‘Our songs last three minutes but they feel like an hour’: the return of Spinal Tap – an exclusive that goes up to 11!

Over 40 years since This Is Spinal Tap was mistaken for a comedy, its hard-rocking subjects are back in a legally obligated sequel. Our writer heads to smell the glove

Spinal Tap are remembering the old days. It was 1966, and the young beat group from Squatney in east London – still, at that point, the Thamesmen – were honing their act in the tough clubs of the Benelux circuit. A young band from Britain could learn a lot, facing up to riotous crowds of Dutch, Flemings, Walloons and Luxembourgers. What lessons did Tap take from that year?

“If you speak really loudly, it’s all right if you don’t have any of the local language,” says David St Hubbins, Tap’s leonine lead singer.