Conference mr1pst::music

    I guess they have a new album out (or comming soon).
    
    It's called "Break Like the Wind".
    
    Later...
    Steve
    
    

Regarding their new album title, all that can be said is:

"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

    Confirmed...there is definitely an album being released.  ROLLING STONE
    did a straight review of it.
    
    K.C.

    I heard the new Tap album in Nashua last week (must have been a promo),
    
    AND IT WAS GOOD! (<--- You must say this line like the line in 
    the begining of "Rock and Roll Creation")
    
    good music, humourous lyrics.
    
    
    chUck_Waiting_for_the_tour  

    re -.1
    
    Perhaps the most obscure referral to Tap that I've read yet in the
    notesfile, and perhaps the funniest.
    
    Made me cry.
    
    Ed the coop

    The new single is called "Bitch School". It's about dogs, would you
    believe?, and features the immortal line:
    
    "Don't you go sniffing around strangers."
    
    barry.
    
    p.s. I hope they tour the UK so that we can go along and hold up lighters
    ....which don't work.           

  One of the tunes on the CD has Satriani, Slash, and Beck on it - I think...
Another tune has Cher on it. I managed to hear a promo recently.

/J

    I'm hoping that Tap's recent activity will mean that their first album
    will be re-released.  I have a very old, very bad cassette recording
    of the original album, and when I tried to order an LP copy a few years
    ago, found it was out of print!  Has anyone seen it around (or do you
    have a copy I can buy)?
    
    (Was the first album called "Smell the Glove" or "Soundtrack from This
    Is Spinal Tap?)
    
    	Eve
    	(Tap! Tap! Tap!...)

    I've seen it on CD at Newbury Comics (not sure when).
    
    -Jesse

    
    	The first is called "This Is Spinal Tap".  It was going to be
    	called "Smell the Glove", but they had too many complaints.
    
    	8^)
    
    	It's available on CD.
    
    	The second is definitely out, because I bought it Saturday night.
    
    							GTI
    

Is Derek (Harry Shearer) the same Harry Shearer that does several voices on The 
Simpsons??

Scott

    Harry Shearer was also recently in a movie with, of all people,
    Sylvester Stalone. The movie is a *comedy* called "OSCAR". Harry
    plays a tailor, one of the "Famous Fanucci Brothers". I rented the
    movie and I was very surprised (not at Shearer being good, but at
    Stalone).
    
    Not the *greatest* movie ever made, but one loaded with good chuckles.
    If you like Harry Shearer, you might want to check out this film. Tim
    "I'm a Swwwwwwweet TranvesssssTite" Curry is in it as well.
    
    Brian

    
    I thought Sylvester was suprising good in a light comedy.  And Harry
    had a nice touch with the tailor role.  A fun film - not great, but
    better than you'd expect.

    RE: .7 the Satriani/Slash/Beck number
    
    So the story goes, Nigel had recorded a solo on that number, but as a
    "birthday present" David and Derek erased part of his solo and got the
    3 above (plus Steve Lukather) to play it instead...
    
    Nick
                
    ps I Guitarist magazine (a UK mag) Nigel reveals his latest invention -
    an amp capo. "It's about this big by this big (makes a few fisherman's
    gestures) and I strap it around the Marshall stacks which are about
    this wide (more fisherman gestures) and it goes round the bottom. What
    it does is, if you can only play in A it squeezes, sonically, the cones
    to shape the sound, pushing it up higher, lifting it. So you make a
    mark on the side of the speaker, say A, G, etc and get the roadie to
    push it up."

    The Amp Capo reminds me:

    Back before the Tap recorded this album, they put an ad in an L.A
    alternative rag looking for a new drummer (the ad cited the reason
    as "old one died").  The tryouts were held at the L.A Colliseum, and
    MCA handed out some press kits, one of which I managed to get a hold of.

    Besides an 8x10 glossy, there's loads of "information" about the
    forming of the band, what they've been doing since "Smell The Glove",
    etc.  It mentioned the amp capo and some other great tidbits like the
    fact that Derek has been playing with a Christian rock band called
    Lambsblood.

