David Rose (standing on the right) in AFRS Radio Show, c. 1946
"The Stripper" is an instrumental composed by David Rose, recorded in 1958 and released four years later. It evinces a jazz influence with especially prominent tromboneslides, and evokes the feel of music used to accompany striptease artists.
"The Stripper" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in July 1962.[2] It became a gold record. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 5 song of 1962.[3]
Legacy
The piece was the theme melody in the Swedish record sales list Kvällstoppen in the 1960s. It also became known as the background music for a contemporary Noxzema Shaving Cream commercial, featuring Swedish model Gunilla Knutsson,[4] and for key scenes in the films Scarecrow (1973) and Slap Shot (1977). The piece also features in the films The Full Monty (1997) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). It was used on BBC Television in 1976 by the British comedians Morecambe and Wise in their "Breakfast Sketch" routine, where they perform a dance using various kitchen utensils and food items. It was also used on Match Game when Gene Rayburn or one of the panelists began "getting antsy". Professional wrestler Rick Rude used a version for his entrance and disrobing routine in the World Wrestling Federation.
The band Mötley Crüe used The Stripper to introduce the show on their 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls-Tour as well as at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989.[5]
A beachgoer (Terry Jones) is trying to change into a bathing suit on the beach, only to be exposed as he begins taking his clothes off. His last attempt finds him in front of an audience, to whom he gives a show. As the song ends, the words "It's a man's world, taking your clothes off in public" appear onscreen, echoing the episode's running gag about infringing on the British Army's recruitment slogan.
An economic minister (Terry Jones) gives a report on the British economy while doing a striptease to the song.
The song was put into regular use for ITV's childrens series SMTV Live from 1998-2003, most particularly during the "Strippin' Vicar" and "Chums" sketches when the vicars such as one of the hosts Ant McPartlin and one of the guests Frank Skinner destroy the set.
The song is also alleged to have inspired the songwriters for Thomas & Friends, Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, in their composition of Daisy's theme, the first female diesel introduced in the television series.
It was also used once on CBS-ABC game show Match Game which host Gene Rayburn and one of the celebrity panelists Betty White had a showdown.
Lyrics were added to the song in the Family Guy episode "The Peanut Butter Kid." In a cutaway gag, Peter Griffin's great-aunt, Queen of Burlesque Griffin, a stripper who performed circa the 1920s-1950s, sings anachronistically of how men's carnal desires were unsatisfied in the days before pornography was widely available.
References
^Breihan, Tom (April 26, 2018). "The Number Ones: David Rose's "The Stripper"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 10, 2023. ...strippers used to have to get down to horny big-band jazz instrumentals, apparently. You've heard "The Stripper" even if you don't know you've heard "The Stripper".
