites listed in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.185.87.88 (talk) 04:46, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Whither Goatboy?

Missing from the discography is "Goatboy". Spinal Tap performed it in a commerical - I think it was for Apple Computers - about a year after "Break Like The Wind" was released. Harvey J Satan (talk) 00:19, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Actually, it’s an advert for IBM from 1996. ( Search on YouTube - multiple entries.) 75.106.32.81 (talk) 17:07, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Eleven.

Ok people, do we really need to add to this article EVERY time someone on television says "up to 11"? I'm sure these people aren't thinking "oh boy, this will be a great Spinal Tap reference!" every time they say it. It's such a generic statement, I'd be willing to bet anything that Spinal Tap weren't the first to say it. 24.185.87.88 (talk) 23:18, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Before you bet, please update Up to eleven. The reference list is really there. --Intentionally unsigned 21:03, 20 April 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.175.18.130 (talk)

This makes no sense

Regarding the 2009 album "Back from the Dead", the following makes no sense whatsoever:

"....as they would have sounded had they really existed and been recorded in a studio."

Can someone clarify this writer's intent? The original songs certainly existed, and were certainly recorded in a studio. Elsquared (talk) 00:50, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Spinal Tap on the Arsenio Hall Show

If you're looking to get a DVD copy of their 2 appearances on the Arsenio Hall Show (5/92 and 12/92) then send an email to musiclover408@hotmail.com I have nearly 1,000 FULL episodes of the show available.

Redirect from "Spinal tap"

Is there any opposition for changing the redirect from "Spinal tap" (upper case S and lower case t) which is currently pointed to this "Spinal Tap" page to instead point to "lumbar puncture". I don't think there any significant chance that people who want to reach one of the proper nouns (such as the band) are going to type specifically with a capital S and lower case t, but they are likely to do that if they are looking for the common noun. All three pages in need of disambiguation (which I have handled) that were pointed at "Spinal tap" were intended to go to Lumbar puncture. --JamesAM (talk) 16:36, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

I came to check the talk page for exactly this reason. It should definitely point to lumbar puncture. Jrtayloriv (talk) 23:59, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Deep Purple

It was my understanding that they are based on Deep Purple. If this is correct it should be integrated into the article.78.86.61.94 (talk) 04:30, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

It was MY understanding that they were based on the Status Quo. Timothy Horrigan (talk) 12:54, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Typography part 2

In the lede where we have the "official" name of the band, the entire name was inside the {{Unicode}} template. The problem with that was that it made the entire name display in a sans-serif font, even if one's regular Wikipedia default is serif. I tested different IE versions at [1], and only the umlauted "n" needs to be in that template; the dotless i displays fine without it on every version at least since 5.5. So I set the template to only be for the "n". (Sadly, even IE 8 needs the template to display that; it won't be until IE 9 has taken over that we can finally get rid of the template altogether.)—Chowbok ☠

Sans-serif is the default. It looks even worse when fonts are mixed up in one word. And yes, I am targeting all those readers that use the default skin and font settings; it is after all the default. Unicode display is tough enough as it is. It only gets worse if everyone start tweaking things just to make it show correct on their own system; that is defenitely asking for trouble. Now, you can specify any font for Unicode that matches your needs in your personal CSS; May I suggest Linux Libertine? Just add this code to your CSS file:

.Unicode {
  font-family: "Linux Libertine" !important;
}

You also would need to download the font. — Edokter (talk) — 18:24, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

OK, it seems you are set on forcing your personal preference down everbody else's throat, breaking the dispay for anyone else but yourself. You have one chance to revert yourself. — Edokter (talk) — 18:28, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

(For info, the second identical revert of mine was caused by technical issue; I got an error and tried again later which got through without an edit conflict. Apparently, db22 has failed, causing the hiccup.) — Edokter (talk) — 19:14, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Your way looks worse even with the default theme, although it's not quite as obvious. You're still forcing the entire word to be in a different font than the article, which is much more jarring than just having the one weird letter in a different font.—Chowbok ☠ 19:20, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Also, first you change it hidden in a false claim of reverting somebody else, then you continually revert me without discussing it here, even though I already explained my reasoning. How did you ever get to be an admin?—Chowbok ☠ 19:24, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

