SOUNDTRACKS
Ten classics from the kings of Brit-metal idiocy…
(LISTEN TO THE) FLOWER PEOPLE Before metal, Tap were trippy peaceniks. Featuring guitarist Nigel Tufnel’s electric sitar, this dainty ditty bottles half-baked hippy optimism beautifully.
‘It’s about a movement,’ says singer David St.
Hubbins. ‘Without a good movement, it’s hard to get your day started.’
JAZZ ODYSSEY Convinced that jazz musicians needed showing how it’s done, pipe-blowing bassist Derek Smalls forged Tap’s ‘new direction’ from his bass runs. ‘It’s an escapade up and down the neck,’ he says. Fans simply sought the nearest escape route.
GIMME SOME MONEY Pitched between The Beatles and The Who, Tap’s British Invasion throwback is scarily accurate. Homage, parody – such a fine line. Don’t mistake the lyrics for metaphor: Tap just wanted money, ‘pound notes, loose change, bad checks, anything’.
HELL HOLE Tufnel has the blues in a reflection on his modest upbringing, a moral tale in which success is overrated. As Nige mopes over fame’s backstage buffets, he misses his impoverished past. ‘I’m flashing back into my pan,’ goes the killer pay-off.
HEAVY DUTY With an intro demanding air-drumming participation, Tap’s AC/DC-ish stomper equates rock with pain. ‘Great rock’n’roll should hurt,’ Hubbins opines, wisely. Duly, Tufnel brings the torment with his take on Boccherini’s Minuet, goosing rock-classical pretension gloriously.
SEX FARM A funny thing happened to Tufnel driving through the Midlands. ‘We saw a sex farm,’ he says. ‘It’s something that exists.’ It does in song, as Hubbins milks every known – and some unknown - farmyard/ intercourse metaphor in the lyrics. Cover Shaun the Sheep’s ears.
BIG BOTTOM Queen or Kis
