Written by: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner
Recorded: 2024
Producers: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, CJ Vanston
Released: 11 September 2025
Personnel
Paul McCartney: vocals
David St Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel: guitar
Derek Smalls: bass guitar
CJ Vanston: piano, glockenspiel, organ, string arrangement
Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli: string arrangement
Chris Tedesco: trumpet
Didi Crocket: drums
Greta Pasqua: tambourine
‘Cups And Cakes’ was a song released in 2025 by rock survivors Spın̈al Tap, featuring Paul McCartney on lead vocals.
When the legendary rock band Spın̈al Tap reunited in 2025 for a final show, it was inevitable that a galaxy of stars would wish to pay homage. Among those clamouring to appear in the resulting rockumentary Spın̈al Tap II: The End Continues were McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Questlove, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich.
Tap also graced the world with a new studio album. Released in September 2025, The End Continues was a worthy successor to the likes of Brainhammer, Intravenus de Milo, Shark Sandwich, and the none-more-classic Smell The Glove.
The End Continues contained several new songs, plus re-recordings of ‘Stonehenge’ and ‘(Listen To The) Flower People’ featuring Elton John, and ‘Cups And Cakes’ with McCartney on vocals.
‘Cups And Cakes’ was originally the b-side of the 1965 single ‘Gimme Some Money’, by proto-Tap beat pioneers The Thamesmen. The trumpet solo evidently caught the ear of Beatles producer George Martin, who was fortunate to avoid a plagiarism lawsuit over the similarity of his arrangement for 1967’s ‘Penny Lane’. The 2025 recording even contains McCartney’s long-overdue spoken acknowledgement of the debt owed to The Thamesmen by The Beatles: “Oh, this sounds familiar – I’ve heard this somewhere before”.