History Trivia / ThisIsSpinalTap

** One of Spinal Tap's drummers died in a "bizarre gardening accident"; Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro was reported to have died after inhaling insecticide that he had been spraying in his garden. However, coroners later put his death down to a heart attack due to cocaine abuse.

** [[WhenHarryMetSally Billy Crystal]] and [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Dana Carvey]] as a pair of catering mimes.
** The late [[CitySlickers Bruno Kirby]] as a limousine driver. (His part was larger in the PilotMovie.)

* RetroactiveRecognition: In spades, many of the following actors and actresses would go on to become famous.
** [[WhenHarryMetSally Billy Crystal]] and [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Dana Carvey]] as a pair of catering mimes.
** The late [[CitySlickers Bruno Kirby]] as a limousine driver. (His part was larger in the PilotMovie.)
** [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati WKRP's]] Johnny Fever as the manager for Spinal Tap rival Duke Fame.
** [[DavidLetterman David Letterman's bandleader]] as the band's A& R rep.
** [[Series/TheNanny The Nanny]] as a record company exec.
** [[Series/StElsewhere Dr. Victor Ehrlich]] (OK, for the younger folks, [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment Stan Sitwell]]) as a previous drummer during their Beatles phase.
** The leader of ''Series/TheAvengers'' (no, not [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Captain America]]) as the head of Tap's record company.
** Diana's rival from the original ''V'' as David St. Hubbins' girlfriend.
** Fred Willard as a military commander at an airbase Tap performs at.
** [[Creator/AnjelicaHuston Anjelica Huston]] as the poor prop designer who is told to '[[spoiler: fuck the napkin!]]'[[note]]'''Derek:''' Well, you really can't fuck the napkin.[[/note]]
** B-movie scream queens Brinke Stevens and Linnea Quigley as groupies.
** Mr. Bentley from ''TheJeffersons'' as a put-upon hotel concierge/twisted old fruit.

* TheCameo: In spades, many before (some during) they played notable characters in other TV & film:

* TheCameo: In spades, many before (some during) they played notable characters in other TV & film, in so that some appearances could count as a HeyItsThatGuy:

** [[WhenHarryMetSally Billy Crystal]] and [[SaturdayNightLive Dana Carvey]] as a pair of catering mimes.

** [[WKRPInCincinnati WKRP's]] Johnny Fever as the manager for Spinal Tap rival Duke Fame.

** [[TheNanny The Nanny]] as a record company exec.

** Ed Begley Jr. was John 'Stumpy' Pepys.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Several notable actors play minor roles:
** The two mime waiters are DanaCarvey and Billy Crystal.
** The band's first drummer was Ed Begley Jr.
** Fran Drescher plays Bobbi Fleckman. In an interview, she says that people still identify with her more for this supporting role than her more recent and starring turn in ''TheNanny''
** The band's chauffeur in New York is Bruno Kirby, perhaps best known as young Clemenza in ''Film/TheGodfather 2''
** The "Stonehenge" set designer is an almost unrecognizable Creator/AnjelicaHuston.

** Likewise, the drummer who died "choking on vomit." Creator/JohnBonham died this way, after a night of heavy drinking. So did Creator/JimiHendrix. Although it wasn't "somebody else's vomit."

* {{Production Posse}}: This film originated Christopher Guest's production posse for his own mockumentary films.

** David has a line where he'd been planning on doing a collaboration with the London Philharmonic. Something like 20 years later, Metallica came out with "S&M," a live album featuring the band playing alongside the San Francisco Symphony.

** The leader of ''Series/TheAvengers'' (no, not [[Film/TheAvengers that one]]) as the head of Tap's record company.

** Between 1983 and 1984, Music/{{Marillion}} burned through three drummers in rapid succession after firing Mick Pointer before finally settling on Ian Mosley. Notably, they did this in between two albums.

** And the films rating on IMDB.

** And the films rating on IMDB.

** Re. the commment -->'''David:''' ''[[RevolvingDoorBand 37 people]]'' have been in this band over the years! Coincidentally, this is about the same number of personnel who have been with space rockers Music/{{Hawkwind}} over the life of the band. And a cursory look at the Hawkwind personnel list shows a disproportionate number of these were drummers. Hawkwind's stage sets and lasers were also so ambitious they blew the fuses at many venues.

* {{Production Posse}}: This film originated Christopher Guest's production posse for his own mockumentary films.

** Members of [[JethroTull Jethro Tull]] played a prank on their frontman, Ian Anderson, during one of their concerts. They lowered an 18" model of Stonehenge from the ceiling in mid-song, and the roadies danced around it.

** The "Stonehenge" set designer is an almost unrecognizable Creator/AnjelicaHuston.

** The "Stonehenge" set designer is an almost unrecognizable AnjelicaHuston.

** [[TheNanny Fran Drescher]] plays Bobbi Fleckman.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Where to start:

** The band's chauffeur in New York is [[Film/TheGodfather young Clemenza]]. Or maybe [[WhereTheBuffaloRoam Jann Wenner]] of ''Rolling Stone''.
** And possibly more.

** The band's chauffeur in New York is [[TheGodfather young Clemenza]]. Or maybe [[WhereTheBuffaloRoam Jann Wenner]] of ''Rolling Stone''.