I just said there were technical issues. That aside, I understand you use a non-default skin/font, that's fine. But understand that most users use the default skin and fonts. And everything must look OK for most people. So you changing it just to suit your personal preference is just arrogant. I built the whole mechanism behind the Unicode template; I know what I'm talking about. It is hard enough as it is having to deal with a broken OS like Windows. Everything behind it is geared towards default behaviour, and I can't have people going around changing it because it looks bad in non-default behaviour. So I ask again, please do not make changes that are geared toward only fixing your display when you know it will break it for most others. — Edokter (talk) — 21:02, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Forget about my default skin, that's not even the point. Your way looks bad even on the default skin. Anything in {{unicode}} displays in a different font than the default. So it looks bad to have two words in a different font from the rest of the page, much worse than just having a single weird letter in a different font. So please, actually read what I've written and then respond to that.—Chowbok ☠ 22:38, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Please provide a screenshot. The unicode template (and CSS) is designed to match the default font as much as possible, so I am puzzled why it would look bad on your side. — Edokter (talk) — 00:18, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Sure, I can provide a screenshot if you like, but I looked a little closer and I think I see the issue. The vector stylesheet just specifies sans-serif for the font-family, but {{unicode}} specifies Arial Unicode. Now, this is fine if people have their default sans-serif font set to Arial, but that's not a safe assumption anymore. I believe the default in most Mac browsers is Helvetica, for instance.—Chowbok ☠ 12:48, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

That is correct; Helvetica is the de facto sans-serif default on Macs and Linux. However, note that {{Unicode}} only has an effect on Windows. Arial (the default sans-serif in Windows) is a Helvetica clone. However, Arial Unicode MS is not present on all Windows systems (it is only installed with Office), and will fall back to Lucinda Sans Unicode, the default unicode font on Windows. This will result in Arial and Lucida being mixed in-word, and that is what I'm trying to prevent. — Edokter (talk) — 13:07, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

You're preventing it by having a Lucida word in the middle of an Arial or Helvetica article. Your solution is worse than the problem.—Chowbok ☠ 14:57, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

That is a matter of opinion. Mismatched fonts in an article is bad enough; mismatched fonts in a single word or term is even worse. — Edokter (talk) — 15:14, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Not in this case. The "n" is not as obviously different between fonts as the "S" or "a"; plus, the umlaut over the "n" already makes it stand out and look odd, so the additional oddity of being in a different font is less jarring than when the entire term is in a different font.—Chowbok ☠ 15:20, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

And I disagree. Now, we can keep going back and forth, but I already explained why we cannot cater to everyone's display setup. There is too much chance of a font mismatch (even in size) when words are split into multiple fonts. I have offered a solution above to fix it in your instance, have you looked at that? — Edokter (talk) — 15:30, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

You're clouding the issue again. We're not "catering to everyone's display setup"; if people have their default sans-serif font set to Arial, it'll look fine your way or mine. If they don't, it looks a little weird my way but much worse yours.

Let's see what other editors think. I don't see why your preference should override mine (or vice versa).—Chowbok ☠ 16:29, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Difference in display depending on default display fonts

• Arial
  • Edokter way: Spinal Tap, officially spelled Spın̈al Tap
  • Chowbok way: Spinal Tap, officially spelled Spın̈al Tap

• Verdana
  • Edokter way: Spinal Tap, officially spelled Spın̈al Tap
  • Chowbok way: Spinal Tap, officially spelled Spın̈al Tap

• Times New Roman
  • Edokter way: Spinal Tap, officially spelled Spın̈al Tap
  • Chowbok way: Spinal Tap, officially spelled Spın̈al Tap

What do you folks think?—Chowbok ☠ 16:45, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

it looks a little weird my way but much worse yours - And that is your opinion. I have been here many years dealing with typographical issue on Wikipedia, and have learned a few things, including many opinions from many editors. I dare say that not many editors share your point of view that mixing fonts in one word looks better then showing the entire word in one font.

