Spinal Tap Still a Hit

Sept. 11 -- It started out as a joke.

And it still is a joke. But 16 years later, Spinal Tap remains one hell of a funny joke.

In fact, with their 1984 film and a few odd TV appearances, the “band” — actually comedians Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean — has managed to accomplish what took Monty Python years: become a virtual Familiar Quotations for generations of youth.

Impressive, especially when you take into consideration that vast portions of the film were ad-libbed.

The effect was such that some people even believed the band was real.

But Spinal Tap is, to a certain extent, a very real band. They have albums. They have toured. And they still do sporadic gigs, including one to promote the “new” DVD, which will be re-released Tuesday with almost two hours of additional material, chosen from some 50 hours of outtakes.