# "But this one goes to 11!" Spinal Tap appreciation and more. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202 "2003-03-13T23:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/41 "2016-09-13T18:23:51Z")
“Well it certainly puts things in perspective…” “Too much! Too much fucking perspective!” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/42 "2016-09-13T18:30:49Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > I can’t remember where it was revealed that Nigel and Jeanine once slept together, but I found that little tidbit hilarious. > > It’s easily my favorite comedy of all time. In a deleted scene set in a hot tub, Nigel reveals that David used to bring home sailors, much to Davids embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/43 "2016-09-13T18:58:48Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > He finally understood all the references to “Cranking it to 11” that people used. I’ve always liked that the volume sliders on the various BBC websites, iPlayer etc all go up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/44 "2016-09-13T20:42:10Z")
> [@Gundy](#): > > Two words: Shit Sandwich. > > “Now that’s just nitpicking, isn’t it?” > > Actually, one of my favorite (and most used) lines from the movie is a sniffy “I’m just as God made me.” Marty DiBergi: “This tasteless cover is a good indication of the lack of musical invention within. The musical growth of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry.” Nigel Tufnel: That’s just nitpicking, isn’t it? This is my favorite line,it is far from nitpicking, which is why I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/45 "2016-09-13T20:59:41Z")
We hope you like our new direction. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/46 "2016-09-13T21:23:43Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > My dad took us to see this when I was in junior high school and I loved it! Then, later, I was fortunate to see the first and second spinal tap tours. During the first concert, Les Claypool was the guest bass player during big bottom. I think it was the encore, and all four band members including Les Claypool were playing bass. Haha. Hey, that’s nothing… in 2007 they had “every bass player in the known universe” on stage for the song: [Spinal Tap at Live Earth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN42uzNFVmQ) ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/47 "2016-09-13T21:36:35Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > “Well it certainly puts things in perspective…” > > “Too much! Too much fucking perspective!” Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy nod there, I think. Or is it the other way around? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/48 "2016-09-14T00:14:38Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > I can’t remember where it was revealed that Nigel and Jeanine once slept together, but I found that little tidbit hilarious. > > It’s easily my favorite comedy of all time. IIRC it’s in the DVD commentary, although I can’t remember the specific scene. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/49 "2016-09-14T00:29:06Z")
I think it’s funny that a 35-post thread from 2003 has three contributors who were later banned. Maybe not such a good idea to be turning things up to 11. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/50 "2016-09-14T01:21:15Z")
> [@eunoia](#): > > I think it’s funny that a 35-post thread from 2003 has three contributors who were later banned. > > Maybe not such a good idea to be turning things up to 11. 😃 Well, you know dozens of people spontaneously combust each year… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/51 "2016-09-14T01:24:49Z")
> [@eunoia](#): > > I think it’s funny that a 35-post thread from 2003 has three contributors who were later banned. > > Maybe not such a good idea to be turning things up to 11. 😃 The mods felt that they were cases best left unsolved… ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/52 "2016-09-14T01:38:08Z")
I also like that those three actors were also the Folksmen in A Mighty Winds. A talented group of guys. I believe they wrote the music for that as well. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/53 "2016-09-14T02:34:02Z")
I saw this film at a preview sponsored by KY-102, a local rock station. I was in the front row and (I swear this is true) the rest of the audience appeared to be _unaware that it was a comedy._ They apparently just thought it was a documentary about a rock band they kind of thought they knew, but hey - free tickets! So I’m laughing my head off, the situation made ten times funnier because so many of these people didn’t get the jokes! When the discussion about the fates of the various drummers was happening, I was laughing so hard I had to run out to the lobby to resume breathing. Oh, and every musician I’ve ever met knows this movie. The “11” scene is so funny not because of the line, but the cow-like expression on his face as he utterly fails to understand “Why not just make 10 louder?” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/54 "2016-09-14T02:56:02Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > “Well it certainly puts things in perspective…” > > “Too much! Too much fucking perspective!” A favorite scene of mine. I love that they can’t quite agree on a key for singing at Elvis’s graveside. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/55 "2016-09-14T03:21:38Z")
