Another Iranian scientist has blown up, causing me to joke on Twitter earlier this morning that Iranian nuclear scientists had been picked as the new drummer for Spinal Tap. This prompted a lot of chatter, some of which I didn’t get. So I looked up the causes of death of Spinal Tap drummers. From Wikipedia:
John “Stumpy” Pepys (1964–1966) (Portrayed by Ed Begley, Jr. in the video “Give Me Some Money”) Died in a bizarre gardening accident, that the authorities said was “best left unsolved”.
Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs (1966–1967) Choked on vomit of unknown origin, other than his own, because “[y]ou can’t really dust for vomit.”
Peter “James” Bond (1967–1977) (Portrayed by Russ Kunkel whose character was mistakenly credited as the name of the previous drummer) Spontaneously combusted.
Mick Shrimpton (1977–1982) (Portrayed by R. J. “Ric” Parnell) Exploded onstage.
Joe “Mama” Besser (1982) (Portrayed by Fred Asparagus). Claimed he “couldn’t take this 4/4 shit”; according to an MTV interview with Spinal Tap in November 1991, he disappeared along with the equipment during their Japanese tour. He is either dead or playing jazz.
Richard “Ric” Shrimpton (1982–1999) Allegedly sold his dialysis machine for drugs; presumed dead.
Sammy “Stumpy” Bateman (1999-2001) Died trying to jump over a tank full of sharks while on a tricycle in a freak show.
Scott “Skippy” Scuffleton (2001–2007) Fate unknown.
Chris “Poppa” Cadeau (2007–2008) Eaten by his pet python Cleopatra.
Plus 9 other drummers at various times (Probably between 1970 and 1981) all of whom are dead.