Andrea True - From Porn Star to Disco Queen

Here she is performing "What's Your Name, What's Your Number?" on an Italian TV show. She looks a little bewildered at first as the host yammers on in Italian, but she recovers nicely when the music starts up.

This was a pretty good song, too - a quintessentially 1970s disco sound. I could without the nasally stuff she does in the middle of the song, but other than that, I can definitely envision people dancing to this at Studio 54 back in the day.

"Fill Me Up" was another good one from that album.

Actually, her song "More, More, More" was a really good number and became a big pop/disco hit. Very catchy tune and words. It went to #4 on Billboard's Top 10 Singles list and she got a gold record for selling over a million copies of it. You can't help but like it when you hear it.

R3 The Rialto Report podcast does a really good job of telling the story of how the song came about. They even have a sample of the demo version she recorded before music producer Tom Moulton was brought in to remix it and make it a hit.

It really is a good song - it's got a great "hook."

Her other Top 40 singles hit was "N.Y., You Got Me Dancing" which went to #27. She did have a viable singing career for awhile.

"New York, You Got Me Dancing" from the "White Witch" album:

She was in her 30s when her music career took off, which didn't do her any favors. Many disco stars careers died when disco did.

I've read that she was a very generous person with her friends. She took care of a friend that was dying of AIDS at the time when there weren't many people willing to do so. She offered to give her music residuals (that she had a lengthy court battle to get) to a friend that she thought was having financial problems.

By all accounts, she was a good person. She was living with a former adult film actress who had fallen on hard times when she was interviewed by the Rialto Report.

Not one of her best:

They posted the interview with Andrea today.

Listening to it now. I love her Southern accent. She sounded very intelligent and articulate.

A very bitchy review for her White Witch album.

R12 Wow! What nasty queen wrote that?

R13 Some newspaper in Florida.

It was sad hearing them hearing them say that it took her 20 minutes to get down the staircase of the second story house she lived in. She must've put on a lot of weight in he last years. She looked heavy when she was interview by VH1 and the Inside Deep Throat doc, but she wasn't that big to be having that much trouble.

R14 I know. She was probably very overweight, in addition to having a host of other medical problems. That she had to take a nap after lunch says a lot about how little stamina she must have had.

Interesting to finally hear her story. More, More, More is one of my all-time favorite songs.

I love More, More, More as well and think the lyrics rather cleverly refer to her previous occupation without being crude: "Get the cameras rolling/ Get the action going."

If Jeff Stryker could sing, maybe he would have come up with something more subtle than Pop You in the Pooper (granted, it's a funny song).

The original version of "More, More, More." Still good, but not as "big."

"Party Line," the B-side to "More, More, More"

OP, thanks for starting this thread. I liked - not loved - this song (More...) but just hearing it in my head brings back a flood of memories. I was probably about 19 when I started going out dancing two, three, or four times a week. I would be so excited as I was getting ready to go out. The thought of being on the dance floor gave me such a rush.

I crack up now to think of how I dressed in those days. One outfit in particular sticks in my mind: white bell-bottomed jeans, a Qiana shirt (Remember those?) with oversized pink and white flowers on a black background and an enormous spread collar, topped with a black v-neck chenille sweater. Omg.

That was an amazing time. I'm really grateful to have been around to witness it. The clubs were filled seven nights a week, often with lines to get in. The camaraderie inside was so sweet. And after last call the party just moved to the sidewalk - and the alleys beyond - until all hours.

Btw, whenever I think of More More More, I can't help thinking of Vicki Sue Robinson belting out Turn the Beat Around. Love to have a thread on her as well.

Thanks again, OP.

So Barefoot Boy.

So Barefoot Boy.

I think she was a much better singer than she was given credit for. She actually had a strong alto voice, and when she sang in her natural range, she sounded very good. If you listen to the first part of the podcast that talks about the making of "More, More, More," she was encouraged to sing high and breathy and conjure up her "porn star" persona for the single. But listen to songs like "What's Your Name, What's Your Number," and you hear the strength of her vocals when she's in her vocal comfort zone.

The interview with Andrea True is interesting, because it's almost all about her career as a porn actress. It's interesting, because she spent so many years trying to put that part of her past behind her, but in the interview, she almost seems to embrace it. I guess maturity and age brought her some peace with that side of her life.

"What's Your Name, What's Your Number"

R25 Love this one (except for that weird twangy thing she does in the middle)! Her voice is rich and strong.

[quote]It was sad hearing them hearing them say that it took her 20 minutes to get down the staircase of the second story house she lived in. She must've put on a lot of weight in he last years. She looked heavy when she was interview by VH1 and the Inside Deep Throat doc, but she wasn't that big to be having that much trouble.

They remarked that when they took her out to lunch, she ate everything that wasn't nailed down. Plus, she was a big pothead and an excellent cook. Her weight probably killed her (she died of a heart attack, I think), but it sounds like she enjoyed life, pounds be damned.

It was nice to hear that she got enough royalties from "More, More, More" to live comfortably (if not lavishly) in her later years.

The first Rialto podcast about her is interesting too because it fills in some details about her early life.

R27 I think she had a host of health issues (liver and kidney problems, throat problems, weight), so all of those things probably helped contribute to her early demise. But she did sound in her interview as if she'd found some peace. She even said, "I deserve some retirement time." Good for her!

"More, More, More" is really a great song. I started listening to it again after Len sampled it for "Steal My Sunshine" and now I dig it out on a regular basis.

