The Official 'Spinal Tap' Companion

by Karl French

This Spinal Tap companion includes a history of the band, a complete transcript of the 1984 rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" (including rare out-takes), lyrics, discography and an A-Z guide to this imaginary band.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Comedy, Film, Humor

311 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2000

Reviews

[Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The full script and bonus content (incl. photographs and additional Spinal Tap lore) from one of the best films ever made. Therefore, this is a good book.

This book is a great keepsake if you are a fan of the film and if you ever feel like looking back on some iconic scenes, rather than reading it cover to cover.

“Hello Cleveland!”

[Bruce Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handy, exhaustive, and utterly unnecessary addition to the lore of Spinal Tap. Every fan should have at least one copy to fill a much needed void.

[Jens Stausgaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It goes to 11!

[Chris Sudall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this because I love The Tap. I discovered them in the 80s when I hit the end credits one evening and I was enthralled as to whether it was real or not. Anyway...I saw it in full soon after and loved it. So much I went to see them live twice.

I don't know what set it off, but I bought this and one other book, just because I found out about them.

I was expecting the full transcript (which I know pretty well), but the outtakes were a bonus. It does feel a bit like some stuff is filler and the A to Z has a fair bit of repetition, but there is some interesting background stuff.

My only criticism is the quoting of lyrics! It feels like the author thinks he knows the lyrics off by heart but actually has them wrong! I mean rhyming flesh tuxedo with flesh torpedo would be awful! It's 'pink torpedo'! It's correct in the lyrics section! But then in the lyrics section it has 'Don't you see my sallow eyes, I I I'm'?!?!?! It should by: 'Don't you see my silo rising, high, high, high, HIGH!!!'

Anyway. I corrected in pencil! Heheh. Well worth a read!

[NumberLord]

WANT!

[Katie Armstrong]

But this goes to 11...

[John Bolton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the film, which is 5 stars.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is indispensable for Spinal Tap fans. It's as informative as it is funny.