David Rose & His Orchestra -- "The Stripper" (1962)

David Rose, the composer of "The Stripper," was a composer, songwriter, arranger, orchestra leader, and pianist.

David Rose

He won four Emmy awards for the music he wrote for many television series, and was the musical director for The Red Skelton Show for 21 years.

Rose was married briefly to actress Martha Raye and later to Judy Garland.

Rose's ex-wives: Martha Raye and Judy Garland

Rose was best-known for "The Stripper," an instrumental that he composed and recorded in 1958.  But the record was not released until 1962.

Why did it take four years for "The Stripper" to be released?  In 1962, Rose's record company was about to release another record by Rose, and needed a B-side for it.  Rose was out of town, so an office boy was given the task of listening to Rose's unreleased material and picking something.  He liked "The Stripper," which became a #1 hit in 1962.

"The Stripper" has been used on a number of movie and TV soundtracks, played as an intro to live shows by The Sweet and Mötley Crüe, and was the theme song of professional wrestler Rick Rude.

It has also been used in several TV commercials -- especially those for Noxzema shaving cream, which featured a former Miss Sweden, Gunilla Knutsson.

Take it off . . . take it all off!

Here's "The Stripper," accompanied by a video of a performance by a truly gifted tassel-twirling ecdysiast from the classic era of burlesque:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: