‘Spinal Tap’ still loud at 35
11 ways to celebrate the milestone.
“This Is Spinal Tap” just turned 35. That’s one more year, innit?
Director Rob Reiner’s 1984 mockumentary highlighting the loudest band in the world – Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) – has seen decades of love and been enshrined in the Library of Congress historic film registry since 2003.
But what gives “Spinal Tap” that push over the cliff is its most famous scene, where Tufnel explains to documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi (played by Reiner) why the knobs on his Marshall amp go to 11.
“Well, it’s one louder, innit? It’s not 10,” Tufnel says.
After that screen exchange, fans took going to 11 to, well, an 11. Here are 11 ways how.
1. Tesla’s 11 setting
Elon Musk is a fan of “Spinal Tap” and made sure his high-end electric car manufacturer Tesla’s world-class sound system (and fan) go to an extreme 11 setting in the Model S. Guest found this out firsthand while test-driving a Tesla (so Nigel) with wife Jamie Lee Curtis.
“I said to the guy, ‘The volume control goes to 11?’ ” Curtis told USA TODAY in 2015. “So, Chris is sitting in the car and the guy doesn’t know it’s Chris.”
Guest bought one.
2. 11/11 is Nigel Tufnel day
Nov. 11 (11/11) has been deemed “Nigel Tufnel Day” in recognition of “its maximum elevenness.” The celebration peaked, naturally, on Nov. 11, 2011 (11/11/ 11). There’s also a less loud movement for Nigel’s day to be honored on Feb. 11 (as in “these go 2/11”).
3. Call-outs to reunite
Tribeca Film Festival featured a familiar call-out when announcing all three band members and Reiner would reunite for a “Tap” screening and concert in March. The stars “will turn it up to eleven again with a one-night-only anniversary celebration 35 years in the making,” the festival announced.
4. Deadpool paid respects
“Deadpool 2” featured Josh Brolin’s plasma gun going to an 11 for max destruction. During Celine Dion’s music video “Ashes” for the superhero flick, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool interrupts to ask her to tone it down. “You’re at, like, an 11. We need to get you down to a 5, 51⁄2 tops. Just phone it in.”
5. Guest’s 11 fingers
Guest played dastardly Count Rugen in 1987’s “The Princess Bride” with Reiner directing. Rugen was “The Six-Fingered Man” due to the extra digit on his right hand.
6. Alexa will obey
Amazon’s Alexa understands “Go to volume 11.” It’s just a little tricky getting it to hear, “Alexa, go back to normal volume.”
7. Legal moves to the max
“Tap” filmmakers got back together in 2017 to sue Vivendi, parent company of Universal Music, for $400 million, claiming they were denied rightful proceeds for the film’s profits. “I’m hoping this lawsuit goes to 11,” Reiner said at the time. In 2018, they agreed to have a mediator resolve the case.
8. Amps to 11 and beyond
After Nigel showed off his Marshall amp, Guitar Center featured the Marshall JCM900 amplifier with two distortion knobs: one 0 to 10, another 11 to 20. That’s nine more.
Guest’s Nigel endorsed the amp, naturally, on a poster. Also available: the $1,300 Marshall JCM900 amp that goes to 11 on each knob.
Contrary to internet reports, Eddie Van Halen did not crank up his amps to 11 after “Spinal Tap.” But Eddie told Guitar Player magazine in 2016, “I’ve spent my whole life pushing things to 11.”
9. ‘Up to eleven’ is official
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term “up to eleven” officially as “to reach or surpass the maximum level or limit.” The word source is, of course, “Spinal Tap.”
10. IMDb pays its respects
On the primary “This Is Spinal Tap” IMDb.com page, the movie’s rating is listed out of 11 stars instead of the usual 10. It’s the only movie that has been bestowed the 11 honor.
11. All hail ‘These go to 11’
The term, or variations of “these go to 11,” is everywhere, with its own Wikipedia page, T-shirts and coffee mugs. Just in February, “these go to 11” was used in the media for everything from explaining a contentious North Carolina school construction debate to illustrating indexing annuity and life insurance contracts on InsuranceNewsNet.com. That’s rock ’n’ roll.