    I'm still waiting for the Saucy Jack concept album...

    - Sean

    
    	I saw Steve Lukather's name in the credits, but can't remember who
    	he is.  Who is he?
    
    							GTI

    Toto.

    You can get the first Spinal Tap CD through Noteworthy for a reasonable
    price (like most of Noteworthy's goods!)
    
    I picked up the new CD, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. 
    However, did everyone notice the linear notes - how they had to "redo"
    them by adding an extra page because they "forgot" to list important
    information!
    
    The cover itself is a classic!!!  Just put it next to any Kiss, AC/DC,
    Metallica, Aerosmith, Motley Crue CD and you'll see how true the
    parody is!!!
    
    BTW- any news about a tour?  I can't wait to see that 18 inch
    Stonehenge!!!!
    
    Fredda

    re: .17, .18
    
    Yes, Steve Lukather is the guitarist for Toto.

	I found out, too late, that Tap was on The David Letterman show last 
Friday (March 27th).  Would anybody have a copy of that show on VHS tape that
I could borrow?

thanks,
kevin

	For what it's worth, I heard that they performed 'Bitch School'.

    
    Anyone see the Marshall guitar that Tufnel has in Guitar magazine?
    Pretty wild!

 My wife was seeing the kids off to school monday, and on Good Morning
America she saw Charlie was interviewing Nigel and Derek in the studio
and David via remote satellite! Anyway, she plugged a tape in for the
2nd half and below is the transcript from that point on.

Droid

        (don't forget to read with the accents!)


Charlie: "Yea... did they flock to you, did the Christians flock to you?"

Derek:   "Yea, actually, ah, we had a good run intent and we played the
          Monsters of Jesus festival a couple of years in a row."

Charlie: "Ah, I see... and I've heard, Nigel, that you've been doing
          some inventing?"

Nigel:   "Yea, well *I* said that..."

Derek:   "That's where we all heard it."

Nigel:   "...You all heard it from me."

Charlie: "So what did you invent?"

Nigel:   "Well, I've invented a folding wine glass."

Charlie: "Goooooood!"

Nigel:   "For people... If you'd like to go on a picnic, which you probably
          have, and you've said 'What should I use?'. A glass!  But it will
          break if I put it in my pocket, won't it?!"

Charlie: "Good point."

Nigel:   "That would be stupid, shards in your pocket's no good. This is...
          folds down on all four sides with lit-el hinges, and the only bad
          part is... the wine leaks."

Charlie: "Oh, well... but as soon as you get that worked out..."

Nigel:   "That's the bug you see...  but Leonardo..."  (gets cut off)

David:   "'Till then we'll all have to use paper cups like everyone else,
          right?!"  (said in his all serious face and wise voice!)

Nigel:   "Yea, well don't rub it in.."

Charlie: "But as soon as you work that out it'll be ok... Now, is the
          band any different?"

All:     "Older... More mature... more maturity... etc"

Charlie: "Do you sound different?"

Nigel:   "No, we sound, louder... cuz you always got to sound louder. We've
          got a new keyboard player because the old one went to visit the
          grave of the drummer and the grave exploded and he was killed."

Derek:   "The scientific explaination was ME-thane gas build-up. We've
          got a new drummer who's the younger twin brother of our ex-
          drummer, who just insisted..."

David:   "It's very complicated, yea..."

Charlie: "The younger twin brother..."

Derek:   "20 minutes, yea."

Charlie: "...so you get somewhat the same sound?"

Derek:   "Yea, but harder."

Charlie: "Now you're going to tour with this new album?"

Nigel:   "Oh yes, in May we go out all over the United States and then
          back to England and we end up at the Royal Albert Hall in July."

Charlie: "And David, is there another album, er, another movie in all of
          this?"

David:   "Nah, I hope not. I mean the last one made us all a bit nervous.
          We were shown one cut in the film that really made us look rather
          good, and a bit mature before our time. So um, now that we've
          achieved actual maturity there's no reason to try and fake it
          with a film."

