Episode 16: Christopher Guest On The Music Of Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind and Mascots

Explicit content warning

11/18/16 • 30 min

Routinely cited as one of the funniest movies of all-time, This Is Spinal Tap is much imitated, oft-quoted, and as fresh now as it was when it first appeared in 1984. If you haven't seen it, you must buy it immediately.

Directed by Rob Reiner, it takes the form of documentary following a shambolic heavy metal band as they tour North America. Though the band is, of course, fictional, their songs are very real, and very funny.

One of the men behind both these songs and the razor-sharp script is writer, actor, director and musician Christopher Guest.

As we'll discover, Christopher's musical background stood him in good stead for Tap, and also A Mighty Wind, his affectionate parody of the folk world. His latest directorial project is Mascots, in which he appears alongside Parker Posey, Jane Lynch, Chris O'Dowd and Ed Begley Junior among many others.

As with all his films, there's no traditional score - with the tunes the mascots perform to provided by CJ Vanston. But he is a fan of film music, and in particular the quirky orchestrations of Italian legend, Nino Rota.

Expect plenty of music from Tap, The Folksmen and Mascots, as well as the odd trip-down-memory-lane clip too.

One of the men behind both these songs and the razor-sharp script is writer, actor, director and musician Christopher Guest.

Expect plenty of music from Tap, The Folksmen and Mascots, as well as the odd trip-down-memory-lane clip too.

Previous Episode

Episode 15: Mat Whitecross On Oasis, Ian Dury, Coldplay And The Music In His Films

As subject matter goes, it doesn't get much more rock and roll than Joy Division, New Order, The Happy Mondays, Ian Dury, The Stone Roses, Coldplay and Oasis. But, in one way or another, all these artists have featured in the work of British director Mat Whitecross.

As we'll discover, Mat got his big break from Michael Winterbottom while working as a runner on the set 24 Hour Party People, which tells the story of Tony Wilson and Factory Records. The pair went on to direct Road To Gauntanomo together, before he flew solo on the Ian Dury biopic Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll and Stone Roses-inspired comedy, Spike Island.

Coldplay are among his illustrious list of music video clients, while he's also worked with composer Ilan Eshkeri and Tim Wheeler of Ash on more than one project. Indeed, Ilan and Tim have very kindly supplied us with some of their favourite compositions for their film and TV work with Mat, which you'll hear throughout the show.

And as if you needed more, there are excerpts from Rael Jones' score for Mat's Oasis documentary Supersonic too, amid the more familiar fare served up by the band themselves.

Next Episode

Episode 17: Director David Yates Talks About The Music Of Harry Potter And Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

When you're invited to direct a movie adaptation involving one of the most-loved literary creations the world has ever known, you can be pretty certain you won't get a second chance if you mess it up.

Thankfully, that's not a fate that befell David Yates. Not only did David take charge of the last four Harry Potter films, he was also asked to make JK Rowling's official spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which has been greeted with hugely positive reviews.

With the budgets attached to the Potter franchise, it is of course possible to secure the services of the best composers in the world. David has taken full advantage of this privilege, variously employing Nicholas Hooper, Alexandre Desplat and James Newton Howard. He also collaborated with Rupert Gregson-WIlliams on The Legend Of Tarzan.

You'll hear plenty of their work throughout the conversation, as well as that of John Williams - who provided scores for the first three Potters. We also find out a little bit about his earlier work, and get a blast of Mongolian throat music, which he used to great effect in his BAFTA nominated short film, Rank.