I corrected the use of spans as it should normally render. Several issues here: The dottless 'i' may not render on all platforms, so it must be included in the template. Also, in the Times version, the 'n' is much larger then the surrounding characters, so that really stands out in a negative way. In Verdana, the 'n' is way too narrow compared to the other characters. If you really think those issue look "OK", I really don't know what I can say to make you understand these issues. — Edokter (talk) — 17:36, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

I think Edokter's way is better. Having a span for a single letter creates a larger chance of visible font mismatch. --Muhandes (talk) 01:27, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Well, yes, of course it's my opinion. Who else's would it be? As I said above, I did a lot of testing on the dotless I and it renders fine in modern browsers. —Chowbok ☠ 02:50, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Spinal Tap Trivia - To Be Incorporated Into Article Possibly

Sorry if this is overly long, but I thought there might be some useful material to incorporate into the article here - or perhaps a reference to the spinal tap trivia page where this material comes from (reference at the bottom of page)

Spinal Tap Trivia

• The actors are all competent musicians and the soundtrack is actually them playing.

• Much of the dialogue was ad-libbed.

• There is a deleted subplot in the movie which explains the cold sores on the band members' lips: the band takes on an opening act for the tour and the lead singer sleeps with each bandmember, giving each one herpes in turn.

• Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean were given $10,000 to write a script. A 20-minute version of the film was made with the money to better demonstrate the improvisation they had in mind. Several scenes from this demo are in the final movie.

• The lurid cover art for Spinal Tap's "Smell the Glove" was inspired by the misogynistic artwork on Whitesnake's 1979 album "Lovehunter".

• Nigel Tufnel's name is a joke on Eric Clapton, derived from "dull name" and "location in London". Eric became Nigel, and "Clapton Pond" became "Tufnell Park": Nigel Tufnel.

• After the film opened, several people approached director Rob Reiner telling him that they loved the film, but he should have chosen a more well known band to do a documentary on.

• Early home video versions of the film, which included the mock music video "Hell Hole" and other extras, had a special disclaimer inserted at the very end stating that the band did not actually exist.

• Nigel rubbing a violin against his guitar during his solo is a parody of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who used a violin bow to play his guitar during many concert performances.

• In the scene where Derek comes and gets Nigel and David to come hear a song from their past on the radio, the radio announcer's voice is being supplied by Harry Shearer, who played Derek.

• In the first dinner interview scene, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) is wearing a t-shirt from "Norman's Rare Guitars", which provided many of the guitars used in the production.

• It is revealed that "37 different people have been in the band over the years". Minus the two original members, one keyboard player, and the original and current bass players. This implies that the band has had 32 different drummers who inexplicably died.

• Derek Smalls bass-playing technique (playing with one hand, so the other is free to point in the air) is based on the bass player from Saxon.

• Rob Reiner was originally going to be one of the band members, but ended up directing the film after Harry Shearer commented that "he didn't look good in spandex".

• The band's name was originally going to be spelled "Spynal Tap".

• According to the cast on the Criterion audio commentary, the production never left Los Angeles county for the shooting of the entire movie.

• Ranked #1 on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 50 Cult Films of All-Time"

• Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) is wearing a Shrewsbury Town Football Club shirt in the airport metal detector scene.

• Tony Hendra (who plays manager Ian Faith) writes in his memoir "Father Joe" that he attempted suicide the night before the first day of filming. He credits the joy he experienced in making the film with bringing him back from his depression.

• During the "Big Bottom" sequence, all three front men are playing bass. When listened to on speakers with good low-frequency response, the name "Big Bottom" is appropriate on several levels.

