Is there anyone who doesn't love This is Spinal Tap?

Huge classic, obviously.

I have the VHS version though.

Though that has a rough odor of urban legend.

Movie or not, can we still take Aerosmith out back?

Plot Outline: Three actors learn their respective performances in the film "Home for Purim," a drama set in the mid-1940s American South, are generating award-season buzz.

Not only that, there's another hour and a half "movie" made up of deleted scenes.

Spinal Tap is possibly my favorite movie (after Alien, of course). Its one of the few satirical treatments of metal that actually 'gets' the genre, and understands its place in the context of rock history. I love how the band is a perfect microcosm of all the most bloated aspects of rock trends from the British Invasion onwards. The film is really just a great satire of the rock and roll biz in general, and the human capacity for self-delusion in the face of failure. The songs are really convincingly well-done and hilarious, too.

There was supposed to be a 'hilarious' BJ scene that got cut or unfilmed, purely because it wouldn't have been included in a 'real' documentary.

OTM, the movie has a lot of little stuff like that. My favorite is after the manager Ian tells the band that their Boston show's been cancelled, then says it's nothing to worry about, "Boston's not a big college town."

Tony Hendra really does a great job playing the manager.

I think it was Kiss that didn't find it funny (or maybe both of them). Maiden's Bruce Dickinson's got a pretty good sense of humor, I'm surprised he didn't find it funny.

Seconded.

It wasn't Bruce, it was Blaze!

Tap is to Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind as the Beatles are to Wings, Lennon and Harrison solo. And the new film will be Back Off Boogaloo in comparison. (not that that's bad)

It's one of the best movies ever made, ever.

Hugely OTM.

SPINAL TAP
($75.00) (1984) here's the rare 4 hours 45 minute version you've heard about! ...with all the scenes "not fit" for even the the new extended 'uncut' legitimate release - there's nudity! drugs! bad attitudes! plus lots more! 3 tapes; But please take note -- this is a 'bootleg' tape and the quality is not up to our usual standard there are visual dropouts some missing audio spots... we would recommend it for rabid SPINAL TAP fans only -- where else will you see this stuff? ; {the visual quality of this print is rated as B-/C

almost every metal musician i've seen interviewed about spinal tap has been quite positive; inevitably the conversation leads to them describing how this or that bit from spinal tap actually happened to them.

as for kevin dubrow whining about it ... what HASN'T kevin dubrow whined about?

I don't understand what's so funny about this? I used to do the same thing, but only so that I could drink more beer onstage.

That's completely insane.

Tap is to Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind as the Beatles are to Wings, Lennon and Harrison solo. And the new film will be Back Off Boogaloo in comparison.

Good anology. Guest's other movies are great, as is a lot of Wings and Lennon's and Harrison's solo stuff. But the Beatles are the best band I've ever heard and Spinal Tap is the funniest movie I've ever seen.

my fave moment: dancing dwarfs around the tiny stonehenge

fave subtle line: the argument about going on AFTER the puppet show

speaking of...watch SNL in the 80s sunday night (no law and order!) and they showed a few moments of some classic clips from the season with Shearer and Guest, particularly the all-time classic synchronized swimming skit with Martin Short.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/84/84aswimmers.phtml

Even the music itself makes me laugh - there's a great bit at the end of one of the songs where Nigel plays a souped-up Mozart guitar solo. Also when he's playing his piano "composition" and talking about how there are all these melodic lines interwoven when in fact he's just playing these really retarded-sounding blocky chords.

With ya there, that's a perfect moment of editing.

I think it is time for Tap to come back out of retirement. If you watch some of those current metal shows on Fuse or MTV, there is some comedy gold out there waiting to be mined.

it does, done by the cast, but not in character. it too is very funny. the deleted scenes are different, also - some overlap, but not much.

They should be so lucky.

I've heard it was loosely based on Saxon and Status Quo. The key word there, however, is loosely.

Not really an ILM question I suppose.

Wikipedia, our friend:

Guest became the 5th Baron Haden-Guest, of Saling in the County of Essex, when his father died in 1996. According to an article in The Guardian, Guest attended the House of Lords regularly until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999 barred most hereditary peers from their seats. In the article Guest remarked:

"There's no question that the old system was unfair. I mean, why should you be born to this? But now it's all just sheer cronyism. The Prime Minister can put in whoever he wants and bus them in to vote. The Upper House should be an elected body, it's that simple."

As Guest's children are adopted, they cannot inherit his Barony under the terms of the letters patent that created it. The current heir presumptive to the title is Guest's brother, Nicholas Haden-Guest.

I laughed out loud just reading this description.

I seem to have an anthology on hard rock/metal or two around here in which a member of Uriah Heep, probably Hensley, proudly takes some credit. Status Quo and the Heep fit more closely than Saxon if there's any -fit-. They both started out as kind of lame and flailing psychedelic bands, although the Quo had an actual hit. Status Quo didn't have any members die. Heep had personnel problems early on, a bassist actually being electrocuted onstage. Later he died in a bathtup or something. Quo match better in the UL label's regard for them. Despite a big splurge for a feature in Billboard at the time of "Blue for You," Quo were treated with great disrespect in the US. Uriah Heep had it much easier, being arena head-liners for a short time.

They all make nice stories.

In the latest Entertainment Weekly there's a feature with Rob Reiner talking aboot each of the films he's made, and for the Spinal Tap blurb he says their keyboardist, John Sinclair, was hired away by Uriah Heap before he could be in the movie. He would call the filmmakers from the road, saying things like "We're playing a military base" and they would put it in the film. Reiner also credits Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as the inspiration for getting lost on the way to stage.

i will take you there. i will show you how

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/player.html?channel=1804&category=24333&title=05392_00

"these go to eleven"

prefer 'a mighty wind'

Heresy.

yeah no lie

"he was the patron saint of quality footwear"

"It's called 'Lick My Love Pump'"

The 'Majesty of Rock' video was on VH1 the other night...This makes me CRY laughing every time I hear it:

The darning of the sock,
The scoring of the goal!
The farmer takes a wife
The barber takes a pole.

Also: I always say "Dobly" instead of Dolby. That never stops being funny

So I finally picked up The Return of Spinal Tap on DVD over the weekend for cheap -- bootleg DVD from all appearances, the original video was released back in 1992 or 1993 or so. It's not a sequel to the film outside of a few sketches but it's fun to see the live show they did in London in 1992; I was at the Los Angeles performance of the tour. Meanwhile the various 'where are they now' bits are good, and Nigel Tufnel's skill with inventions and helping ferrets travel wins on the comedy front.

Meanwhile they played Wembley Arena the other week -- "Big Bottom" with (apparently) Justin Hawkins and Andy Scott from Sweet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fWDumg3qeQ

have you guys read "Yes I Can" by Sammy Davis Junior?

