# Is this the first Mock Rockumentary or is it Rock Mockumentary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2025, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446 "2025-12-06T05:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/41 "2025-12-10T21:51:05Z")
Me neither. I looked it up. I knew of “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” and “Sylvia’s Mother” from when I was a little kid. I used to see them on music shows. Midnight Special? I knew the backstory of Rolling Stone from something I saw on a tv show. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/42 "2025-12-10T21:59:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The Byrds’ 1967 hit “Do You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star”, thought to be a swipe at the Monkees But a swipe isn’t a mockumentary. There have been insulting songs for a long time, but IMO this genre requires exageration presented with a straight face as reality. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/43 "2025-12-10T22:37:44Z")
When I first heard _The Cover of the Rolling Stone_, I had never heard of the magazine. I thought they were talking about the band The Rolling Stones, and “cover” referred to an album cover. The song made no sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/44 "2025-12-19T18:05:22Z")
Eric Idle has commented that anyone married to John Lennon has to have a sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/45 "2025-12-19T18:49:11Z")
I like to think she knew exactly what was going on here: > **[Simpsons joke apparently makes its way into Yoko Ono art exhibit in Iceland](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/05/yoko-ono-simpsons-joke-iceland-art-exhibit)** > > In an early episode of the show, an Ono-like character orders a rather unusual drink – which appears at the Reykjavik Art Museum via another artist ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/46 "2025-12-19T19:11:25Z")
Yeah, “Bad News” is pretty much _Spinal Tap_, and came out a year earlier. But it was released as an episode of the TV series “Comic Strip Presents…” I agree that _The Rutles_ was the first, though. So while “Bad News” predates Spinal Tap, it wasn’t the first. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/47 "2025-12-19T19:20:15Z")
One of my favorite fun facts is that Bad News did a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s terrible, truly bad. And the iconic guitar solo is the worst part. The guitarist that played that abysmal solo? Brian May. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Pb3D7SfgKm4/maxresdefault.jpg "BAD NEWS - Bohemian Rhapsody (official music video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb3D7SfgKm4) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/48 "2025-12-19T21:18:10Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > When I first heard _The Cover of the Rolling Stone_, I had never heard of the magazine. I thought they were talking about the band The Rolling Stones, and “cover” referred to an album cover. The song made no sense to me. That’s my experience exactly! I even checked record stores to see if Dr Hook ever made it on a cover of a Rolling Stone(s’) album. What did I know - I was 11. But I attempted to verify! I mean, I would say "I was on the cover of _Rolling Stone_, not THE Rolling Stone. No definite article for magazines. And to show how even more dumb I was, at the near same time (1974) Buck Owens did a cover called “The Cover of the Music City News”, which I understood was a magazine, but couldn’t figure out how that paralleled a Rolling Stones album. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/49 "2025-12-19T21:26:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I mean, I would say "I was on the cover of _Rolling Stone_, not THE Rolling Stone. No definite article for magazines. “the” is probably there to fit the song meter. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/50 "2025-12-19T21:34:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “the” is probably there to fit the song meter. Ol Shel can…change the meter! It’s his song, after all… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/51 "2025-12-20T20:10:27Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Eric Idle has commented that anyone married to John Lennon has to have a sense of humor. Yoko did. I had the usual ignorant knowledge of Yoko until I went to a major retrospective of her work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Excellent stuff, full of meaning, surprises, and insights, with great execution and a sense of humor. Could totally understand Lennon’s attraction to such an artist. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/52 "2025-12-21T19:54:45Z")
If we’re not limiting ourselves to filmed mockumentaries, there is a _book_ that was published on Jan. 1, 1978 - Mark Shipper’s _Paperback Writer._ It’s a very funny satire written as a non-fiction book about the Beatles’ rise to fame, breakup, and reunion in 1979. > **[Paperback Writer: The Life and Times of the Beatles, the Spurious Chronicle of...](https://www.amazon.com/Paperback-Writer-Spurious-Chronicle-Disasters/dp/0441651240)** > > Paperback Writer: The Life and Times of the Beatles, the Spurious Chronicle of Their Rise to Stardom, Their Triumphs and Disasters, Plus the Amazing \[Skipper, Mark\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Paperback Writer: The Life and... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/53 "2025-12-21T20:27:43Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > If we’re not limiting ourselves to filmed mockumentaries, there is a _book_ that was published on Jan. 1, 1978 - Mark Shipper’s _Paperback Writer._ It’s a very funny satire written as a non-fiction book about the Beatles’ rise to fame, breakup, and reunion in 1979. There’s another novel _Once There Was a Way_ by Bryce Zabel, which is written as a non-fiction account of the Beatles never breaking up. The strangest Beatles alternate history is _Paul is Undead_ by Alan Goldsher, where the Beatles are all zombies. Except for Ringo, who is a ninja. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/54 "2025-12-22T04:15:49Z")
_Paul is Undead_ is that rare book that I couldn’t even get halfway through. It cemented my antipathy to “zombie media”… writing a zombie version of a biography (or really, anything) is just too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/55 "2025-12-22T04:41:03Z")
I liked _Paul is Undead_. I’ll admit I wasn’t impressed with Goldsher’s follow-up _My Favorite Fangs_, a vampire parody of _The Sound of Music_. That felt like Goldsher was repeating the same joke. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446/56 "2026-01-12T03:58:37Z")
> **[The Idols (1968)](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-idols/)** > > This satire concerns three French singing idols and their attempt to stay in the public eye. A press conference, backstage hedonism, psychedelia, manipulative managers and disc jockeys are portrayed as the pop culture is thoroughly and effectively... From the uploader on IA: "An early mockumentary, more social commentary, on how pop music just uses and spits outs musicians. Just like The Monkees were a made up band for a TV show, this movie created a band. Patrick Greussay, Stephane Vilar, Didier Leon, Didier Malherbe and Jacques Zins and a couple others were pulled together to create “Rollsticks”. They would later go on to other bands through the years including Calcium and Gong. Rob Reiner’s Spinal Tap is considered the first mockumentary but this one could give it a run for the money. The attitude of the participants is the key difference. Marc’o was making a social commentary while Reiner was poking gentle fun." [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-first-mock-rockumentary-or-is-it-rock-mockumentary/1025446.md?page=2)