Risqué business as Radio 4 enters the world of nipple pasties and ‘juicy booties’
The ‘cheeky’ Music To Strip To programme forms part of exploration of the world of burlesque performers
FOR decades, Radio 4 has been the first port of call for those hoping to swot up on everything from current affairs to gardening tips.
But next month it will also provide a more unusual educational service: how to pick the best music for a stripp tease.
A new documentary about burlesque in the 21st century will seek to identify the best tunes to strip to, as the BBC believes its listeners are ready to hear noononsense tales of breasts and “juicy booties”. oties”.
Among the contributors are a former crown holder der of Miss Exotic World, d, a winner of the Golden Pastie astie Award and a performer r named “The Girl with the 44DD 4DD Brain”.
Programme-makers mme-makers hope to tell the little-known ttle-known stories of the dancers rs themselves, repositioning burlesque urlesque as a strident political and socially conscious movement. t.
The half-hour alf-hour show follows several yearsars of occasionally racy content on n the radio, including explicit discussionscussions on Late Night Woman’s Hour and a daytime adaptation of Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, which hich drew complaints over its graphic sex scenes and uncensoreded swearing.
Music To Strip To, a one-off documentary, , will see contributors detailing their risqué dance routines, describing scribing performances from the titillating to the politically extreme.
A list of songs will even be published online for inspired listeners to p playy at home. Producer Steve Urquh Urquhart said he “would like to think”thi the Radio 4 audience is ready for such a show,sho with the program programme’s title makin making clear the subje subject matter for thos those who want to avo avoid it.
“I’d like to think it’s doned in good taste,” he said. “Ther “There are some perha perhaps quite chee cheeky moments but hopefully no nothing considere ered crude. It’s a way of hearing about this world that y you perhaps wouldn’t otherwise, even if you went to a burlesque night.
“You wouldn’t necessarily know who the people are behind the act and why they do it. That’s the story I want to get across.
“These are people who are really quite brave. Why do they do it and what on earth motivates them to get up night after night? It’s to explore that.
“I’m sure the Radio 4 audience will make up their own mind.
“It won’t be for everybody but hopefully it will really provide some access and exclusive clips behind the scenes of a world perhaps a lot of listeners won’t have been in before.”
The programme, which shows how dancers choose modern music to perform to instead of relying on old jazz and big band songs, asked contributors to wear a pair of headphones to perform fully-clothed in their living rooms, describing their routine for the radio. One, Julie Atlas Muz, describes herself as a “43-year-old athletic yet curvy blonde, with a nice big juicy booty that jiggles when I walk”.
Luna TikTok identifies as a “super vivacious, curvy, va va voom lady” while Zoe Ziegfeld describes herself as a “queer Jew from New York”.
One colourful scene describes how a performer extracts a picture of Donald Trump from her body, making a political, prochoice point.
“These are voices and experiences you probably wouldn’t hear very often on Radio 4,” said Mr Urquhart. “Everybody I’ve spoken to had a lot to say about what they wanted to represent, whether that’s a political message, a cultural thing or a social message. Burlesque is really about telling a story. That’s the difference between that and stripping.
“It’s quite different voices than you’ll be used to hearing, with some pretty forthright views.”
Music To Strip To will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday, July 11.