Spinal Tap is a fictitious heavy metal band created by comedic actors, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer. All three were cast members on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" at one time or another. McKean had previous TV fame as a cast member of the 1970s ABC-TV show "Laverne and Shirley". (He was "Lenny" of the duo "Lenny and Squiggy" on the show). Guest and Shearer had both first worked together on "The National Lampoon Radio Hour" show in the 1970s, which featured many other comedic actors who would make up the original cast of "Saturday Night Live". Shearer made appearances on "SNL" in the 1970s, Guest and McKean were "SNL" cast members during the 1980s.

The three first came together to make the satirical movie "This Is Spinal Tap" in 1984. The three not only wrote the screenplay and starred in the film along with Rob Reiner (in his feature film directorial debut). They also wrote, produced, and performed the music for the film. McKean played frontman David St. Hubbins, Christopher Guest played Lead Guitarist Nigel Tufnel, and Shearer played Bass Guitarist Derek Smalls.

"This Is Spinal Tap" pokes fun at various rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith among others. It involves the story of the fictitious band "Spinal Tap", a group of musicians who have been together for over twenty years and are struggling to maintain their popularity in the 1980s. The film includes actual live footage of the band in concert as well as cleverly made clips of the band performing back in the 1960s. (McKean, Guest and Shearer are all accomplished musicians). There are many funny moments in the film as well as featured songs with such memorable titles as "Sex Farm", "Big Bottoms", and "Hell Hole".

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