Kerrang! reviewed the Wembley gig in this week's issue and gave it 1 out of 5. There's an astonishing bit at the end where the writer names the nadir of the evening being when "[a Tap member] throws a solitary cucumber into the audience," this being indicative of the poor effort made at a stage show

Hard to work out the level of ironing going on there.

i take back what i said about loving the rutles on here. i watched it again a while ago and didn't laugh once. i guess it was better when i was a kid. kinda wish i had the album though. still don't love spinal tap though i should see it again to make sure. i saw it, like, 20 years ago.

scott this is the weirdest most inexplicable opinion I have ever heard you express wtf dude

I don't love it either.

well, like i said, i should watch it again. i've only seen it once. i just don't remember laughing that much when i saw it. maybe i was in a bad mood. i kinda remember thinking: oh, i get it, they're dumb. and that was that. i'll get some good weed and watch it.

i did laugh when i saw guffman and the dog one. i remember laughing. maybe spinal tap just needed catherine o'hara for me to love it.

i take back what i said about loving the rutles on here. i watched it again a while ago and didn't laugh once. i guess it was better when i was a kid. kinda wish i had the album though. still don't love spinal tap though i should see it again to make sure. i saw it, like, 20 years ago.

― scott seward, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 6:29 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

rutles is unbelievably shit. i only saw it last year. dire.

tap is immortal though, wtf!

UK ilxors, how good are their accents? If they are bad, is that another level of hilarity we are missing?

I love this movie, but "Some Kind of Monster" is almost as good, and in many ways even better and funnier.

It was awesome when I showed my ex-hippie mom-in-law the Rutles and she kept going like 'OH those days were so AMAZING it was SO GREAT being there' and I had to keep reminding her 'uh this is a fake movie of a fake band' and then she'd say 'oh but you weren't THERE it was so different if you LIVED it.'

Did she drink a lot of tea?

UK ilxors, how good are their accents? If they are bad, is that another level of hilarity we are missing?

The accents are bad, but bad like old rock bands who've spent too long in the US wd have, i.e. really good.

Rutles isn't really funny at all but the songs make up for it.

UK ilxors, how good are their accents? If they are bad, is that another level of hilarity we are missing?

Accents are a bit shit bar Guest imo.

I don't love Spinal Tap. I enjoy it and "none more black" is one of the funniest things ever but I just like it really.

i love the movie but i really have no desire to hear or see anything spinal tap besides that one original thing.

Yeah I'm pretty much the same, the movie is perfect on its own.

Their appearance on the Simpsons was pretty funny. "We salute you, our half-inflated evil lord!"

That was fun but the rest of the episode with Otto was the really hilarious part.

"I had mustard?!"

They have a new CD out. I listened to some of it but couldn't really work out what the point was. Maybe it's a contractual thing where they don't have the rights to the original recordings? There are re-recordings of some classics. Hellhole sounded pretty good, Cups and Cakes was way worse. Also some new stuff, including three different takes of Jazz Odessey (didn't listen to them) and some other new pastiches that I didn't recognise. I was prepared to enjoy it because I'm one of the few who purchased and love "Break Like The Wind". But this seemed redundant. Just get the OST, and BLTW too if you are a maniac.

'Jazz Odessey' is defs my favorite part of the movie.

Maybe it's a contractual thing where they don't have the rights to the original recordings?

there is some contractual stuff behind a lot of their present-day activities. christopher haden-guest is immensely wealthy and doesn't need to do it and doesn't want to, iirc.

In which case that makes Spinal Tap even more of an appropriate portrayal.

i think they are also all kind of assholish tbh

irl?

lol isn't it de rigeur to just assume all actors are jerks? I mean, who cares how they are irl? I'm never going to meet/have to deal with them.

Spotted the "new" album ... Back from the Dead I believe? ... yesterday. Agreed -- what's the point?

I'm a big Waiting for Guffman fan, so one day (probably 10 years ago) I rented Spinal Tap and found myself largely underwhelmed. I don't remember specifics, but I do remember thinking that heavy metal was already such an obviously ridiculous spectacle that it didn't really need to be parodied. Possibly also, though, I didn't know enough about metal or hard rock to get some of the more subtle jokes, whereas I cracked up in Guffman over not-even-jokes like "now you sing BLAY, leave off the N" because it reminded me of my high-school theater days.

Possibly also, though, I didn't know enough about metal or hard rock to get some of the more subtle jokes

Eh, when I first saw it in 1985 or so, my knowledge of heavy metal/hard rock consisted of Def Leppard, Motley Crue and the general 80s commercial hits out there. Thought it was hilarious then and knowing more about what's being parodied makes it funnier over time.

It's also just an amazingly well-edited movie. Very little drags about it.

yep. wall-to-wall jokes

I watched the three (four?) hour version once. It dragged a bit, but still very hilarious.

jaymc i feel like if you haven't seen it until now you might be already fatigued of the jokes and style that have osmosized into pop culture.

just that style alone, so imitated, seemed like SUCH a comedic breakthru at the time

and by at the time i mean in like 1990 or whenever i discovered it

oh so now YOU discovered it

Canada was wilderness then.

s1ocki, I said I saw it in the late '90s sometime.

the great jokes hit hard, but the last time i saw it i was surprised at how much of it kind of dragged. Nevertheless, it's still a great movie with a lot of memorable and hilarious gags.

If any of you who love this haven't seen "Some Kind of Monster", you really owe it to yourself to see it. You know that movie "Best of Show," the mockumentary about dog show obsessives? I always thought it would be so much funnier and disturbing if it were a real documentary instead of a scripted one. I guess that's how I see "Some Kind of Monster" compared with Spinal Tap.

I liked Some Kind of Monster.

yeah but there's no flashbacks in Some Kind of Monster. Some of the funniest shit in ST has to do with their career over time, the British Invasion hit, their psychedelic period, etc.

Some Kind of Monster is totally great tho agreed

s1ocki, I said I saw it in the late '90s sometime.

― sad-ass Gen Y fantasist (jaymc), Wednesday, July 8, 2009 4:16 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

wait... what year is this?

some kind of monster is a whole different thing because they were a pretty successful band at the time

The Stonehenge thing will never fail to make me lose my shit.

is 'some kind of monster' hilarious?

anyway jaymc even at that point, it's a case of being so ripped off i'm not surprised you didn't find it funny. imo spinal tap is 100x better than anything else guest has ever done.

thing about ST is it just looked and felt so much like an actual doc, whereas guest's movies feel so half-assed in that sense

spinal tap seemed really selfless in its performances, a lot more natural. guest's flicks feel a lot more showoffy and theater troupe-ish or something.

that's cuz one of them is about a theater troupe

thing about ST is it just looked and felt so much like an actual doc

That's definitely no accident: the other key behind-the-scenes decision besides the editing was the choice of cinematographer -- Peter Smokler, who was a camera operator for the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter and the American Family documentary series.