> [@Tinker\_Grey](#): > > I also like that those three actors were also the Folksmen in A Mighty Winds. A talented group of guys. I believe they wrote the music for that as well. If you have a chance, check out _Unwigged and Unplugged Live_, a fun evening with Guest, McKean and Shearer playing all their “hits”. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/56 "2016-09-14T03:57:52Z")
I’ve been so deep in discussions of climate change (and xkcd’s recent treatment of same), I thought this thread might’ve been resurrected because of a reference in [xkcd: Earth Temperature Timeline](http://www.xkcd.com/1732/) . Look at 2200 BCE. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/57 "2016-09-14T04:15:07Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > If you have a chance, check out _Unwigged and Unplugged Live_, a fun evening with Guest, McKean and Shearer playing all their “hits”. Thanks! I’ll look for it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/58 "2016-09-14T04:35:00Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I saw this film at a preview sponsored by KY-102, a local rock station. I was in the front row and (I swear this is true) the rest of the audience appeared to be _unaware that it was a comedy._ They apparently just thought it was a documentary about a rock band they kind of thought they knew, but hey - free tickets! > > So I’m laughing my head off, the situation made ten times funnier because so many of these people didn’t get the jokes! When the discussion about the fates of the various drummers was happening, I was laughing so hard I had to run out to the lobby to resume breathing. > > Oh, and every musician I’ve ever met knows this movie. The “11” scene is so funny not because of the line, but the cow-like expression on his face as he utterly fails to understand “Why not just make 10 louder?” Some critics didn’t realize that the movie was fiction, and criticized Rob Reiner for making a full-length movie about a band nobody had ever heard of. THAT to me is true art. 🆒 I first saw it on opening weekend, and our city’s reviewer said only that one of their drummers died “in a manner too revolting to relate.” I never heard an audience howl that loudly, when they said “it was someone else’s vomit that he choked on”, again until I saw “About Schmidt” on opening weekend and also didn’t know about the full-frontal nude scene featuring Kathy Bates My brother worked at the theater, so I got in free, and within a week or so, they were seeing senior citizens at that movie, because they wanted to find out if the movie really was as funny as everyone said it was. On a very tragic note, I have not been able to watch the movie since Tony Hendra’s daughter made very credible accusations that he had molested her. :eek: He’s the blond guy who played their manager, Ian Faith. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/59 "2016-09-14T05:43:12Z")
Most people don’t remember that _This is Spinal Tap_ wasn’t a big success at the movies and back in the 80s cult video releases were few and far between. Mostly when I mentioned it to people, having seen it at the movies, they had never heard of it and that was the end of it. No internet, no downloads, no streaming not even trailers. Much later it appeared on video but plenty of people never knew what it was. One Saturday evening a while later I was strolling through the local huge video store looking for something to borrow. I spotted a group of long haired high school age “slackers” looking through the live music videos. And there was _This Is Spinal Tap_. I asked had they seen it and they replied that they didn’t even know the band. The case gave no hint of the pleasures within. I told them it would make them legends if they took it back to their waiting friends, got really stoned and watched it. A brief recounting of Stumpy Joe’s death had them convinced. I suggested that they not let on that it was a spoof documentary and let their friends work it out. One of the next few Saturdays I bumped into them again and they rushed up to me like a long lost elderly uncle to recount tales of the night they and their friends discovered a classic they had no idea existed. Information was at a premium in those days. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202/60 "2016-09-14T08:13:17Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Well, you know dozens of people spontaneously combust each year… Fear Of A Black Hat (1993) a fantastic double-feature suggestion very much in the same vein, also has a tragic amount of attrition… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-this-one-goes-to-11-spinal-tap-appreciation-and-more/161202.md?page=4)