Charlie: "Well, it's wonderful that you're all are back together, I think
          this is a blessed event."

David:   "It's nice that you're back together too, Charlie."

Charlie: "Well, that's still debatable..."

David:   "Oh."

Derek:   "Well turn it up Charlie!"

David:   "Bye Gents!"

                Goodbyes...
[EOB]

    Has anyone gone to see Spinal Tap on their current tour?  I have
    tickets to see them tomorrow night at the Beacon Theatre in NYC (3rd
    row center from Ticketmaster!) and I was wondering about the advance
    word!  Oh yeah, rumor has it the drummer died before the tour
    started!!!!!
    
    Play it at 11,
    
    Fredda

    i saw the boys when they stopped here in minneapolis a few weeks ago.
    the show is incredible!  3rd row you'll get to see alot more than i
    did.  there are alot of visual effects.  the one thing you might not be
    able to view well is the video screen.  it was at the center of the
    stage high above david's head.
    
    it was an excellent show and i'm sure you'll enjoy it.  they do just
    about every song on the 2 releases, including the unlisted track on
    "break...".
    
    there were the usual t-shirts and stuff available.  the shirt i got
    looks like it was left over from the "smell the glove' tour and then
    re-silkscreened with the "break like the wind" tour design.  they also
    had men's underwear with spinal tap log onit for sale.  on a radio
    interview they said they were going to have spinal tap ear plugs, but
    didn't see any.  they really are loud!
    
    	you'll have a blast!!!	wish i could go again!!!
    
    	ann

	How was the NY show? I've got tickets for Friday  night's show at Great 
Woods.  There was supposed to be a "no Bozos Jam" prior to the show, but I 
heard a rumor the Jam was going to be postponed or turned into it's own show.
Does anybody have any info?


thanks,
kevin

    
    The jam is on August 1.

    
    Thanks for the info!!  I can't wait for the show!!  I had already
    decided to purchase a t-shirt (something I never do anylonger) and now
    to know of these great choices!!!
    
    Fredda

    .26  Ill post more information on the August 1st no-bozos if you'd like.
         There is a meeting at AXis this week to cover all of the details.
         They are having a leather and lace contest and possible velcro
         jumping. Ill let you know if you are interested.
    
    Bob
    

    In the immortal words of the movie... "It's such a fine line between
    clever and stupid."
    
    Ah, the show....
    
    The pre-show audience entertainment includes people waving cucumbers
    wraped in tinfoil!  People holding signs that say SPINAL PAP or Nigel
    Tufnel for President.  (That got an especially vocal response!)  And
    yes the audience was 80% heavy metal men!!! (I loved it!) Lots of black
    t-shirts.
    
    That old record promoter himself, Artie Fufkin introduced the band! 
    BYW - he is now working for MTV Australia!!  He promised to jam with
    the band and when he tried to come out onstage a number of beefy
    roadies had to physcially escort him off!
    
    From the opening notes of Tonight I'm Gonna Rock you to the final
    encore this is truly an incredible rock and roll experience.  Since
    people in the notes files are going to go to future shows I don't want
    to give too much away, BUT, you will not be disappointed.  Everything
    that can happen does, plus more!!
    
    Some of the special guest artists included Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of
    Steely Dan and Doobie Bros. fame (What a great guitar solo on Break
    Like The Wind!), also the sax player from the last Pink Floyd tour
    jammed on Diva Fever (I don't remember his name) and a few other not so
    well known people were there.
    
    The video screen was good for some extra jokes, but we were really too
    close to appreciate it.  To see this show from the 3rd row was an
    experience I'll never forget.  Yes, they can really sing and play a
    mean guitar.  Goes to show you that just about anyone can be a rock
    star!!!
    
    On a personal note, having gone to over 200 rock concerts over the past
    too many years, this show really did rank up there in my top 10!
    
    If it's not sold out at Great Woods go see them - you won't regret it!
    