I probably look this scene up every month or so. Just the shots of all the people cracking their necks and stroking their beards in the first minute gets me alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9RGSStvsag

xpost -- (Actually in checking that link he was also the camera operator on the first episode of the US version of The Office, which makes *perfect* sense.)

omar otm

omartm

is 'some kind of monster' hilarious?

― enbba champions (omar little), Wednesday, July 8, 2009 8:22 PM (1 minute ago)

no

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlf5ucFanpY

That's definitely no accident: the other key behind-the-scenes decision besides the editing was the choice of cinematographer -- Peter Smokler, who was a camera operator for the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter and the American Family documentary series.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 4:27 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i didn't know that! but it makes soooo much sense

it is really really dull tho xposts

also i found some kind of monster super fascinating but not really... 'hilarious' in the spinal tap sense

i mean defly funny, but i didnt LOL the whole time or anything

after hearing so much about the metallica movie i was expecting to laugh myself silly over what bozos those guys are, but i found myself surprisingly sympathetic toward them! i was happy when they triumphed over the evil therapist.

that makes it sound like an episode of Metalocalypse

It IS an episode of Metalocalypse

that's what i figured, just wondering

its mostly Lars' dad that brings the lolz. the rest of the time it got more of a head-shaking "I can't believe how stupid/deluded these guys are" reaction from me. I mean, that scene with Hetfield speeding down the highway within the first 10 minutes talking about how it makes him feel "free" makes it clear yr dealing with some serious lunkheads.

One time I was with some friends at a bar when Kirk Hammett walked in and one of my drunker/more obnoxious friends pointed him out and said "dude! it's Richie Sambora!" Hammett left in a huff.

after hearing so much about the metallica movie i was expecting to laugh myself silly over what bozos those guys are, but i found myself surprisingly sympathetic toward them! i was happy when they triumphed over the evil therapist.

― scott seward, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 4:33 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

me too!!

yeah i think some kind of monster is a lot about what kind of mood you're in and how you feel towards fuckin tallica bro but ultimately i felt sympathy for them too--they're not intrinsically bad people at all but they've lived this totally weird life that has resulted in tons of baggage and unresolved shit.

also st. anger is terrible but partially redeemed by their utter sincerity when making it (at least as far as what's shown in the movie).

based on the subject matter it's dealing with, i feel like if it were inviting you to laugh at them the whole time it would be pretty reprehensible.

agreed that the therapist is completely loathsome

That therapist's sweater is great.

I saw Tap live in '92. It was really great. Also have the old yellow-orange shirt that the roadies are wearing in the film. I bought it off a guy's back on the street in the late 80s for $5 and the shirt I was wearing. Really really glad I did that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_vRnPTTIZY
^^^how not to write a song

My favorite deleted scene from Spinal Tap -- Nigel on Indonesian music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_LAS16AEvw

i found that part where hetfield goes to his daughter's dance recital kinda touching....like he's really trying

Some Kind of Monster is funny to me. It's also touching and somewhat poignant. But some parts are so ridiculous that it's hard to believe it's not a mockumentary. Perhaps it is more subtle than Spinal Tap in the sense that the 'jokes' aren't always as obvious, but I'd say its no less funny-- and actually, I find myself going back to it now and then, which I never do with Spinal Tap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHdzKdZF2G4

Quite exciting, this computer magic!

Btw on the Cornelius EUS tour video it starts with a montage of tour footage (mostly looking out the window of the bus, etc.) and you can hear audio from when they hear their old song on the radio ("I don't believe it!") and when they visit Elvis's grave ("Well since my baby left me"). Cornelius knows what is up.

I don't love This Is Spinal Tap. I liked the bit with Stonehenge and apart from that it's just okay.

You didn't laugh when they had 3 bass players on stage, one of them using a double-necked bass?

Some of these tunes are really good. Even if i rewatch the movie and know all the jokes and just aren't in the mood to think they are funny anymore, the songs still get me through this movie.

http://www.mediaredefined.com/the-origins-of-spinal-tap-watc-918386556.html

never seen this before, for some reason it was not on the big expanded DVD reissue iirc...?

The version of Sex Farm there (near the end of part 2) swings harder than the proper version!

"allright, so Meathead Stivic is following around this heavy metal band fronted by Lenny from Laverne & Shirley..."

"Pass."

"But it's got a cameo from Mr. Bentley in it!"

David St. Hubbins: We say, "Love your brother." We don't say it really, but...
Nigel Tufnel: We don't literally say it.
David St. Hubbins: No, we don't say it.
Nigel Tufnel: We don't really, literally mean it.

The extended studio meltdown from the workprint that is on the Youtubes is exhausting but great.

Of interest:

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/tv-film/7548915/harry-shearer-files-125-million-spinal-tap-fraud-suit-copyright?utm_source=twitter

Derek: We were talking about a rock musical based on the life of Jack the
Ripper...
David: Yeah,'Saucy Jack.'
Derek: Right.'Saucy Jack.' Now's the time to do that.
David: "Saucy Jack, you're a naughty one, Saucy Jack, you're a haughty
one, Saucy Jack."
Derek: Right...
David: It's a freein' up, idnit?
Derek: Yeah.
David: It's all this free time it's suddenly time is so elastic....
Derek: It's a gift, it's a gift of freedom. You know.
David: I've always, I've always wanted to do a collection of my acoustic
numbers with, the London Philharmonic as you know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=3xTK6tvepRM

The bonus DVD with the last reissue has practically a whole other movie of outtakes on it! And it's very good indeed!

Is there a fan edit or something of just the outtakes? Meaning not interspersed with the original film

The 2006 Special Edition double DVD has the outtakes on the second disk. But watch out cos there's a 25th Anniversary one without that.

https://youtu.be/zABnkDJ2yHw

Nigel explains Indonesian folk music

"No, but it’s....you’ve got to understand that like in the world of rock and roll there are certain changes that
sometimes occur, and you’ve just got to, sort of, roll with them, you know. I mean you read... you read... you
saw exactly how many people who’s been in this band over the years, 37 people’s been in this band over the
years. I mean it’s like, you know, six months from now, I can’t see myself missing Nigel more than I might
miss Ross McLochness, or Ronnie Pudding, or Danny Upham, or Little Danny Schindler, or any of those, you
know, it’s..."

"I can’t...I can’t believe it. I can’t believe that, you know, that, you’re lumping Nigel in with uh you know these
people you’ve played with for a short period of time..."

