History Trivia / ThisIsSpinalTap

** In the film the band's album ''Shark Sandwich'' is given a two-word review in ''Rolling Stone'': "Shit Sandwich." Years later, Music/QuietRiot's fourth album ''Condition Critical'' was given a similar two-word review in Rolling Stone: "Condition Terminal."

* NonSingingVoice: Averted. The three leads play their own instruments and do their own singing. As stated elsewhere, they've done countless live performances demonstrating their musical talents.

* TooSoon: Many RealLife musicians found this film a bit too close for comfort at the time of release.

** Members of Music/JethroTull 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 same thing was done once at a Music/NineInchNails concert, resulting in a good laugh by normally stoic frontman Trent Reznor.

** The venues they play in the movie are fictitious. However, in 1989 an actual Shank Hall opened in Milwaukee. Their logo includes a miniature Stonehenge and there's a shrine to Spinal Tap in the club.

** In many ways, Spinal Tap has become so iconic that the boundary between real and fiction is blurred for many fans and ''performers'' of the genre, even if only to maintain TheMasquerade.

** 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. Family and friends disputed this, claiming that he had a family history of heart conditions and was not a heavy cocaine user.

** Authentic metal legend Music/OzzyOsbourne is on record as saying that ''This Is Spinal Tap'' is a worryingly accurate portrayal of what it was like being a rock star in the 1980's. Specifically, although it hadn't happened to him, he describes the scene where the band get lost backstage and claims that he "could all too easily imagine that the same thing had actually happened" in real life, among other examples.

* DeletedScenes: The DVD release includes many scenes that did not make the final cut.[[note]]As with most real documentaries, hours upon hours of footage was shot and what we see in the film is just a tiny portion of that.[[/note]] They include a visit from David's 18-year-old son who has "doctored his appearance to achieve coolness", Derek negotiating a divorce from his wife, Tommy the chauffeur getting high and singing in his underwear, a clip from an Italian film Derek appeared in, the band attempting to find a replacement for Nigel after he quits and a visit to a local zoo amongst others.

* FakeBrit: Harry Shearer and Michael [=McKean=]. Christopher Guest, on the other hand, has dual American-British citizenship and is now a British Baron. The accents of the cast were apparently good enough to fool British audiences.

* BreakthroughHit: For Creator/RobReiner.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: You may be surprised to find out that the "Lick my Love Pump" gag is indeed based on real life- Mozart had a piece called "Leck Mich Im Arsch" (Lick Me In The Ass).

* {{Production Posse}}:

* CastTheExpert: Several genuine rock vets played the various other members of the band. David Kaff (Viv Savage) and R.J. Parnell (Mick Shrimpton) had both been in Britsh ProgressiveRock bands (Rare Bird and Atomic Rooster, respectively). Legendary session musicians Danny Kortchmar (Ronnie Pudding) and Russ Kunkel (Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs) appear in the archival footage.

* DuelingWorks: Released a few months after ''Film/{{Zelig}}'', the other {{Mockumentary}} TropeCodifier.

* CaliforniaDoubling: The entire movie was shot in Los Angeles County.

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

** The drummer of Swedish band Abba, Ola Brunkert, [[https://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-abba-drummer-dies-in-bizarre-gardening-accident died]] in what can be called a "bizarre gardening accident".
** [[RuleOfFunny As did]] the [[http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/07/arts/jeffrey-porcaro-toto-s-drummer-and-a-studio-musician-38-dies.html drummer of Toto]], Jeff Porcaro.

** Music/BoyGeorge got stuck inside a ridiculous huge prop onstage during a number.

** Music/{{Metallica}} released a black album, which might have been a deliberate ShoutOut.

** 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.

** 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. Not to mention that there's now an entire genre of SymphonicMetal...

** After the release of the film, Black Sabbath's 1983 tour featured a Stonehenge set that was ''also'' marked up with the wrong measurements on the schematics (meters instead of feet, resulting in a 50' tall stone instead of a 15' tall stone).

* RetroactiveRecognition: In spades, many of the following actors and actresses would go on to become famous.
** [[Film/WhenHarryMetSally Billy Crystal]] and [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Dana Carvey]] as a pair of catering mimes.
** The late [[Film/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.

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