• In the course of the film, Spinal Tap has four different drummers: John "Stumpy" Pepys, Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs, Mick Shrimpton, and Joe "Mama" Besser. These names were inspired by the four different men who played the role of third Stooge in The Three Stooges films: Curly Howard, Curly Joe DeRita, Shemp Howard, and Joe Besser.

• Before the first song of the film, an announcer introduces the band with this: "Ladies and gentlemen, direct from Hell, Spinal Tap." This is a play on Venom's intro tape from the early 1980s, which went: Now, from the very depths of Hell...Venom!"

• Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

• A popular bar/music venue on the east side of Milwaukee changed its name to Shank Hall after the fictitious Milwaukee location at which the band appears midway on their fateful tour.

• In the final scene, which takes place in Tokyo, Nigel wears Sadaharu Oh's Yomiuri Giants baseball jersey. Oh is the world's all-time Home Run king with 868 Homeruns.

• According to Rob Reiner on the Criterion DVD commentary, his character's name, Marty DiBergi is an homage to Martin Scorsese (Marty), Brian De Palma (Di), Steven Spielberg (Berg) and either Federico Fellini or Michelangelo Antonioni.

• As the film was improvised by all the performers, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer went to the Writers' Guild hoping to give proper credit to everyone. The Board of Directors voted 15 to none that the credits should stay as it was including only the four of them.

• There's a common misconception that the "too small Stonehenge" disaster is a parody of Black Sabbath's oversized Stonehenge sets from the Born Again tour. This is impossible, the Stonehenge Spinal Tap scene existed as early as 1982 when the film existed as a 20-minute short. Black Sabbath didn't begin using their Stonehenge sets until 1983.

• There is no actual "Isle of Lucy" in the United Kingdom off England's coast, where Spinal Tap supposedly played a blues/jazz or jazz/blues festival. In one of the most subtle and overlooked gags of the film, they are really just paying homage to the classic television show, I Love Lucy.

• Marty Di Bergi wears two different US Navy caps - one in the film and one in 'Catching up with Marty Di Bergi' in the Special Features on the DVD release. In the film, the cap appears to read USS Coral Sea OV-48. This should be USS Coral Sea CV-43. The USS Coral Sea was an aircraft carrier in the US Navy 1946-90, the second ship to bear that name. In the special features, the cap is from the USS Wadsworth FG-9, a guided missile frigate in the US Navy from 1978-2002. The Wadsworth was transferred to Poland in 2002 and renamed the General Tadeusz Kosciuszko.

• When the members of Spinal Tap talk about their drummer suffocating on vomit, this is a reference to a number of musicians who have died, or who are rumored to have died, in this manner. Among these are Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Bon Scott of AC/DC, and Big Band-leader Tommy Dorsey.

• Nigel's line about being able to "go out and get a bite" and "you'll still be hearing that one" when describing the sustain on his guitar is a paraphrase of Les Paul's description of the sustain on one of his own guitars, "You could go out and eat and come back and the note would still be sounding." The guitar Nigel is describing is a Les Paul.

• Spinal Tap is infamous for things going wrong with their Stonehenge props. The most famous incident comes from the film, in which the prop is undersized and nearly trampled by a dwarf. On their live tour in support of Break Like The Wind, a package delivery man brings a package with an even smaller model. In The Return of Spinal Tap, the prop is far too large, and the stage crew makes every effort to cram it through the small doorway - unsuccessfully. When performing at Live Aid, the prop (signed by all the other performers) was the right size, but a timing error ruined the effect - the "columns" were lowered without the top crossing piece, and subsequently removed from the stage - only to have the top piece eventually lowered with nothing to land on.

• Nigel talks with DiBergi about being influenced by the masters, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach. During their performance of "Heavy Duty", Nigel's solo (which he plays while standing on the drum riser) is a tribute to Luigi Boccherini's "Minuet from String Quintet in E major, G.275".

• Ozzy Osbourne has stated that when he first watched the film, he was the only person who wasn't laughing... he thought it was a real documentary.

