“The Stripper“ is an instrumental composed by David Rose….which was recorded in 1958….and released four years later….as it evinces a jazz influence with especially prominent trombone slides….while evoking the feel of music used to accompany striptease artists.
“The Stripper” reached # 1 on Billboard’s Top 100 chart in July, 1962…..which became a gold record….as Billboard ranked the record as the # 5 song of 1962….as the tune came into prominence by chance after Rose had recorded “Ebb Tide” as the A-side of a record….when his record company, MGM Records, wanted to get it on the market quickly….but discovered there was no B-side available for it….but Rose was away at the time the need for the B-side surfaced….so, an MGM office boy was given the job of going through some of Rose’s tapes of unreleased material to find something that would work….whereby he liked “The Stripper” and chose it as the flip side for the record.
As seen in this video herewith…..“The Stripper” is the recurring theme song on the 1982 HBO special “Strippers”…..which was a complete video history about the “art of striptease”….as hosted by actress Gwen Verdon…..when the song was used by the program producers as background music to the scrolling of the credits for the show.