    Fredda
    
    No, I didn't spring for the t-shirt (at $25 bucks a pop), instead I
    bought a backstage laminate that has their picture with VIP on one side
    and another picture with Acess No Areas on the other side !!!

    The sax player from the last Pink Floyd tour was Scott Page...
    
    Brian

Thanks Fredda,
	Sounds like a great show.  I can't wait.  One of the guys I play in a
band with got REAL backstage passes through his dad who works for VIA Comm, the
parent company of MTV (I guess).  It's gonna be a crazy night.


	Maybe their drummer will pass on before the show, and they'll need a 
replacement, I already know BIG BOTTOM, Bitch School, GSM, and Tonight We're 
Gonna Rock You, Tonight.


kevin

    Kevin,
    
    Please do give us your thoughts on the show next week!
    
    TAP TAP TAP into the future!
    
    Fredda

    I just couldn't take not having previously purchased tickets for the
    Great Woods show, and when a customer meeting that was scheduled for
    the 26th moved to another date, at 4:00 on Friday I scrambled to find
    tickets, my wife got a babysitter, and we wound up 3 1/2 hours later in
    the 11th row, center.
    
    Yow, what a show!
    
    The opening act was billed as the "Big Nazo" band, and I don't know
    quite how to describe them.  They all were wearing sort of giant Muppet
    type costumes, so that you couldn't see any faces.  Someone please
    either confirm for me or deny that the band was really a bunch of the
    players from the Saturday Night Live band, along with several
    vocalists, including one whom I'd swear was the woman who does "Pat" on
    SNL.  In any case, they played some hot R&B, and were one of the most
    bizarre stage acts that I've seen since the early days of The Tubes.  A
    short set, and 'Tap was on before 8:30.
    
    As described previously, there are LOTS of surprises in this show, and
    my face still hurts from laughing.  With apologies to those who will
    catch the last leg of the tour in Canada, I'll try to list a few that I
    can remember:
    
    - The entry for the "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock Ya" on flying cables, with
    Derek and Nigel stuck up in the air, with Nigel trying to cut himself
    down with pliers
    - The thirty-foot high Marshall double stack (I've seen this once
    before, at the Guitar Shop in LA)
    - The 12 inch Marshall Mini-stack, sitting on the actual size Marshall
    double stack
    - The Marshall double-stack guitar, which starts the song as a single
    stack, than gets the bottom cab added for "to make it louder"
    - The acoustic set!!!!!
    - The skull and horns that revolves to become the centerpiece for "Big
    Bottom", complete with a fog machine spewing forth from the only
    logical place on a "big bottom"
    - The requisite topless women on stage for "Big Bottom"
    - The Egg Shell Pods for "Rock and Roll Creation", with the chicken
    coming out of Derek's pod
    - Mick Shrimpton on crutches
    - A visit from a grim-reaper oversize puppet borrowed from "Big Nazo"
    for "Christmas with the Devil"
    - Of course, the Stonehenge dance, sans midgets
    
    The crowd was great, lots of aluminum foil-clad cucumbers, a sponge
    stonehenge right in front of us, and a large banner that read "Welcome
    Spinal Tarp" with the "r" crossed out.
    
    The show went well over two hours, with one intermission, and yes,
    they've obvioulsy been practicing since 1984.
    
    A few fans traded a brief moment of glory on the stage for being
    promptly escorted out the door, but all in all, a great show.
    
    All of the usual songs were indeed performed, great versions of "Bitch
    School", "Break Like The Wind", "Hell Hole", "Stonehenge",and of
    course, "Big Bottom"
    
    Cheers,
    Ken
     

	I have to agree with Ken, it was a fantastic show.  Tap seemed a little
sluggish early in the first set, but caught some life as the night went on.

	Here's some random thoughts on the night :
		Big Nazo band has been playing the New England scene for a while
		now, a friend says they play Providence quite often.  I thought
		the masks were just a little too much to take and went for a 
		walk after a couple of tunes, I would probably never want to 
		see them again.  I did like the "Spinal Tap and Puppet Show"
		line as the night started.

