Song of the Day 5/15: Spinal Tap, “Rock and Roll Nightmare”

They’re not asking for my two cents, but I think the Rock Hall of Fame is squandering a golden opportunity by not enshrining Spinal Tap. Not only are they known and loved by a wide swath of the rock-fan public, they’re almost universally loved by musicians. Everybody would want to play at the ceremony.

Spinal Tap has been hall-eligible since 2009, having released the LP “This Is Spinal Tap” in 1984 in connection with Rob Reiner’s 1984 rockumentary of the same name. But that wasn’t their first appearance for an American audience.

In 1979 Reiner made a pilot for a sketch comedy show for ABC called “The TV Show.” Among the bits was a spoof of “Midnight Special,” often hosted in those days by Wolfman Jack. Reiner introduces the clip with a pitch-perfect Wolfman impersonation and the boys from Squatney — they had not yet dropped the dot from the i or added the umlaut over the n — take it from there.

None of the musicians is named in the video, but in keeping with the band’s well-documented history, the core of Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls is joined by a different group of sidemen. The keyboard player is portrayed by folksinger Loudon Wainwright III; the drummer is session stalwart Russ Kunkel, though not in his later Stumpy Joe Childs persona.

Keep in mind that MTV did not yet exist when this pilot was made, so hair metal didn’t exist in the form spoofed in the 1984 film (note that Nigel has long, unkempt hair, not his later styled Rod Stewart shag). But these guys were savvy enough to see the blind alley arena rock was headed into and to make fun of it accordingly.

“The TV Show” was turned down by ABC, which aired the pilot a single time in a late-night slot.