"Well, I’m sure I’d feel much worse if I weren’t under such heavy sedation, but still in all, I mean you’ve got to
be realistic about this sort of thing, you know...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zABnkDJ2yHw

“This is one you haven’t heard. If it sounds familiar, it’s not.”

Let us bow our heads, in rock.

https://variety.com/2021/film/people-news/tony-hendra-dead-this-is-spinal-tap-1234923058/

Sad. He's one of my favorite parts of the movie. Did not know about the allegations against him by his daughter. That sucks.

May a cricket bat ever lay on his tombstone

;_;

The stuff with his daughter is really rotten.

He wrote a great book about comedy, Going Too Far, that is very much worth searching out.

"best leave it unsolved" still makes me laugh more than it should....doing yet another rewatch now.

had no idea that was Ed Begley Jr as the nerdy Thamesman drummer

Listen

SHHH

we love you

Here lies David St. Hubbins, and why not?

you're a haughty one, Saucy Jack

Here's the emotional centre of this film for me.

there's too much fucking perspective

Some interesting info was discussed here: Battle of the LA Session Musos: the Wrecking Crew vs. the LA Mafia

Barry Bostwick interviews Spinal Tap on SNL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-HOHzafV1E

“I can’t believe you’re treating the departure of Nigel like he was Stumpy Joe or Peter James Bond”

“Well I’m sure I might feel a little bit more if I wasn’t under such heavy sedation”

that's actually my favorite bit of dialogue in the movie

I do slightly not-love This is Spinal Tap now - but not because of flaws in the film itself, but because of what I will call extrafilmic concerns.

Like my 10 friends in high school whose "sense of humor" consisted entirely of quotes from Monty Python and/or Spinal Tap.

And like the 10,000 corny-ass muso dudes who cannot possibly resist an ST reference. In 30mumble years of music-making I have carefully avoided mentioning the property of sustain because I know there's going to be some goofball who is going to do the movie quote in a bad accent.

And lord help me if the discussion of the increments on amplifier knobs comes up because I swear to god imma kill the next mofo who says anything about eleven

Yes, I get it, you watched a VHS tape. Cool. Now can we please get back to rehearsing the fucking song

I don't mind excess Spinal Tap quoting as long as you veer beyond the two obvious ones.

whenever I've been in a really bad theatre production, and I realize I'm in a complete piece of shit that is going to tank, I often have turned to the person next to me in frustration and asked "Are we gonna do stonehenge tomorrow?"

Okay, Stonehenge references get a pass from me.

A Hawkwind biopic would not be far off from Spinal Tap.

an Anvil biopic already wasn't

otm

obviously very different musically but the documentary on the UK pop group Bros. was definitely the that got closest to that perfect dimwit grandiosity of Spinal Tap

Fucking limmy.

RIP Ric Parnell, aka Mick Shrimpton -- the drum solo bit in this remains a top five moment in this film for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0QdAbGym8A

And I still love his physical comedy in the back of the shot here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkE-S_WbUJE

Anyone who worked in a record store in the 80s will instantly recognize the absolutely spot on performance of Paul Shaffer as Artie Fufkin.

RIP Ric / Mick
Should I ask if he…spontaneously combusted into a little green globule on his drum seat?

Bizarre gardening accident

Things like that happen all the time. They’re just not widely reported

The authorities said best leave it unsolved.

Wait, are you guys quoting something?

Withnail & I

“We want the finest dwarves available to humanity. We want them here and we want them now.”

You can't really dust for vomit.

SEQUEL!

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/this-is-spinal-tap-sequel-rob-reiner-michael-mckean-1235265523/

The sequel will be in the style of Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz,” the legendary concert documentary that followed the farewell tour of the Canadian American rock group The Band. “Spinal Tap 2” will also feature real-life musicians in the film. No names have been revealed yet, but it will likely depend on the artists’ touring schedules.

Bono? Boaby?

Honk like the wind?

I have very low expectations for this

It'll either be bone dry and hilarious, or suck so hard it'll drag the original down with it

"The Last Waltz" ripe for parody + Christopher Guest's wonderful tried-and-true lead-up to a big show at the end gives me hope for it.

I thought we already had a modern-day reboot with Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping?

I'm a style boy for liiiiife

The tour video they released after the 1992 shows already was a sequel, really, thanks to the various interstitial/where are they now bits.

Plus, the "directors commentary" on the original, massively recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD94L7rzOm8

Just wanted to thank you for the display name nod there, C. Grisso.

“It’s a complete catastrophe …
Look no one’s In here. *examines olive*
And in here there’s a little guy”

Is the sequel still happening?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_Tap_II

On a budget of $22.6 million (before tax incentives),[1] filming began in New Orleans in March 2024,[4]

Because if you dialed down the number of volume measurements on the Marshall amp back down to ten and then added 0.11 of loudness to each remaining increment, then "9" would be more like "9.9" and "10" would be "11" — completely inaccurate and screwing everything up. I don't understand why Nigel gets laughed at for this.

Nigel "Rain Man" Tufnel

Yeah I’ve always been on Nigel’s side on that debate

I was disappointed with Spinal Tap. I remember seeing "Bad News Tour" on Channel 4 as a kid, and enjoying it, because it's basically slapstick that doesn't require much familiarity with rock music. But when I finally got to see Spinal Tap it left me cold because I didn't understand the context. There are a couple of moments of broad comedy but a lot of it requires familiarity with the conventions of rock music and music documentaries. In particular the tendency of 1970s rock media to present juvenile behaviour in a reverent way.

I have a distinct memory of taping it from the television, and there was a New Year countdown. So it was probably this very broadcast. It was shown on 31 December 1991, on BBC2, at 23:35. Just after the first Mad Max. What a peculiar double bill. That blog post has some spooky ghost footage at the end that I might have been able to corroborate, if only I'd kept all my old VHS tapes. But no, they're lost to innumerable car boot sales and rubbish dumps.

And then later on I finally "got it" after seeing it on DVD many years later. In contrast the Bad News franchise hasn't aged very well. One of the funniest bits wasn't in the actual film, it was part of the DVD extras:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zABnkDJ2yHw

It's funny because if you ever meet a guitarist in real life they will, at some point, go "ding... ding!" on the guitar in order to illustrate a point about scales, or something. Apparently Bobbi Fleckman ended up reappearing in The Nanny, which raises the question of whether the rest of the characters exist in that universe, and whether the producers of The Nanny ever thought about making their own Spinal Tap spin-off, along the lines of Sony's Spider-Man / Venom franchise. A part of me wonders if The Nanny existed just to put Fran Drescher in as many different outfits as possible, and yet what's so wrong with that? It kept a lot of people in work for several years. I don't know how clothes are made.