		The "unplugged" portion was very interesting, I liked it a lot.

		Nigel's extended solo was fun to watch, he truly is an 
		axemiester...playing a guitar with you feet while jugling is 
		quite the trick.  The video during this was very funny. 

		I have a feeling the topless women during "Big Bottom" were 
		a surprise to the band.  Those women were sitting in front of us
		for the first set, and then they were talking to Derek after
		the show, and he seemed quite surprised.  Did they do that in
		NY?  I thought Big Bottom was very well done by the way.

		The Marshall Stack guitar was great.  I don't think Nigel played
		the same guitar for more than 2 songs in the first set.

		The pods for "Rock and Roll Creation" were great.  I'm glad 
		Derek opted to not use his.

		I liked when the pods turned into huge lava lamps for "Listen
		To The Flower Children", very psychadelic.

		The cables for "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" were great,
		but I missed Nig's backup vocals.

		I liked the FED-X Stonehedge scenery.  "It turned into a comedy
		number".

		I thought the crowd was extremely well behaved, except for the
		couple of BUTT-HEADS who jumped on stage.  The second time it
		happened, the guy really got pummelled by security.

		We had "VIP" backstage passes.  These were quite the 
		disappointment.  The pass allowed access to a small cafetaria
		type room where there were just other folks hanging out.  After
		the show Derek showed up back there briefly, but that was all 
		we saw of the band really.  The bass player for my band went 
		over to say hi and handed him a tape of some Tap tunes we
		covered the night before and he said they were making a 
		collection of them...probably in a circular file.

		One other thing that bummed me out was they ran out of 
		the good T-shirt ($23) that I wanted to buy before the show 
		even started, and ran out of hats before I even got there
		(7:00).  I would have liked to get a hat.

kevin

    We had the dwarfs dancing around stage during Stonehenge and they also
    came back for Dancing with the Devil wearing these cool biker outfits. 
    The audience went wild!!!
    
    Big Bottom - another highlight of the show!  They hired dancers from a
    topless joint to do their thing!  However, they weren't topless! 
    Instead they all wore different variations of the Spinal Tap t-shirts
    cut in strategic places and they all wore the Spinal tap string
    bikinis!
    
    No one tried to jump on stage - the bouncers all looked like guys
    straight out of wrestling!
    
    Fredda

    Great Woods is not a great place for back stage passes. The actual
    "back stage" area is very small, so most groups tend not to let anyone
    in there. They lay out the food in the cafeteria, but most bands tend
    to eat before the shows, not after. So, after show passes aren't much
    good - especially at great woods where they have a traffic problem and
    try to get the artist out of there as quickly as possible.
    
    Last time Peter Gabriel played there (1987!), we went backstage before
    the show. They had set up a tarp in the garden area behind the high
    wooden fence that you see on the right hand side of the stage. Just
    before then end of the show, I had to run and get my car fast and get
    in the limousine line backstage, as Peter decided to ride to Boston with
    us (so we could chat about "old times"). It was kind of amusing, as at
    the time, I was driving a Ford Escort. Typically at Great Woods, the
    artists just shower and then split right away. We were on our way no
    more than five or ten minutes after Peter left the stage, so the crowd
    was just starting to exit. As we pulled into the parking lot, some guy
    was waiting to cross, and as we drove by he got a very good look at
    Peter in the front passenger seat. He looked at the car, and then shook
    his head as if to say, "naw... can't be..."
    
    Brian

    
    They had a couple of people leap on the stage at the Rush show, too,
    which I've never seen happen before at a Rush show, and which I've
    never seen happen at Great Woods.  Must be the pollen this summer...
    
    DFW

So apparently the NY show didn't have topless dancers, only scantily clad ones. 
I think maybe the GW show being the last of the American Tour had something to
do with it.  They may have pulled all the stops for a 'climactic' tour-ender. 
I'm surprised they had topless dancers on stage - I'd think Mansfield would
have obscenity laws or something (not that it was obscene :-)).

