Let's hear it for leather, hair stroking, air blowing, ear nibbling, toe licking, buttocks pinching, back scratching and oil. Ole!

The secret to a pleasurable and sensual massage, according to this tape, is letting loose of your inhibitions and getting your partner to do the same. Rubbing, stroking and even massaging will do that, this tape informs. But once you and your mate are loose as a goose, anything goes! That's when the leather cycle gloves, zzzzing vibrators and other accoutrements should be introduced. In this case, the massage should be anything but medium.

Playboy's Art of Sensual Massage is the sort of production we've come to expect from Playboy Video. It's impeccably photographed, the music is pleasant and the entire production glows with a sort of lushness that's rare in softcore made-for-video efforts. And the principles are model perfect.

Four terrific-looking couples demonstrate the ins and outs of true sensual massage. Photographed through vasilened lenses and often in slow motion, the couples act out the various stages of the recommended massage plan; from a stress relieving warm-up to exuberant rubbing, tickling and scratching to the use of the aforementioned extras. The final stage, of course, is ecstasy, and that comes, according to the tape, when both parties pull out all the stops in order to make each other happy . . . and, hopefully, fulfilled.

It's the best made-for-video massage tape out. . . Any production that can teach and titillate in equal doses is worth at least a look.