Two of my favorite Tap jokes are over the ending credits. One where Nigel is talking about working in a haberdashery, and when asked if he would enjoy that, he deadpans, "I dunno, how much does it pay?" The other is when Nigel and David are talking about racism, which I think about all the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IZ2Iv0OckM

Maybe Nigel is actually talking about a hypothetical shoe store, actually.

David St. Hubbins: We say, "Love your brother." We don't say it really, but...
Nigel Tufnel: We don't literally say it.
David St. Hubbins: No, we don't say it.
Nigel Tufnel: We don't really, literally mean it.

― Peas Be Upon Ham (Tom D.), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 10:26 (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Disappointed with spinal tap? Really? Hot take

At the end of the love your brother riff doesn’t David say something like “But,,,that message should be clear”

Didn't know there was a sequel coming. That'll take some readjusting for me after Better Call Saul--Michael McKean was so good in that. I guess the hair will take care of that.

I didn’t like Mckean in BCS but it was probably the writing. At least that’s what I’m telling myself

I hope guest and co do some lines of coke right before filming

Kerry Godliman (who is playing Ian Faith's daughter in Spinal Tap 2) just revealed some of the plot of the new film on the Adam Buxton podcast...

I always mention that anyone who loves this film but hasn't had the commentary on, then they have to it's it's own sequel!

I watched the commentary and bonus features some time ago and you're absolutely right, it was like getting an entire other film and just as funny!

I have both the criterion and later DVDs and they have completely distinct commentary tracks! (though my partner doesn't like Spinal Tap so I haven't watched either for years)

Would love to rip them as MP3s somehow and listen to them like audiobooks while I'm cooking, etc

but the "somehow" is the operative word there, I wouldn't have a clue

There's a neat piece of software called Handbrake which I think will do that for you.

Ah thanks anagram, I might give that a try!

Sequel's coming:

The long-in-the-works Spinal Tap sequel is just about ready to rawk. The film, which is officially titled ‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’, will be out in theaters on September 12. Like the original, it’s directed by Rob Reiner, who co-wrote the movie with original Tap trio Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel), Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls). Unlike the first one, though, there are a bevy of all-star cameos, including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, and more.

The original ‘This is Spinal Tap’ is also getting a new theatrical run this summer before the new one is out.

I thought there was a sequel TV movie in 1992?

a bevy of all-star cameos

Ugh... as i was reading that paragraph i was thinking please don't let there be a bunch of celebrity guest appearances.

Maybe the cameos will all play the drummer

I thought there was a sequel TV movie in 1992?

There was a concert-film-plus-skits, cut down to a TV special. They have made various other skits and shorts and adverts over the decades; the Wikipedia appears inappropriately US-centric for such a significant English band, and doesn’t even mention their iconic series of mid-90s ads for frozen pizza rolls. or “Rock & Rolls,” if you will.

What was Break like the Wind? Just an album?

Ugh... as i was reading that paragraph i was thinking please don't let there be a bunch of celebrity guest appearances.

― Kim Kimberly, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 4:45 PM (two hours ago)

Fran Drescher
Dana Carvey
Billy Crystal
Howard Hesseman
Paul Shaffer
Anjelica Huston
Fred Willard
Bruno Kirby
Ed Begley Jr.

I bunch of those weren't quite celebrities at the time.

*a bunch

Howard Hesseman

"Yeah, listen, we'd love to stand around and chat, but we've gotta sit down in the lobby and wait for the limo."

“This is our monthly at-ease weekend…”

My expectations for this couldn’t be lower

it'll be good I bet, not that that'll stop people from being the simpsons comic book guy about it

The difference with the cameos from the original film is that those people are all actors, unlike the star of Give My Regards to Broad Street and the pinball guy from Tommy. Well not Paul Shaffer maybe, but still.

What if it's Chris Gaines though.

Paul and Elton have turned in funny guest appearances, especially when they have good comics writing their lines (see The Simpsons), but I guess that also means Shearer, Guest and McKean really have to deliver.

I would say "why does this need to exist", but we've literally got Paul & Elton out there still insisting that they are rock stars despite being so elderly they can barely sing or play. Good chance for some satire imo, I'm optimistic

The difference with the cameos from the original film is that those people are all actors

Yep everyone on that list was an actor playing a role... that's not what is implied by "all-star cameos".

Yeah, like Popstar is one of my favorite comedies of all time and just every time there's a musician cameo it's execrable

Maybe the cameos will all play the drummer

Criterion 4K incoming!

https://www.criterion.com/films/317-this-is-spinal-tap

Among other things, this looks like it includes those out-of-character commentaries on their original and now very out of print DVD.

Also a new conversation between Patton Oswalt and Rob Reiner

it's ok i'll still buy it

on their original and now very out of print DVD.

Laserdisc.

Also on the Criterion DVD

yes but originally on laserdisc

It can be all these things, and more.

Let me be the first person to confess in this thread that I have never watched Spinal Tap

So you are not aware that Boston is not a big college town?

Or that Walmart has refused to carry the new album simply because of its cover?

Can I ask a practical question

Do you think you’d be happy doing that?

I mean... when you've loved and lost the way Frank has, then you know what life's about.

best leave it...unsolved

So that's, what, 50 hours? 120 hours?

I’m getting a little shaggy myself…I shouldn’t stand too close to you, they might think I’m part of the band…I’m joking of course

We don't have that mentality any more, Ian!

He was the patron saint of quality footwear.

Look - In here there’s no one, and in here there’s a little guy! It’s a complete catastrophe

You're in the band, ain'tcha?

“No we’re all out. Do you wear black?” See, that sort of thing I could muster up.

what are the hours?

Apropos of nothing, and I apologise for breaking the chain of quotes from the film, but the official Youtube channel of The Nanny has some clips of Fran Drescher's snazzy black outfits, and the first clip is, yes, a cameo of her as Bobbi Flekman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ9xXuCkv9M

In that scene Fran Drescher plays a character, Fran Fine, who pretends to be Bobbi Flekman, which is postmodern as all heck, but then again it was the 1990s.

And of course, there's a thread for that: tv shows within tv shows: an ocd thread for jaymc and nabisco

Aw man

https://pitchfork.com/news/david-kaff-who-played-viv-savage-in-this-is-spinal-tap-dies-at-79/

RIP king

RIP

41st anniversary multiplex re-release screening report: two people laughed quietly a couple of times, everyone applauded politely at 80m.

I think it became a straight documentary somewhere along the way

No that was "Anvil"

"Have a good time...all the time" RIP

my 41st anniversary showing was full of huge fans who were howling throughout. it was fun.

RIP Viv.

