Spinal Tap takes show on the road

Sorry to let the cucumber out of the tinfoil, Spinal Tap fans, but it’s called the Unwigged & Unplugged tour for a reason.

So, no, the amps will not go up to 11. And forget the ill-fated drummer.

“We don’t even have a drum machine,” says Michael McKean, 61. “They’ve been known to explode.”

McKean and longtime pals Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer are back on the road, sans Spandex but armed with career-spanning tunes – from Tap’s legendary “Big Bottom” to “Blood on the Coal” from the folk-parody film “A Mighty Wind.”

Q. It’s an anniversary year for you guys, isn’t it?

A. It’s the 25th anniversary of the release of “This Is Spinal Tap,” but it’s the 30th anniversary of our appearance on “The T.V. Show,” a Rob Reiner pilot. We show a clip in the current show from that performance.

Q. Spinal Tap is actually releasing a new album, “Back From the Dead,” next month. You revisit the songs from the film, right?

A. What you hear on the soundtrack album are not the songs that would have been if they were studio productions, so we rerecorded them. It’s revisionism, yes, but we are also making use of some of the sophisticated studio stuff that wasn’t around in 1982.

We recorded “Jazz Oddyssey,” at long last. And a couple of new versions – a reggae “Flower People,” “(Funky) Sex Farm” with horns and rapping and the whole catastrophe. And “Short and Sweet” – the joke is “Short and Sweet” can go on for half an hour with all the solos.

The birthday bunch

Actress Sally Kellerman is 72. Actor Ron Ely (“Tarzan”) is 71. Actor Stacy Keach is 68. Drummer Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones) is 68. Composer Marvin Hamlisch is 65. Actor Jerry Mathers (“Leave It To Beaver”) is 61. Comedian Dana Carvey is 54. Rapper B-Real (Cypress Hill) is 39. Comedian Wayne Brady is 37. Actor Zachary Quinto (“Heroes”) is 32. Actress Nikki Cox is 31. Actor Justin Long is 31.