Song of the Day 9/13: Spinal Tap, “The Devil’s Just Not Getting Old”
“Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” arrived in theaters yesterday. The reviews are affectionate but not glowing; it seems age has caught up with not just the actors and their characters, but the entire premise as well.
The original film, released in 1984, mocked rockers in their 40s who were trying, and mostly failing, to stay relevant. Forty years on, they’re just trying to stay upright. Compared with these guys, Mick and Keith look spry.
The actor-musicians – Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer – have not ignored their characters over the years. The band has stayed active musically, releasing a couple of albums of their tongue-in-cheek heavy metal, guesting on SNL in the ’90s and making one-off concert appearances this century. But their most recent show was at Britain’s Glastonbury festival in 2009, which aligns with the movie’s conceit that the core trio hasn’t talked to each other since.
A new soundtrack album was released yesterday, too, with nine new songs and four remakes. Last month they teased it by releasing “Stonehenge” with Elton John singing lead, and it turns out that all four of the older songs have guest vocalists – Paul McCartney on “Cups and Cakes,” John again on “(Listen to) The Flower People” and Garth Brooks on “Big Bottom.” A recent spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where the band played “Big Bottom” without Brooks, showed why – 77-year-old McKean has lost a good bit of David St. Hubbins’ range.
Into the breach has stepped the band’s equivalent of lukewarm water, bassist Derek Smalls, fresh off his 2019 solo album “Smalls Change (Meditations on Aging),” which contained such tracks as “Rock and Roll Transplant” and “Hell Toupee.” What Shearer’s baritone lacks in range it makes up for in gravel and growl.
Age hasn’t affected one guy, though. Old Nick, also known as Mr. Scratch, never gets old, as Smalls and Spinal Tap explain in detail.
