Every so often a nude scene gets paired with a song that, for better or worse, ends up making it that much more memorable, and there’s no way that Songs in the Key of Nudity could let the 50th anniversary of the longest running film and hottest musical ticket of all time pass us by without diving head first into the sounds and skin that make it a classic. Just jump to the left and then step to the right, because we’re breaking down the story of everyone’s favorite sweet transvestite, The Rocky Horror Picture Show!
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This could very well be one of the few times that the soundtrack is actually more iconic than the nudity! The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a cultural institution, broadening minds and shocking newbies with its gender-bending bangers since 1975. (Even Princess Diana reportedly told star Tim Curry it “quite completed her education.”) After starting as a live show in 1973 where folks could practically touch-a touch-a touch-a the performers, this musical tribute to old school sci-fi and horror B movies was eventually put on film itself, and became more than a movie - it became an experience, a festival of audience participation that is still shown in theaters to this day.
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Susan Sarandon and Nell Campbell Nude in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Though sexual situations abound in this tale of a mad scientist from another planet who creates a beefy muscle man and gives a shy, virginal couple the craziest night of their lives, the nudity is mostly incidental. During the climactic live cabaret floor show, Nell Campbell shakes what her mama gave her so much they come flying out of her sequined corset while belting out the opening of“Rose Tint My World.”
Nell Campbell in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
01:17:00 The floor show begins, and Little Nell sings and dances her little heart out, letting her rosy nipplets jump out and jiggle above the top of her tight corset. (35 secs)
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The same corset proves even more useless underwater, as both Nell and Susan Sarandon slip several nips while swimming around singing “Don’t Dream It, Be It.”
Susan Sarandon, Nell Campbell in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
01:21:00 See Susan's left Saran-dome, just for a flash, when it bobbles into view during an underwater orgy, where we also see more Nell nippage popping out above her corset. (48 secs)
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Not only did those five words become an epic mantra for generations, they apply to everything - even getting naked. Don’t dream about nudity, be nude! Now that’s a message we can all get behind!
Catch Up With Previous Editions of Songs in the Key of Nudity
—An Almost Skinfamous Anniversary
—Animal House or Thank You Boobs May I Have Another?
