Watching some Iron Maiden footage on Youtube and can’t help think that they are the genuine incarnation of Spinal Tap / Bad News. Was this just the way of 80’s heavy metal or were they a bit of a joke band?

There is some Pink Floyd interview footage from before the dawn of time.

Nick Mason = Derek Smalls

Spinal Tap = Saxon

+1 CF 😀

Spinal Tap = Saxon

It was brilliant fun at the time.

(Hammersmith Odeon, Eagle Has Landed Tour, 1982).

I think there is a little Judas Priest as well, I saw one interview were one member suggested that if they had seen spinal tap during there heavy touring days they would have thought it a docuementry as most things had happened to them i.e getting lost under stages.

were they a bit of a joke band?

I thought this was obvious!

Dez I think his Q referred to IM.

al i think his answer does to 😛

I got that.
Or are the scawey monthters on their records actually supposed to be SCAWEY?

Sorry Junkyard, I though DezB was being stupid….IM were clearly not being entirely serious, but ST/BN were the joke bands.

And Judas Priest, of course.

The genius of spinal tap is that all the bands think its about them!

Pieface.

Depends on when the footage was shot. Metal in the 80’s was very “Tap”. Funny as hell if you were involved. 😳

All but Dicko have actually morphed into Eddie. Time has not been kind.

Spinal Tap = Saxon

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt1E3k0ChKo[/video]

Difficult to dispute really

Oddly enough I watched a documentary about Iron Maiden’s recent tour where Bruce whateverhisnameis flew the cargo plane with all their gear around the world. Quite interesting and seeing Bruce turn up for the flight in full pilot rig (suit, hat, case etc) then getting to the destination and turning all RAWK is quite funny. In general though, they’re like a lot of old metal stars, not terribly metal any more but that makes it all the better for some reason.

This is the footage that sparked my thoughts

flew the cargo plane

Not even that – he has a full pilot’s licence to carry passengers too.

I like them, they are down to earth, not entirely serious (although Adrian Smith is VERY self-critical of his abilities).

Don’t forget that Bruce Dickinson is also an Olympic standard fencer as well.

He certainly is (or was).

This week’s Nerdist podcast is with Harry Shearer aka Derek Smalls and Principal Skinner: http://www.nerdist.com/2012/09/nerdist-podcast-harry-shearer/

Spinal Tap = Saxon

The mini-henge in ST always makes me think of the ‘Eagle’ Saxon used to drop into the back at some point in the show.

I lost track of metal when all those earnest guys turned up with their scowls and tats and cut off jeans. CBA with them.

Metal is supposed to be funny – that’s the whole point.

I lost track of metal when all those earnest guys turned up with their scowls and tats and cut off jeans. CBA with them.

Exactly – Metallica have all the charm and charisma of a Nuremberg Rally.

I remember hearing that a significant inspiration was actually the troggs, this is both real and actual genius:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrXfK9Osmvs&feature=related[/video]

There’s references to all sorts of real-world sh*t in there. The ones that jump to mind are:

Stonehenge – I think it was Sabbath that had to leave a mammoth piece of expensive scenery in the warehouse since it wouldn’t fit on the stages of the venues they were by then playing, their appeal having become more “selective” at that point. The Spinal Tap skit was the converse, of course.

The foldy up mini sandwich thing – calls to mind the Van Halen blue M&Ms thing (which turns out to have actually been quite clever (there’s a fine line…) when you know the full story

The bit where they meet the guy in the hotel lobby who once supported them but it is now massive (“they were still booing him when we were playing”) also calls to mind an exhausted and declining Sabbath who were blown off stage by an up-and-coming Van Halen supporting them.

Metal is supposed to be funny

yeh early sabbath were seen as laugh a minute! 🙄

just ‘cos you know a massively crap part of genre don’t tar it all with the same brush

just ‘cos you know a massively crap part of genre don’t tar it all with the same brush

isn’t that a line from the ‘Tap ?

Iron Maiden = Spinal Tap?

How dare you!

Saxon earlier – check out Thunderstick giving it the full spinal a minute in (****t)

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7I6xfEIqrY[/video]

There is some Pink Floyd interview footage from before the dawn of time.

“Live in Pompei” – it’s awesome!

Derek Smalls has admitted that he is just being the Saxon bass player, fist in the air playing one string.

The NWOBHM was funny 😆 and it was a lot of fun to go and see as well. Never saw any grief at metal shows which was in stark contrast to the blood baths lots of punk gigs descended into.

Iron Maiden were the band that got me to seriously listen to music and opened up a whole load of new genres that I wouldn’t have listened to before, including punk, hardcore, folk, techno – anything that had some integrity, drive and energy.
I’ve grown out of metal these days, but I still rate Piece Of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere In Time among the best albums of any genre ever. They had such a huge impact on me in my teens.

That Iron Maiden tour documentary is brilliant – quite heart warming to see how excited some of the fans were to finally see them live. They came across pretty well, and some of the music is great if you don’t mind some silliness.

The cunning & devious Van Halen contract

calls to mind the Van Halen blue M&Ms thing (which turns out to have actually been quite clever (there’s a fine line…) when you know the full story

Go on then I’ll ask.

What’s the full story ?

Go on then I’ll ask.

What’s the full story ?

PrinceJohn – Member
The cunning & devious Van Halen contract

It’s meant to be silly! That’s the whole point! If you’ve need proof, read the Dirt -Mötley Cru’s biography. You really should. It’s genius! The fact that they were producing any music at all was frankly incidental to the industrial consumption of drugs, whiskey and groupees!

Utter and complete debauchery! But the stories of being out on the session with Ozzy et al are priceless!

Agree about Metallica -just watch Some Kind of Monster. Spinal Tap without the humour. What a bunch of humourless self-absorbed bell ends!!!!

I remember Saxon were playing the Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone about the same time that Iron Maiden were playing Long Beach Arena in California…
You can’t really compare the two, can you?

(Both have similarities to Spinal Tap, but I guess that’s the point of Spinal Tap)

From memory (correct me someone): The blue MandMs were their way of checking that tour organisers paid proper attention to their detailed instructions. Partly these instructions were there for the safety of the band so if they found non-blue MandMs in the bowl, they immediately suspected that the contractors had not paid proper attention. And then they could throw the contract at them. No?

Some kind of monster is one of the scariest movies of all time 😀 vile people being vile to each other. Would it all of been different if Cliff hadn’t died?

The mini-henge in ST always makes me think of the ‘Eagle’ Saxon used to drop into the back at some point in the show.

What, this one (after Dobby’s showed off his new Noisy Toys)? 8)

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cif9QxC3fy8[/video]

Oh,and IIRC, Thunderstick played with Samson, not Saxon. [/pedant]