This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is a 1984 American rock music mockumentary comedy film written, scored by, and starring Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. The film portrays the fictional British heavy metal band Spinal Tap. Directed by Reiner, the movie satirizes the wild personal behavior and musical pretensions of hard rock and heavy metal bands, as well as the hagiographic tendencies of rock documentaries of the time.
Stylistically the movie is a parody of rock documentaries, purportedly filmed and directed by the fictional Marty Di Bergi Rob Reiner, who was also the actual director of the movie. The faux documentary covers a 1982 United States concert tour by the fictional British rock group Spinal Tap to promote their new album Smell the Glove, but interspersed with oneonone interviews with the members of the group and footage of the group from previous periods in their career.The band was started by childhood friends, David St. Hubbins Michael McKean and Nigel Tufnel Christopher Guest, during the 1960s. Originally named The Originals, then The New Originals to distinguish themselves from an existing group of the same name, they settled on the name The Thamesmen, finding success with their skifflerhythm and blues single Gimme Some Money. They changed their name again to Spinal Tap and enjoyed limited success with the flower power anthem Listen to the Flower People. Ultimately, the band became successful with heavy metal and produced several albums. The group was joined eventually by bassist Derek Smalls Harry Shearer, keyboardist Viv Savage David Kaff, and a series of drummers, each of whom mysteriously died in odd circumstances, including spontaneous human combustion, a bizarre gardening accident and, in at least one case, choking to death on the vomit of persons unknown. Di Bergis interviews with St. Hubbins and Tufnel reveal that they are competent composers and musicians, but are dimwitted and immature. Tufnel, in showing his guitar collection to Di Bergi, reveals an amplifier that has volume knobs that go to eleven when Di Bergi asks, Why dont you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder? Tufnel can only reply, These go to eleven. Tufnel later plays a somber quasiclassical music composition on piano for Di Bergi, claiming it to be a Mach piece a hybrid between Mozart and Bach, before revealing the composition to be entitled Lick
Source: Wikipedia
