Spoof Rock act that has generated a huge cult following due to the unnervingly accurate of their portrayal of an English Hard Rock band on the American touring circuit. SPINAL TAP was originally served as the fictitious subject of director Rob Reiner's March 1984 "Mockumentary" movie 'This Is Spinal Tap'. An entirely ficticious back catalogue was invented, incorporating such titles as 'Rock n' Roll Creation', 'Brainhammer', 'Shark Sandwich', 'Heavy Metal Memories', 'The Sun Never Sweats' and 'Intravenus de Milo'.

The 'members' of SPINAL TAP proved to be vocalist / guitarist David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and bassisy Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Ironically, tracks such as 'Big Bottom', 'Hell Hole' and 'Sex Farm' took on a wider appreciation.

The actual SPINAL TAP concept was assembled by means of clever subterfuge. McKean, Guest and Shearer placed an advertisment in local Los Angeles musicians magazines stating that established English musicians with financial backing were seeking new members to form a band. During these "auditions", the three actors wore wigs of long hair and adopted fake Cockney accents. This disguise proved effective and during jam and rehearsal sessions the new recruits, keyboard player Jon Sinclair, from URIAH HEEP, and drummer Ric Parnell, were not only put through their paces musically but also used to share their career memories. Once enough material had been gathered for the script, the musicians turned up for rehearsal to discover the three actors now with short hair and American accents, upon which they were then told the full plot.

The movie famously features a succession of real events re-worked into the story of SPINAL TAP. The scene in which the band performs at a US air base actually happened to URIAH HEEP. An unscheduled tour stop saw URIAH HEEP shifted from one venue into a US military facility who, believing they had booked a dance outfit, had no idea they were in fact to endure the full volume of a Hard Rock band. As in the film, the control tower's communications did blast through the PA.

In one scene, Shearer is shown trapped inside a transparent alien coccoon in the song 'Rock n' Roll Creation' at the start of a show. This event befell the SCORPIONS during a stage rehearsal at staging company Light & Sound Design in Birmingham. The "Rock star" the band meets in a hotel lobby is in fact PAUL SHORTINO from ROUGH CUTT. The flashback to the 60s Psychedelia of '(Listen to The) Flower People' undoubtedly mimmicks STATUS QUO's pre-Boogie hits.

SPINAL TAP's rider requirements aped VAN HALEN's insistence that they be served bowls of M&Ms with the brown ones removed and actor Yul Brynner's orders that he never be served brown eggs. FOGHAT claimed that an episode of their history was used by the film makers, in scenes where a band members girlfriend plots out a touring schedule based on astrology. A drummer's death attributed to a "bizarre gardening accident" was mirrored by TOTO's Jeff Porcaro passing, attributed to pesticide inhalation. When this tragic news was reported, journalists were quick to employ the SPINAL TAP reference.

Most famously, BLACK SABBATH's 1983 stage set of Stonehenge was parodied. In actuality, Geezer Butler had designed the ancient menhirs and insisted they be "life size". When Light & Sound Design followed his instructions the resulting fibre glass columns were too big to fit into most venues. In SPINAL TAP, this story is reversed, actress Angelica Huston producing an embarressing mini-Stonehenge. The movie also employs dwarves to dance around the stones, a parody of both BLACK SABBATH and OZZY OSBOURNE's cruel employment of little people onstage to upset former singer Ronnie James Dio.

The original album cover for 'Smell The Glove' was actually used in an advertisement in 'Billboard' to promote the release of 'This Is Spinal Tap'. Throughout the movie the band manage to get through drummers at an alarming rate, commencing with the demise of John "Stumpy" Pepys in 1969, although one real recruit was an original auditionee, former HORSE, ATOMIC ROOSTER, NOVA, and DEVIANTS drummer Ric Parnell. He would later turn up working with WAYNE KRAMER.

The debut album was re-issued in 1989 after the cult following had filtered into the mainstream. The track 'Bitch School' was generally regarded to be a spoof of BRITNY FOX's 'Girlschool'. A CD-ROM was released during 1997 that featured previously unseen footage from the cutting room floor from the movie, including deleted scenes featuring CHERIE CURRIE of THE RUNAWAYS.

SPINAL TAP performed their first live gig at Gazzari's on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles on a double bill with IRON BUTTERFLY. The band announced their return in 2000 with new drummer Mick Fleetwood of FLEETWOOD MAC. However, the band- minus Fleetwood, pulled together for a string of Californian dates in June of 2001 billed the 'Back From The Dead- Live & Loud' tour.

SPINAL TAP reunited for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of worldwide Live Earth concerts on July 7 2007. Preceding this event a brand new Rob Reiner directed 15 minute film documentary was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.