Photo of the day: STRIPTEASE DOLLS & BURLESQUE BEAUTIES
Photo of the day: STRIP TEASE DOLLS & BURLESQUE BEAUTIES – In the land of long ago, when “the daily bump and grind” meant something different, the Times Theater in Times Square featured ‘strip tease dolls and burlesk beauties’. I like to image names like Peaches LaTour, Bubbles Beverly, Feathery Fiona, Sally Rand, Miss Electra, Dressy Tessie Tura and Miss Mazeppa. And remember, you gotta get a gimmick if you want to get ahead!
MAZEPPA:
You can pull all the stops out
Till they call the cops out;
Grind your behind till you’re banned.
But you gotta get a gimmick
If you wanna get a hand.
You can sacrifice your saccro
Working in the back row.
Bump in a dump till you’re dead.
Kid, you gotta have a gimmick
If you wanna get ahead.
You can uh…You can uh… You can uh…uh…uh…
You can uh…You can uh… You can uh…uh…uh…
That’s how Burlesque was born.
So I uh…and I uh… And I uh…uh…uh…
But I do it with a horn…
Once I was a Schleppa, Now I’m Miss Mazzeppa,
With my revolution in dance.
You gotta have a gimmick If you wanna have a chance!
ELECTRA:
She can uh… She can uh… She can uh…uh…uh…
That’ll never make her rich.
Me, I uh… and I uh… And I uh…uh…uh…
But I do it with a switch.
I’m electrifyin’, And I ain’t even tryin’;
I never have to sweat to get paid;
‘Cause if you got a gimmick, Gypsy girl, you got it made.
TESSIE TURA:
All them uh and then uh… And that uh…uh…uh…
Ain’t gonna spell success;
Me, I uh… and I uh… And I uh…uh…uh…
But I do it with finesse.
Dressy Tessie Tura is so much more demur-er
Than all them other ladies because–
You gotta get a gimmick If you wanna get applause.
ALL: Do something special Anything special
And you’ll get better because…
You’re more than just a mimic
When you gotta gimmick
Take a look how different we are!
ELECTRA: If you wanna make it, Twinkle while you shake it.
TESSIE TURA: If you wanna grind it, Wait till you’ve refined it.
MAZEPPA: If you wanna stump it, Bump it with a trumpet!
ALL: So get yourself a gimmick and you, too, Can be a star!
The best version ever done from the 1962 Rosalind Russell film “Gypsy”, Natalie Wood as Louise ‘Gypsy Rose Lee’ Hovick, Betty Bruce as Tessie Tura, Faith Dane as Mazeppa, Roxanne Arlen as Electra – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFRSawe33sA
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 