Did you ever look at your “partner” after a night out on the town, a few drinks and a little cheer, and say seductively as they began to undress, “take it off, take it off all!”?
Where did that come from?
And then he or she starts laughing and jumping around the bedroom, spinning the garments, wrapping something around your neck, taking off the panties like in a chorus line, imitating a trumpet or a trombone (or maybe a kazoo! ) With the melody of “The Stripper”?
Where did that come from?
We barely remember where we got these pop culture cliches … but they all come from somewhere!
“The Stripper” is a very famous song written by a man named David Rose, “a British-born American composer, composer, arranger and conductor.” –Wikipedia
He was married to actress Martha Raye and also to Judy Garland.
While David Rose is not famous, HIS SONG IS. And it was a # 1 The 1962 Billboard hit by David Rose and His Orchestra.
“The Stripper” is performed de rigueur at bachelor and bachelorette parties, at strip clubs, at wedding receptions (when the groom removes the bride’s garter), and has been used in UNCOUNTABLE TV shows and movies, including Slap punch and The full amount.
But perhaps the most memorable performance of all came in a commercial for Noxzema shaving cream from the late 1960s in which the beautiful Swedish model Gunilla Knutson demanded, “Take it off, take it all off.”
(Later iterations included sports icons Carl Yaztremski, Boston Red Sox left fielder and LAST triple crown winner, for you baseball fans … and Joe Willie Namath, who was known for his kinky commercials: “Ladies, do you want to see Joe Namath Cream?” … Of course you do!)
Thanks to YouTube and Events-in-Music.com, you can watch this nostalgic segment of life (and listen to “The Stripper”) by clicking here.