• In Norway "This is Spinal Tap" opened directly to video over two years later. The title was changed to "Help! We are in the Pop Business!" (="Hjelp! Vi er i popbransjen!") This is a spin on the Norwegian title for "Airplane!" (1980), which was "Help! We are Flying!" (="Hjelp! Vi flyr!"). The poster didn't show any images of the band. Instead it displaying a guitar with a knot on it, similar just like the airplane on the "Airplane!" poster. Throughout the film there is a disclaimer on screen informing us that this was not a real band, this was all fake.

• This is the only movie on IMDb that is rated out of 11 stars.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/trivia — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gmeades (talk • contribs) 19:08, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

Merge request

PLEASE MERGE WITH IDENTICAL ARTICLE This is Spinal Tap and just link this entry via redirect— Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.45.171.18 (talk • contribs) 21:49, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

That's an article about the 1984 film; this is an article about the band as portrayed in that film and other contexts. --McGeddon (talk) 12:25, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Guitar Player Magazine & Guitar World Magazine Spinal Tap Interviews Not Mentioned....

Guitar Player and Guitar World Magazines, both very highly respected publications which have been read by a vast number of guitarists of all levels of ability worldwide for decades, published interviews with Nigel Tufnel and the other members of Spinal Tap as actual interviews to their readers. The content of these interviews were both side splittingly funny, but as with the Spinal Tap film, presented without any explanation of a parody or hoax taking place, and similarly leading many of their readers to believe Spinal Tap was a real band.

The Guitar Player Magazine interview occurred in the October 1984 edition, which featured Stevie Ray Vaughan, Huey Lewis And The News (Guitarist Chris Hayes). Gary Moore, The Police (Guitarist Andy Summers) and Nigel Tufnel - Spinal Tap on the cover. (I own a copy of this) http://www.musicmansteve.com/Maghome/GuitarPlayer.htm

Guitar World Published an interview with Spinal Tap in the April 1992 edition entitled "Abuse Your Delusion" which can be read online here - http://www.guitarworld.com/abuse-your-delusion-1992-guitar-world-interview-almost-legendary-spinal-tap

In 2009, Guitar World published 2 interviews with Spinal Tap, in their June and September Issues. The first interview was titled "Spinal Tap: The Unpublished Nigel Tufnel Interview!" and can be read online here - http://www.guitarworld.com/spinal-tap-unpublished-nigel-tufnel-interview

The promo piece for the second Guitar World interview, published in the September 2009 issue, read "On the 25th anniversary of their debut, Spinal Tap resurrect their career with 'Back from the Dead'. GW plugs in and guitarist Nigel Tufnel speaks volumes." "Back from the Dead", one of their actual singles, is referenced in the wiki entry already, as well as their "Tapster" (wordplay on "Napster") wehsite where it could actually be downloaded from. http://www.musicdispatch.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=77770902&lid=8&promotion=710012& — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gmeades (talk • contribs) 20:50, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

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Is the album name "Intravenus de Milo" a takeoff of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"?

I always assumed it was, ever since seeing "This is Spinal Tap" when it originally came out. I tried to submit this to the "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" Wikipedia article, and my claim was rejected as unsubstantiated. The editors were right to reject it, because I have not been able to find anything connecting the two in a Google search.

Is the name "Intravenus de Milo" a parody of something else in rock lore? Markerb (talk) 12:45, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

“The Return of Spinal Tap” - Television Special

Did it get omitted? Forgotten? Shown on NBC , on New Years Eve, if memory serves, it was a combination of live footage of “Break Like The Wind” songs, and “where are they now?” segments. ( Derek worked as a phone sanitizer, Nigel invented the folding wine glass, David & Jeanine open their clothing store “Potato Republic”, etc.). It was released on VHS, not sure if it made it to DVD / Blu-ray. 75.106.32.81 (talk) 21:37, 13 July 2024 (UTC)