I mean, every gag has crystalized into fundamental trope of rock, so i'm not sure how much I'd laugh. It's a cozy comfort more than a lick of the love pump!

yeah but c'mon, hearing "shit sandwich" is still funny even knowing it's coming

Part of the pleasure of that joke for me now is knowing from the commentary tracks that that is the first time Michael McKean and Christopher Guest heard it.

i dunno how you DONT laugh? that seems weirdly unhealthy to me like holding in sneezes.

part of the pleasure of that movie is it's almost all straight man work. it's nothing but jokes, but they're rarely told as jokes, so when I saw it again recently it was pretty much same as it ever was.

"We're so young!"
"Yeah. We are, in this movie as well!"
"Um, that's what I was talking about..."

ICYMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsIiBxWweRc Christopher Guest shares the real-life inspiration for Spinal Tap

"It's Bufta!"

For some reason I was looking up Ric Parnell, who played the drummer in the movie.

His other claim to 80s fame was playing drums on Toni Basil's "Mickey." From wiki:

At one time, Steve Perry offered him a spot in Journey, but Parnell declined

Trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxkZ7krBzA8

looks like this will be 75% bad modern references "ai! tiktok! justin beiber! trump!", 25% maybe actual dumb genuine lols.

In unrelated news: would you believe the guy who played Duke Fame in the original film is an actual hard rock singer, is still going in Vegas *and* played Fame again in an utterly unrelated webisode for the band Sin City Sinners?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Shortino

If my name was Shortino I’d have a stage name too.

Someone told me once that Rough Cutt were by far the worst band they'd ever seen, I can believe it

Zero laughs in the trailer

My vent on that trailer, C/Ping from FB: you know what my problem with the new Spinal Tap sequel trailer really is? (Aside from my continuing belief that the actual sequel as such, which is really good, consists of all the interstitial bits from The Return of Spinal Tap concert video thirty years back, with all kinds of 'where are they now' -- appropriately enough -- moments from a lot of the characters from the original.) It's putting Elton John in there, or even just anyone playing themselves. Now the whole 'rando celebrities in cameo roles in much later sequels to goose up interest in something that falls flat' thing is rather well established/bad enough (cf that new Happy Gilmore film I guess) but the beauty of the original Tap lies in the fact that it's not an alternate world but one where all the performing roles are self-contained. The 'world of rock' or whatever is backdrop for Ver Tap, reference points and commonalities, but the closest they get to other bands and musicians are similarly creations for the story. In the actual film the only other musician we encounter is Duke Fame on his way to the Enormodome; in the ton of material filmed for it but not in the final cut, you get an opening band whose singer has it off with Nigel and Derek, you get a young hot-shot player to replace Nigel briefly, stuff like that. The lack of exact specificity and anchors makes it all more universal and also underscores that these guys are just stumbling their way through on the lower rungs.

Yep i decried the news of "all-star cameos" upthread and that is exactly why. The original film didn't do that which is a part of what makes it so great.

I get the impulse but the *real celebrity cameo talks about the fake band* is the absolutely worst part of all content like this, whether it’s Chef Aid or Pop Star Never Stop Never Stopping (the new Spinal Tap). Just unfunny every time.*

*The exception being the Butthole Surfers in CB4

secondary exception; Jewel yodelling with ODB and serious Eddie Vedder bit at end of Walk Hard

Walk Hard did so much shit you're not supposed to do but it got away with everything, truly magical writing in that film

I’ll allow for Paul Simon and Mick Jagger in _The Rutles_ because the veil was intentionally thin so all their comments pretty much read as about the Beatles. “Do you think they’ll get back together?” “I hope not.”

I've commented on this elsewhere, too, but this promo photo really pisses me off.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:lc2wlnvvy4glpigwako5zoty/bafkreigyrowiihgfjg5zd75lwzcashwdfs4z4mukirhjsb2sqvaa55kxoq@jpeg

"Are you 75 years old? Here's an image that'll make you chuckle affectionately!" Aren't they supposed to be a METAL band? Why does a Crosby, Stills & Nash reference make any fucking sense at all?

Because they're peers! Clearly you've forgotten their 1967 hit "Listen to the Flower People."

...and "Cups and Cakes" was a twee-era Hollies/Bee Gees cash-in.

a friend wanted to see this, i went along and tried my best to just enjoy it. god what a piece of shit this was

I knew it was gonna be irredeemable garbage when Matt Zoller Seitz, a critic who likes everything, only gave it 2 1/2 stars.

There already is much more Tap out there aside from the actual film; the extra hour of outtakes on the DVD, various interviews and gigs and funny 'bits' from here and there, all over YouTube.

Did anyone ever see this?

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71CM3OSazoL._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg

Haven't seen it, but I had my doubts (beyond the obvious reasons) when I saw the celebrity cameos.

i saw that, i have a very distinct memory of Robin Williams' cameo -- reminiscing about Spinal Tap and getting really depressed and the segment ending with him floating facedown in a hot tub.

I was thinking of the new one, lol. With Sir Elton, Sir Paul, Sir Questlove, etc. If too many real stars want in on the joke, it implies there are no jokes.

Did anyone ever see this?

🖼

I talk about it in my big post on the trailer back in July!

By some miracle, Dave Grohl does not appear

Return of Spinal Tap was fine. The accompanying tour was great, I hear. It fell during exams and I was too much of a swot to go, but a less conscientious friend of mine did and had a great time.

That first film succeeds not just because of the core trio, but the supporting rules are all spot on, and they are not celebrity cameo ringers who want to be in on the joke. It’s a bunch of character actors playing their roles and taking them seriously, and that only serves to make it funnier. Fran Drescher, for example. Totally incredible in that part.

Feeling a lot lately like recent reboots and so forth are clearly 10-15 years late… because the guys in charge of fox or whatever are like oh damn king of the hill still seems pretty popular I guess we should have rebooted this awhile ago…

in 2009 I bet they could have pulled this off, is what I mean

The reviews are mostly "there's very little that's actually funny." Disappointing but it's that kind of year.

The original is so deadpan and close to the truth that there have been times I've watched it over the years and not found it funny despite knowing for a fact and from long time experience that it is in fact, funny. And indeed subsequent viewings after that were funny again.

Seems like the Rutles was the only time bringing actual Rock Stars into a Mockumentary worked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDY8VErLhcY

Quite right. (I mutter that somewhere upthread.)

My expectations were pretty low but to say they weren't even half way met is an understatement...I don't think even Guest, Mckean and Shearer could hide their lack of enthusiasm...felt sorry for Elton and McCartney getting roped into it...Shit Sandwich for sure

The original is so deadpan and close to the truth that there have been times I've watched it over the years and not found it funny despite knowing for a fact and from long time experience that it is in fact, funny. And indeed subsequent viewings after that were funny again.

