History Trivia / ThisIsSpinalTap

* AFIS100Years100Laughs: #29

* TropeNamer: For UpToEleven.

* TropeNamer: UpToEleven.

* FakeBrit: Creator/HarryShearer and Creator/MichaelMcKean. Creator/ChristopherGuest, 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.
* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/ChristopherGuest was inspired to create the Nigel Tufnel character whilte waiting for a friend in a hotel lobby and seeing a British band checking in when the bass player realized he'd left his bass at the airport and get in an argument with the manager and fellow band members.

** [[Music/CultureClub Boy George]] got stuck inside a ridiculous huge prop onstage during a number. As did Music/{{U2}} some years later. The Edge said he was thinking of this movie when it happened [[DarkestHour and his blood went cold at the thought]].

** A non-musical example: Nowadays, the gift shop at Stonehenge sells trilithon-shaped neck pillows that look just like the prop from the film ... and are more or less the same size.

* 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 trip to a local zoo amongst others.

* BigNameFan: [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Trey Parker]] cited this as the movie that not only made him want to study music but helped him realize that he could use music for comedy.

* DVDCommentary: The original commentary for the film released on DVD by Criterion was played straight. When MGM re-released the film on DVD twelve years later, Guest, [=McKean=] and Shearer recorded a commentary ''in character'', spending most of it ripping director [=DiBergi=] for the "hatchet job" he produced.

** A year after a demo reel of the film was produced in 1982, Black Sabbath's Born Again 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).

** One of Spın̈al 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.

** And the films rating on IMDB (well, for one film, anyway.)
* SharedUniverse:
** With ''Series/LaverneAndShirley''; Tufnel first appeared playing guitar for Lenny and the Squigtones.
** Bobbi Flekman appeared in ''Series/TheNanny''.
* StarMakingRole: This film launched Creator/RobReiner's directorial career.

** The band seems to be a generation behind in technology. In the MGM Commentary recorded in 2000, eBay gets brought up a lot and Nigel doesn't have his own email account.

* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/ChristopherGuest was inspired to create the Nigel Tufnel character whilte waiting for a friend in a hotel lobby and seeing a British band checking in when the bass player realized he'd left his bass at the airport.

* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/ChristopherGuest was inspired to create the Nigel Tufnel character after waiting for a friend in a hotel lobby and seeing a British band checking in, when the bass player realized he'd left his bass at the airport.

* SharedUniverse: With ''Series/LaverneAndShirley''; Tufnel first appeared playing guitar for Lenny and the Squigtones.

* StarmakingRole: This film launched Creator/RobReiner's directorial career.

** Re. the comment -->'''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.

** Authentic metal legend Music/OzzyOsbourne is on record as saying that ''This Is Spın̈al 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.
*** In fact, when he first saw the film, he didn't laugh once because he ''didn't realize it was a satire.''

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

** [[Music/CultureClub Boy George]] got stuck inside a ridiculous huge prop onstage during a number. As did Music/{{U2}} some years later.

** The band seems to be a generation behind in technology. In the MGM Commentary recorded in 2000, eBay gets brought up a lot and Nigel's doesn't have his own email account.

* {{Defictionalization}}: In spades. The actors perform in character in live shows. They've recorded three albums, made music videos, and appeared on countless radio and TV shows. They even have a feud with Marty [=DiBergi=] about their portrayal in the film, going so far as to take offense that people find the film humorous. [=DiBergi=] has at times responded to these claims. Their audio commentary on the Special Edition DVD is also fully in character, arguably constituting a movie in its own right. The song "Gimme Some Money" was even ''covered'' for a Capitol One commercial!

* {{Defictionalization}}: In spades. The actors perform in character in live shows. They've recorded three albums, made music videos, and appeared on countless radio and TV shows. They even have a feud with Marty [=DiBergi=] about their portrayal in the film, going so far as to take offense that people find the film humorous. [=DiBergi=] has at times responded to these claims. Their audio commentary on the Special Edition DVD is also fully in character, arguably constituting a movie in its own right. The song "Gimme Some Money" was even ''covered'' for a CitiBank commercial!

** [[Music/CultureClub Boy George]] got stuck inside a ridiculous huge prop onstage during a number. As did Music/U2 some years later.

** [[Music/CultureClub Boy George]] got stuck inside a ridiculous huge prop onstage during a number.

* BigNameFan: [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Trey Parker]] cited this as the movie that not only made him want to study music but that he could use it for comedy.

* BigNameFan: [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Trey Parker]] cited this film as the movie that not only made him want to study music but that he could use it for comedy.

* BreakthroughHit: For Creator/RobReiner as a director.

-->'''[=Viv=]''': Quite exciting, this [[MagicalComputer computer magic!]]