# Which real life band most resembles Spinal Tap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643 "2013-06-10T18:13:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/21 "2013-06-11T14:35:42Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > I’d heard this too, especially the part where they got lost backstage. Actually, it was Led Zeppelin that got lost. From a Rolling Stones interview with Robert Plant (quoted [here](http://www.contactmusic.com/news-article/led-zep-get-lost-spinal-tap-style)) > [@](#): > > Zep’s former frontman Robert Plant admits he always finds the scene in the > film where the hapless rock trio try to find the stage after leaving their > dressing room hilarious - because it happened to him and his bandmates. > > Plant recalls, "This was actually in Baltimore. The Holiday Inn was on the > one side of the street, the municipal auditorium was on the other, and to get > there you could go very discreetly under the road. > > "The guy, the promoter’s assistant, knew the way. We were there for 45 > minutes. Wandering around we could’ve maintained this whole underworld of the > city. > > “We came up in this place, and I said, ‘It’s better downstairs.’ It was a > real trip.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/22 "2013-06-11T15:40:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You can’t really dust for vomit. And that’s true, too. You cannot obtain DNA from stomach contents. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/23 "2013-06-11T15:44:00Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I saw it at a preview screening in Kansas City, and the thing that made it extra special was that most of the audience was _unaware that it was a satire_. They just thought it was a film about a hard rock band that they thought they knew. I was seated in the front row, and at one point I had to walk out to the lobby because I was laughing so hard I was in danger of passing out. The first few times I saw it was in the theater too (my brother worked there, so I got in free 🆒) and the very first time I saw it, all I knew about how the second drummed died is that it was “in a manner too revolting to relate.” I never heard an audience howl that loud again until I saw “About Schmidt” on opening weekend, and we didn’t know about the nude scene with one Kathy Bates! 😃 Towards the end of its run, senior citizens were going to see it, because they wanted to find out if the movie really was as funny as everyone said it was, and laughing right along with the kids. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/24 "2013-06-11T17:11:13Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I’ve always had doubts about the authenticity of **American Movie**. We saw it as part of the Chicago International Film Festival, and Mark, his mom and his best friend were all there, selling copies of _Coven_ on VHS, and we bought a copy from him. I’ve done my time in the barrel and shot a small, stupid short film for an untalented, inexperienced director. I can believe every second of _American Movie_. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/25 "2013-06-11T19:57:04Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > We saw it as part of the Chicago International Film Festival, and Mark, his mom and his best friend were all there, selling copies of _Coven_ on VHS, and we bought a copy from him. > > I’ve done my time in the barrel and shot a small, stupid short film for an untalented, inexperienced director. I can believe every second of _American Movie_. Yeah, I’ve shot stuff for people who had no business being a director or producer of anything.😉 I swear, some of **American Movie** just felt fake to me. I’ve been known to be wrong, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/26 "2013-06-12T04:05:26Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > [Nigel Tufnel shows off his guitars.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-5io1muSQ) (1984) > [Jeff Beck shows off his guitars.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YB9EX7YpFk) (2011) That is simultaneously hilarious and cool. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/27 "2013-06-12T17:06:17Z")
Anvil are nothing like Spinal Tap. They’re much heavier, for one thing, and clearly not a NWOBHM band. > [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > I saw a preview screening of “This Is Spinal Tap” at UCLA, and Harry Shearer spoke afterwards. He mentioned that the three of them briefly accompanied [Saxon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_%28band%29) on tour to get ideas for the script, at least the metal years portion. At the time Saxon was supposed to be the next big British metal band along with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but for some reason, they never broke through and made it big in America. I always assumed Michael McKean’s chacter (David St. Hubbins) was supposed to be Biff Byford. They even [look](http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130103162146/lossimpson/es/images/5/50/David_St._Hubbins.jpg) [alike](http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/cikbuds10/default/biff-byford--large-msg-128776560125.jpg). [QUOTE=Loach] Vocals, bass and drums are all from their heyday. Maybe not from day one but certainly the lineup that most know them for. Ritchie Blackmore ran off the the Renfair and Jon Lord died this year after battling cancer. They are more intact than most bands from that era. [/QUOTE] It’s worth bearing in mind that the band didn’t exist from 1976 to the mid-80s, so in that sense they didn’t have any members at all at one point. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/28 "2013-06-13T09:26:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Anvil are nothing like Spinal Tap. They’re much heavier, for one thing, and clearly not a NWOBHM band. OK, maybe a New Wave of Constitutional Monarchy Heavy Metal? Speaking of Anvil, I just saw them last month opening for Motörhead, and DAMN they were good. Their new album just dropped, so I hope to catch them again if they’re doing a club tour of something. Edit: Just checked their website. Looks like they’re in Europe for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/29 "2013-06-13T12:28:07Z")
One band that could have served as a template for Spinal Tap was the English band The Move (with Roy Wood, later of ELO). They had a run of success mostly in the late 60s-early 70s with various styles ranging from hard rock (“Do Ya”, “Fire Brigade”) to ridiculous hippie/psychedelic-inspired numbers like “Flowers In The Rain” and “I Can Hear The Grass Grow” (which they ludicrously insisted was not about an acid trip). > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > You cannot obtain DNA from stomach contents. If this revives the “Jimi Hendrix Was Murdered” thread, I’m holding you responsible. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/30 "2013-06-13T15:59:33Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > To be fair, they still are not sure whose vomit it was… You can’t really dust… for vomit… Man I love that movie, when me and my buddy from high school get together we can still quote 90% of that movie. MtM ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/31 "2013-06-13T16:46:48Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > OK, maybe a New Wave of Constitutional Monarchy Heavy Metal? I like that. We can throw Triumph in there too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SimonScowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@SimonScowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SimonScowl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/32 "2013-11-23T17:25:55Z")
For sheer metal cheesiness, as well as the looks of David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnel… one need look no further than the band [Samson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8CIFiblb74). You’ll notice a young Bruce Dickenson (who’d go on to become lead singer for Iron Maiden and one of the best heavy metal vocalists of all time) in the ‘David St. Hubbins’ white outfit, the hair and mustache of Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel’s mullet. Cheese factor=11. Hair and clothing=check, ‘manly’ song title=check. If only they’d had their own ‘Thunderstick’ (the drummer), we could close the lid on this case once and for all. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8CIFiblb74) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643/33 "2013-11-23T18:53:14Z")
(I don’t trust my memory here, so corrections are welcomed) The “Headbanger rock stars arguing pretentiously about their _Art_” aspect of Spinal Tarp was inspired by a legendary 20 minute studio tape of The Troggs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-life-band-most-resembles-spinal-tap/660643.md?page=1)