It's life imitating art imitating life imitating art . . . ad nauseam.
Consider: The 1984 film "This Is Spinal Tap" introduced us to a gracelessly aging British heavy metal band -- with a propensity ,, for hiring drummers who die by spontaneous combustion -- that disintegrated before our eyes. It was purely and clearly fictional, a wickedly funny and admirably accurate music business lampoon penned by director Rob Reiner and actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer.
Eight years later, the band Spinal Tap has re-emerged and seems to be playing for keeps. On March 17, the group will release a new album, titled "Break Like the Wind," which features 13 original songs and guest appearances by Cher, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Dweezil Zappa and Guns N' Roses' guitarist Slash. That week, Billboard magazine will publish a commemorative special section celebrating the band's 25th anniversary. A world tour is planned, as well as a summer TV special.
Somehow, the line between satire and reality has grown as fuzzy the hair on Weird Al Yankovic's head.
"It still is a parody," says Mr. McKean, the alter ego of Tap front man David St. Hubbins. "But we had no intention of doing a sequel [to the film]. So we're doing something that kind of invites the audience in a little more. And the audience we seem to attract is playing the part of Spinal Tap's fans just like we're playing Spinal Tap."
This is where things get cloudy. McKean, Guest and Shearer -- who collectively boast musical credits that include National Lampoon revues and backing Arlo Guthrie -- talk of the characters and the band in the third person. "In the movie, it was very clearly an alternate universe," says Shearer, 48, who doubles as Tap bassist Derek Smalls.
Now, it's not so clear. In the same breath, Shearer likes to make it clear that Spinal Tap is "a real band. They do exist. They do play. In the movie, all the references were to people who were fictional; now, Spinal Tap has to interact with the real world, with real people. On this album, it's the real Jeff Beck, the real Cher. Now we're not making fun of it. This is the thing itself and, yeah, those lines do blur. "
Adds 44-year-old Guest, whose Nigel Tufnel looks like Beck's lost brother: "It's certainly surreal, because for years you've read things about this fictional band. Of course, now it's not a fictional band."
