Spinal Tap essays

Spinal Tap essays While attempting to be nothing more than a comical spoof of the music industry, Spinal Tap was instead rocketed to cult icon status. The characters in the movie are so fully thought out that almost all rock and roll bands that became popular prior to and half a decade later than the release of the movie fit the stereotypes presented by this fictitious band that ended up being more real than any other legitimate bands of the time. The days of disco had long faded by the 1984 release of this film, and the punk scene was still for the most part underground. With the hair band scene just beginning to come to light, and rap music being confined to the street, this movie would sarcastically lay the groundwork for the sellout crowd arena rock groups of the eighties. Or as they are commonly referred to now, the hair bands. Now Spinal Tap as portrayed in the movie was in fact a metal band, but metal at that time would be called rock and roll just a few years down the road. If you look at the bands such as Poison, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Def Leopard etc... you will notice that they are in fact Spinal Tap without the punch line. On a side note the wearing women's clothes and makeup were a strange occurrence thrown in from the new wave bands that were getting club play at the time. This is actually where the term hair band came from. That fact aside you will notice that everything from personality of the band members, t o the groupies that follow them, and the inner relations of the band members themselves are just slightly exaggerated in the movie. First and foremost you have the lead singer/ guitarist that got all the recognition. In spinal tap that character is none other than David St. Hubbins, whos long blond hair and happy go lucky attitude earned him the tender hearted yet clearly conceited member of the band. If you will notice he bore a striking resemblance to the Axel Rose type of singer that became so ...