The Stripper

July 1962

Stripper is just about the last word I would have expected in a #1 song title from the conservative early 60s, but here it is (and yes, it means what you think it means). It's one of those sleazy sounding, big band striptease numbers—perhaps the definitive one, written and performed by bandleader David Rose.



Call me crazy, but I can't hear this without thinking of the finale music to the 1990 video game Super Mario World:



The similarity is most striking near the end, starting at about 3:27. I would not be surprised at all if the game's composer, Koji Kondo, used "The Stripper" as a reference for this passage. Behind the cheap-sounding MIDI instruments and repetitive structures that define the medium of video game music, Kondo is one of the very best, for what it's worth: classic themes like this one have inspired a generation.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to make of the David Rose track in question. It's well done for what it is, but it's certainly a curve ball. Maybe I'm feeling generous today.

B