Spinal Tap documentary was a hatchet job, says a furious Derek Smalls

Derek Smalls, aka comedian Harry Shearer, has reflected on the filming of hit 1984 documentary This Is Spinal Tap.

The bass legend is this weekend’s special guest on AXS TV’s Paul Shaffer Plus One, which will be broadcast on Sunday at 8pm ET – and in a preview clip from the show, Smalls calls the groundbreaking film a “hatchet job,” laying the blame at the feet of director Marty DiBerg for making them look ridiculous.

He points to two scenes in particular – when the lads got lost backstage, and the unfortunate moment Smalls found himself trapped in the translucent pod during their epic performance of Rock ’N’ Roll Creation.

Smalls says: “We never had control of it. I’m going to be scientific about this: 93.97% of the time, we found our way to the stage straightaway. You never saw that in the film!

“Coming out of the pod – I did that at least half the time on the road successfully. What does that say? What does that say to you? He had an agenda!”

Last year, Smalls released his debut solo album Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing), with Classic Rock catching up with the bass guru to talk about God, the Tap, politics, drugs, getting old, death and not being dead.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.