David St. Hubbins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Ivor St. Hubbins is a fictional character who is the lead singer and co-lead guitarist of the mock rock band called Spinal Tap, which became well known after the “mockumentary” This Is Spinal Tap came out in 1984. David is played by the actor Michael McKean, who improvised the role through the whole film. Michael McKean writes in his introduction to This Is Spinal Tap: The Official Guide, “When I am called upon to generate copy about the mostly fictional entity called Spinal Tap, I usually do so in the mostly fictional character of David St. Hubbins...”
Keeping this in mind, compiled below is biographical information about “the mostly fictional character of David St Hubbins,” as portrayed in the film, interviews, and other sources about Spinal Tap.
St. Hubbins was born August 13, 1943, in Squatney, London, UK. He grew up in Squatney in flat #45. Fellow Spinal Tap band member Nigel Tufnel lived next door in flat #47. They didn’t know each other at first. At age 7 and 8, the new friends Nigel and David began their musical adventure together. David says: “We left school and started playing Tube station skiffle. It was like the filings feel about a magnet. We were the filings, Spinal Tap became the magnet.” They recorded the first song they wrote together in 1961: “(Cry) All the Way Home.”
After his first divorce, St. Hubbins was married to his longtime girlfriend, Jeanine Pettibone (June Chadwick). They moved to Pomona, California, where they opened two “boutiquerias.” They were divorced in early 2000 and remained on friendly terms. David credits Jeanine, and her love of astrology, with getting his cosmically challenged life back in order. In an interview with David and Jeanine, David said, “Before I met Jeanine my life was cosmically a shambles.” His relationship with Jeanine causes some turbulence in the band, especially when she becomes the band’s manager toward the end of the tour documented in This Is Spinal Tap. According to the movie, David has a son.
He was at times working on a project he was very excited about, an Icelandic album of Broadway tunes called Björk, Björk, which has not yet been released.
The fictional character of David St. Hubbins took part in the decidedly non-fictional musical advocacy group Hear 'n Aid.
[edit] Quotes
- [Asked to write his own epitaph.] David St. Hubbins: “Here lies David St. Hubbins...and why not?”
- David St. Hubbins: “Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It’s just not really widely reported.”
- [When asked about the umlaut ( ¨ ) over the band’s name.] David St. Hubbins: “It’s like a pair of eyes. You’re looking at the umlaut, and the umlaut is loooking at you.”
- David St. Hubbins: [singing] “Big bottom, big bottom / Talk about mud flaps, my girl’s got ’em!”
- David St. Hubbins: “I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human, than someone who doesn’t believe anything.”
- David St. Hubbins: “Well, I’m sure I’d feel much worse if I weren’t under such heavy sedation.”
- David St. Hubbins: “I was too old to rock and roll at 19. Fortunately, I’ve gotten younger since then.“
- [Asked by a reporter if this is the end of Spinal Tap] David St. Hubbins: “Well, I don’t really think that the end can be assessed as of itself as being the end because what does the end feel like? It’s like saying when you try to extrapolate the end of the universe, you say, if the universe is indeed infinite, then how — what does that mean? How far is all the way, and then if it stops, what’s stopping it, and what’s behind what’s stopping it? So, what’s the end, you know, is my question to you.”
- [Asked what St. Hubbins was the saint of] David St. Hubbins: “He was the patron saint of quality footwear.”
[edit] External links
- The Ultimate Spinal Tap Discography - an illustrated guide to Tap's albums (both real and imagined)
- David St. Hubbins explains the umlaut
- Everything you need to know about Spinal Tap