I watched the original recently for the first time in forever and yeah a lot of stuff was "too real" to be funny 'natch

I don't think even Guest, Mckean and Shearer could hide their lack of enthusiasm

they're doing tons on promo for it too and they don't seem super stoked or inspired in any of that, either.

I've gone from "maybe I'll see this at some point" to "probably won't bother"

Reiner was on Ted Danson's podcast the other day and he was saying they saw hardly any $$$ from the OG movie, then Shearer won the rights to Spinal Tap back and they decided to make the movie then. I guess this is their one swing to make some cash from the franchise.

Yeah basically they had to keep making irregular appearances as Tap over the moons just to have a toehold on some rights when things were still in question.

So we should count ourselves lucky that we got this and not some horrifying Warren Beatty/Dick Tracy situation.

It sounds like maybe I don’t need to see this.

Reiner was on Ted Danson's podcast the other day and he was saying they saw hardly any $$$ from the OG movie, then Shearer won the rights to Spinal Tap back and they decided to make the movie then. I guess this is their one swing to make some cash from the franchise.

― conspiracitorial theories (stevie), Monday, September 15, 2025 3:21 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's absolutely insane if "making some cash" is his reasoning behind this because Harry Shearer has been making somewhere between $250k and $500k an EPISODE to be on zombie Simpsons for the last 20 years.

Well, we don’t know about the others. Guest has his lordship or whatever, not sure if McKean and Reiner are equally flush.

Reiner is loaded, dunno about McKean

Ok so now we need a Galaxy Quest style behind-the-scenes thing where McKean keeps pushing them to do more in-character appearances because he needs the money, while Guest, Reiner, and Shearer roll their eyes and grudgingly go along with it for the sake of camaraderie.

But then when they discover how truly adored they are, they develop a newfound appreciation for dragging this tired old act one more time.

xpost Guest has been married to Jamie Lee Curtis for like 40 years, so they probably do alright with their combined incomes

Reiner is loaded, dunno about McKean

The “North” residuals just keep rolling in

It's absolutely insane if "making some cash" is his reasoning behind this because Harry Shearer has been making somewhere between $250k and $500k an EPISODE to be on zombie Simpsons for the last 20 years.

Or maybe they did it because they love Spinal Tap and wanted to do one more movie. But that's not the vibe I'm getting.

Also, it's Hollywood. You could always do with one more ivory backscratcher.

Ignoring the fact that rich people always want more money.

McKean’s done loads of stuff. He won’t have done three seasons of Better Call Saul for chump change.

not sure if this has been mentioned but 4k criterion version of the original came out today. on sale too. https://www.criterion.com/films/317-this-is-spinal-tap?srsltid=AfmBOoobLk7oS2tnXAXRrrYuTVCfbjkIZfZ75FjZ09s24jyFpIsiQGFZ

My wife is in advertising, and she said when she played a new tie-in with Liquid Death only 20% of her team had even *heard* of Spinal Tap! But they all liked the promo/ad.

xpost I'm waiting for the 50% off sale to upgrade.

David St. Hubbins had a pretty sweet Amoeba bag.

Maybe they’ve shot a What’s In My Bag? YouTube vid

As if by magic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOALVpbdwOY

[Sort of a bit bummed when they have joke/in-character guests tbh]

Missed opportunity to be, you know, funny.

Enjoyed the vid, some good choices. Laughed out loud at the rhythm guitarists joke.

Yeah it's weird, it's like they're in-character but they're not in-character - I can't imagine the real StHubbins being a Rezillos fan, or digging Utopia's Swing To The Right. xp

The A Cappella joke is good.

It sounds like maybe I don’t need to see this.

Nobody does.

Sat stone faced through an 11pm screening after work; caught an 11am of Splitsville on the way in the next day, and the the theatre was rocking with laughter throughout, from five punters total.

So I had some thoughts (on the original film and its new Criterion release)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/some-weekly-165-140910752

Thanks Ned, I may pick this up during the next big Criterion sale.

I was wondering how the sequel did at the box office given all the negative reactions, and yikes, less than $3.5 million worldwide on a $23 million budget. Don't count on a third movie, that's for sure.

the problem here for me was that it was not funny, all while being somewhat depressing about mortality generally

pretty much

too *much* fuckin perspective

People of the UK, help me out here: the three principals were pretending to be english, whereas Tony Hendra is a legit englishman (I don't have much of a notion that Guest really spent much time immersed in the culture as a younger person) and so given the improvisation upon which the movie revolves, Hendra was going to be able to blurt out stuff that resonates as shit english people would say…

in the scene in which the band and Janine excoriate Ian for the Stonehenge mishap, Ian rebukes Janine: "…especially one who dresses like an australian's nightmare!" I can infer what he means, but I would like confirmation from Uk Ilxors as to what he's getting at…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9UPTfQDP8c

For many years, this movie was ubiquitous, not only re: people reciting lines from it and then elbow to your ribs, a la Fletch, and it would be on at every goddamn party I went to… it became very tedious, and so now its nice to check it out after time away from it… I tried to watch the new one, and I didn't have the heart to continue…

Australian's nightmare = gaudy and tasteless?

vm, I shudder about the extent to which my high school friends' "sense of humor" consisted of references to Spinal Tap or Monty Python or whatever. SO many missed opportunities to say something original and organic. The mind reels.

I think Ian's cricket bat is a reference to Peter Grant, who would threaten people with a baseball bat?

Speaking of Ian, I always wondered why it was such a big deal to locate mandolin strings in the middle of Austin. I mean, was that the joke? That they practically provide you with mandolin strings just for checking into a hotel in Austin, but David wouldn't know that?

while we're on the subject, can someone explain "prize the rent from the local Hebrews?" That whole monologue somehow still makes me laugh despite not really getting some of the references

Just an antisemitic joke.

yeah, that did occur to me: the only place in the world easier to get mandolin strings than Austin would be Nashville…

Ok, Tom D, you should have the insight here… why australian, but not Irish, Scots or "Seth Efrican": what is it about australians that someone would condescend to? they are descended from convicts, and thus have hideous taste? I watched the scene with a 50 year old scouser the other day and she couldn't provide insight…

Australians: brash, loud, uncultured and tasteless... a bit like Americans really.

... is a stereotype.

^^^ all this and, specifically, that they are perceived as looking garish.

This was the also was the era when Barry Humphries/Dame Edna became an international superstar/megastar and part of the act was about these stereotypes of Australians, also in the Barry Mackenzie movie. The "Australian's nightmare" gag reminds of the "technicolour yawn".
Tried to find evidence of Hendra working with Humphries, but I haven't. Humphries worked with the Private Eye set in the UK, and Hendra worked for National Lampoon, the US equivalent (kind of). Hendra also did the first series of Spitting Image. His paths must have crossed with Humphries. Just a thought.

