Overview

• Christopher Guest said backstage footage of Tom Petty in Germany directly inspired the film’s labyrinthine “lost backstage” scene.
• The deli-tray meltdown drew on Van Halen’s famed no–brown M&Ms rider, with Michael McKean also recalling Yul Brynner’s strict brown-egg stipulation.
• A notorious studio shouting match involving The Troggs has been cited as the model for the recording-session blowup.
• Harry Shearer said keyboardist John Sinclair relayed a Uriah Heep booking at a U.S. Air Force base, which informed a scene in the film.
• Saxon bassist Steve Dawson has claimed the band influenced the movie, and Shearer toured with Saxon before filming.