Great show, even though the only song I really knew was Hell Hole.  Those guys
can really play their instruments!  And I even liked the "muppets" before Tap. 
I agree about the "Pat" reference.  That squeaky nasal voice can get on your
nerves.

adam

    The Boston Herald had a blurb yesterday from a Great Woods spokeswoman
    commenting on the dancers.  She said that it was a complete surprise to
    Great Woods and that the band "didn't plan it" -- given what we know
    about New York, I wonder what that means?  The article also said that
    Great Woods security shut the show down after the song, but that seems
    doubtful since they did another encore.
    
    				- Paul

    
    Two of my favorite moments was the whole audience singing along to "All 
    The Way Home" and the song they did (after BLTW?) that wasn't on any
    album.  "Short and Sweet" I think they called it, but it must have been
    the "extended" version :^) !  They introduced it by saying they were
    gonna play the kind of song that they just played one chord over and 
    over till you got sick of it!  I love those kinds of songs!
    
    Hope they make a video of the tour!
    
    - Sean

    I heard that there is some kind of a Tap special on NBC tonight.
    
    Check your local listings.
    Rick

    
    10:00 pm!

Well, at least this time the Stonehenge model didn't tend to understate
the immensity of the actual object ....

     
    	I saw the Tap special and... 
    
     
     It Was Good! ;^) ;^)

    
    My girlfriend was hoarding the channel changer and wouldn't watch 
    more than 2 minutes of it.....she just asked: "why do you like those
    guys anyway"? 
    
    She's never seen the movie. ;-)
    
    
    guy

    I watched a few minutes, cycled through the following a couple of times
    and quit:
    	
    	1) the music is no good
    	2) it isn't supposed to be good, it's supposed to be funny
    	3) the music isn't funny

    Yeah, not as good as the movie but it had a few good bits...the
    folding wine glass and the horseshoes during the guitar solo were the
    high points for me.  Anybody else notice all those picks taped to the
    mike stands?
    
    							Brian 

    -1 picks... yea!  I liked how the lines got stuck and they were singing
    backups with their feet waving in the air... too funny!
    
    Droid

I got several laughs out of it.  The movie was a bit funnier.

My wife gave me odd looks when I laughed.

Bob

    
    	I agree that the movie was much funnier, but the TV show still
    had some good moments. Overall, the songs from the film/first album
    were "better", which impacted the humor quite a bit for me... I thought
    the show was funnier when they were playing the older material.
    
    	I thought the subtler things were the funniest, like Nigel's guitar
    with half a dozen pickups on it; I thought Nigel's whole solo was
    pretty funny, horseshoes & all. I also loved the "rap" version of 
    "Sex Farm" and Cher's "duet".
    
    
    Brad Page
    

    
    I dunno.  I liked the second album a lot - I think there is a lot of
    good stuff on it.  The songs had the same characteristics as the first
    one - satirical, but sympathetic, accomplished playing, and interesting 
    lyrics that are all worth a second listen (for humor *and* homage).  
    
    I think the most interesting part of this band is finding the direct
    throwback references to bands like Sabbath, Grand Funk, Uriah Heap,
    etc. as well as their nod to today's Heavy Metal (the ballad, speed
    guitar, Satriani-esque solos, other trends of today).  I find the 
    caricatures (lyrics *and* music) to be right on target (biting and
    respectful at the same time).  There's just so much there, and it is all
    perfect.  I spend enough time embracing the thought that goes into
    the CD's, never mind the gravy that is the movie/special.
    
    The TV special is really just an edited and decorated version of the last 
    tour they did (and brought to Great Woods).  It missed some of the better
    moments of that concert (the around 12 minute song called "Short and Sweet"
    that was introduced as a number where they would play 3 chords over and
    over and over), and it didn't quite capture the mood of the movie, but
    it was fun.
    
    I listen to both LP's like they were real music.  It's certainly better
    than a lot of what gets passed off as music today!
    
    - Sean

    "It's a thin line between clever and stupid, isn't it"
    
    Cheers,
    Ken