Do you know what I spend my time doing? I sleep two or three hours a night. There's no sex and drugs for Ian, David. Do you know what I do? I find lost luggage. I locate mandolin strings in the middle of Austin!

I mean, maybe it's intended... he does also do the line about Boston not being a college town.

what is it about australians that someone would condescend to

US teen culture "discovered" Australia in the 1980s, between the release of Men at Work's Business as Usual and "Crocodile Dundee."

Add in Air Supply, "Let's Get Physical" and the 1983 America's Cup races... I cannot overstate this: an American suburban teenager went from having exactly zero thoughts about Australia to saying "shrimp on the barbie" ironically. I assure you we had mostly not heard of whatever a Dame Edna is.

We already had homegrown instances of the neon-and-legwarmers look, but it may have grafted onto our image of Australia with little resistance.

I remember kids in my ‘80s childhood saying “Technicolor yawn” though

I only discovered Dame Edna in the early 90s when public TV ran the show

Did that come with added Les Patterson?

I learned about both the Dame and Les via this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_English

7. The Muvver Tongue: Discusses Cockney dialect and Australian English.

(Seriously, both of them, plus Barry, appeared towards the end -- the Dame briefly, Barry in general conversation, and Les doing a bit.)

Did that come with added Les Patterson?

not that I recall but I wasn’t a habitual watcher.

The talk show did not include Les or any other Humphries characters iirc (there was a silent Madge, and the English actress became the regular inhabitor of the role thenceforth)

The UK also had the likes of Barry McKenzie, Alvin Purple, OZ magazine etc playing up the image of larrikin, crude, nightmarishly uncultured yobbos.

And Jeanine, David and Nigel aren't exactly middle class themselves (unlike Derek!) so her garish get-ups are played as typical rock'n'roll tastelessness.

Everything in his speech is funny, not just because it's all a bit ridiculous, but also because it shows off Ian's general boorishness and the fact that he is only barely smarter than the band but holds himself in high regard by comparison.

i took “Australian’s nightmare” as an oblique reference to Olivia Newton-John

I mean, maybe it's intended... he does also do the line about Boston not being a college town.

Always thought this was him attempting to brush away the cancellation of the Boston show and relying on the group not realising Boston is actually very much a college town

It is.

an American suburban teenager went from having exactly zero thoughts about Australia to saying "shrimp on the barbie" ironically

LOL. This is exactly right. I would also add Mad Max/Road Warrior to the list of Aussie cultural exports around that time.

+ Yahoo Serious

Olivia Newton-John in Grease and AC/DC gave very mixed messages on what Australians might be like, leading up to Road Warrior and shrimps on barbies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNhc1jMSaE

Olivia Newton-John in Grease and AC/DC gave very mixed messages on what Australians might be like, leading up to Road Warrior and shrimps on barbies

Don't forget about Jacko! And Crocodile Dundee. But I feel like most of these things (from a US vantage) were post-"Spinal Tap." C. 1984, I'm not sure what the the most obvious international Australia touchstone might have been. I'd say not "The Road Warrior" (too cult), and not even AC/DC (I'm not sure if the average American thinks of them as Australian, any more than the Bee Gees, tbh). Olivia Newton-John might have been the most prominent example at the time, especially post "Physical."

I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Barry Humphries/Dame Edna until "Finding Nemo."

The Bee Gees weren't really Australian though tbf.

That's where they formed and had their first success, though, right? But yeah, I guess they moved back out relatively quickly.

Similarly, of course neither Bon Scott nor Brian Johnson were born in Australia, but did Bon have an Australian accent? It's the accent (Americans, at least) think of as much if not more than the culture. I do think Olivia must have been the most visible and identifiable Aussie at the time, internationally.

Bon very much did have an Australian accent! All of the Young brothers were born in Glasgow, Angus had a 100% Aussie accent, George still sounded Scottish when he was in the Easybeats at least, I could occasionally detect a touch of Scottishness in Malcolm's accent.

Brian Johnson is definitely not Australian!

For sure. Geordie all the way, lol.

Whoa!

Ok, we're cool again...

I didn't know Paul Hogan had his own sketch comedy show. (I realize it was popular, but was it any good?)

Also, didn't know this per Wikipedia: "In the early 1990s, a Paramount executive pitched a concept of a Crocodile Dundee and Beverly Hills Cop crossover movie."

I realize it was popular, but was it any good?

No.

All I recall of it is Paul and his sidekick toasting bread with a blowtorch when they got up

The success of Crocodile Dundee took me by surprise because the Paul Hogan shows always seemed so kind of cheap and ramshackle - part of his appeal seemed to be that he was like some guy who'd wandered in from a pub and not at all like a professional performer.

Always confuse Paul Hogan and Bryan Brown.

I didn't know Paul Hogan had his own sketch comedy show. (I realize it was popular, but was it any good?)

I loved it, but I thikn I was 7 when it stopped screening in the UK

I think Paul Hogan had that comedy series withdrawn.

I remember it as being somewhat Benny Hill in content.

My favourite Crocodile Dundee thing is that INXS invested in it as a tax dodge (on the basis that Australian films always lost money) and it ended up being a roaring success and fucking up their tax minimisation dreams

I think Paul Hogan had that comedy series withdrawn.

I think he hosted links for compilation shows of it in later decades and that the 2006 best-of 2DVD is still in print.

I remember it as being somewhat Benny Hill in content.

I remember it as including a Benny Hill parody, of sorts.

The success of Crocodile Dundee took me by surprise because the Paul Hogan shows always seemed so kind of cheap and ramshackle

That seems to define Hollywood cinema of the 1980s, paradoxically done with big budgets.

Olivia Newton-John also English, fwiw

and Angus + Malcolm Young are Scots alongside Geordie Brian. Bon Scott was an Aussie of course.

Eh? Bon Scott was from Kirriemuir.

His nickname even came from "Bonnie Scotland"!

My favourite Crocodile Dundee thing is that INXS invested in it as a tax dodge (on the basis that Australian films always lost money) and it ended up being a roaring success and fucking up their tax minimisation dreams

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth)

could make for a solid Producers-type movie

xxp well shows what I know. I thought the statue in Freo was because he was born there

Colin Hay, writer of the Australian national anthem ‘Down Under’ has kept a Scottish accent despite living in Oz/US for nearly 60 years.

(xp) There's also a statue in Kirriemuir.

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-p/0b/1a/f5/82/bon-scott-statue-kirriemuir.jpg

... their other famous son is J.M. Barrie btw.

writer of the Australian national anthem ‘Down Under’

Glossing over a somewhat famous copyright dispute there, mate