It's supposedly Chuck Mangione doing the horn track.

Porn compilation for the curious

Like the above posters said, good for her for finding some peace in her later years. "More More More" was a staple of my parents' parties. They were old 70s hippies and this was in the 90s, but there was always time for More More More! My brother and I used to dance to it.

R29 I don't think the Chuck Mangione story is true. The musical track was recorded in Jamaica by local musicians, then remixed back in the U.S. The Andrea True Connection band was formed after the song was recorded and Mangione wasn't part of it.

If anything, Mangione may have been inspired by "More, More, More"'s horn track when he recorded "Feels so Good" a year later.

My parents loved "Feels So Good." Every time I hear that song, it takes me right back to my childhood.

The story of how the song came together would make a great movie:

When Andrea wasn't doing porn to pay the bills, she was working on her music, singing in clubs, and acting in/writing music for commercials. In 1975, she went to Jamaica to appear in a commercial for a real estate developer.

The island was in turmoil because of violence between supporters of Prime Minister Michael Manley and the opposition; plus, the US had just slapped Jamaica with economic sanctions because Manley was friendly with Castro. Jamaica retaliated by forbidding Americans from taking money out of the country, which meant Andrea would be screwed out of her pay for the commercial. She called Gregg Diamond, her songwriting partner and sometime boyfriend, and asked him to fly down so they could record the song, which they'd been tinkering with for a while. This way she could leave the country with a potentially valuable master tape.

Gregg Diamond recruited the musicians—including the brass section who played for calypso legend Mighty Sparrow—and booked the studio, but when it was time to get to work, Andrea sounded like shit because she had been smoking pot nonstop. So Gregg encouraged her to cover up her vocal deficiencies by singing breathily and sexily. By the time they were ready to go back to NYC, Andrea and Gregg had racked up a substantial drug debt, which they paid with a copy of the master tape. The song was released as a single in Jamaica before Tom Moulton remixed it.

I agree that Andrea's story would make a great movie.

R34 In the Rialto Report podcast, there's an interview with Tom Moulton, and he talks about how he remixed the song, as well as her hastily recorded album following the single's success. They also talk one of her former band members who toured with her, and he had nothing but nice things to say about her.

One funny anecdote that Moulton brings up is that while he was remixing the song, he didn't understand the lyrics, "Get the cameras rollin', get the action goin'." He didn't think they made sense. So when he finally met Andrea True, he said, "You know, there's one thing about the song that bothers me, and it's those lyrics." And she said, "Don't you know what I do?" And he said, "no." And she said, "I suck and fuck on film!" And he thought, being a good Catholic boy, "Oh, my God, if my mother ever finds out, she'll kill me!"

And yes, Andrea's story would make a great movie.

Lip-syncing "New York You Got Me Dancing" on a disco TV show

My god, porn was so different in the 70s!

The bodies were so . . . ordinary.

I'm going to have nightmares of her twiddling her fuzzy snatch while her boobs flopped about.

Is she still alive?

She died in 2011.

Here's a clip of Andrea doing porn, if you're interested.

Andrea True Connection?

HA!!

I was there FIRST!!!

I INVENTED moaning and groaning for top 40 success!!!

She died six years ago, R39.

"New York You Got Me Dancin'" was also a hit, not as big as "More" but I like it, too. It name-checks all the NYC discos of the time, "what a joy, at the Barefoot Boy", 12 West, "Regine's, I guess you can go in your jeans [sic]".

"My heart you steal" is such a clunky lyric.

Bananarama cover, which adds very little:

Didn't she say Jamie Gillis raped her

R47 I'm not sure that was Andrea True. However, Jamie Gillis did have a reputation for being rough and abusive with his screen partners. I think it was Constance Money who said she felt raped by him during one of their S&M scenes in The Opening of Misty Beethoven.

Andrea saw the opportunity of a lifetime, and she used her resourcefulness to make it happen. Good for her.

R49 She was actually a very smart woman. She had drive and talent, and she achieved something only a handful of people with adult film pasts were able to achieve!

Sometime prior to her death, she re-recorded some of her hits. Many older artists have done this to bring in a new stream of income as considered new releases.

Considering her supposed vocal issues, she sounds fairly good (if a bit weak). Here's More, More, More.

New York, You Got Me Dancing re-recorded.

In those re-recordings, she sounds like a drunk at a karaoke bar just before they close.

Well, in her defense, she was in her 60s, had undergone vocal cord surgery, and hadn't really sang in many years.

Oh and I doubt they put as much effort in fixing thing up in post production like the major labels do.

R18 that recording shows how much a great producer and make or break a record. All the bones are there, but that is NOT a hit.

There were also some professional remixes of More, More, More released. This was the best one.

R57 Jesus fucking Christ, that sounds AWFUL! It's as if it was done a reel-to-reel and the tape is thin and keeps slipping.

She was truly and example of how ANYBODY could have a disco hit. She could not sing at all. Not at ALL. She wasn't a singer, she was a fucking porn star!

R59 I disagree. She was a strong vocalist in her younger days. She was singing in clubs before she was a porn actress. It's the porn that gave her infamy, the song that gave her fame.

She kept building her musical career while she was doing porn -- before "More, More, More," she had a cabaret gig at the Riverboat, the old supper club in the Empire State Building. She also taught for a while at the Greenwich House Music School.

She wasn't the most talented vocalist who ever lived, but she was good at songwriting and she was a serious musician from childhood. According to the Rialto Report, before she moved to NYC, she studied music theory at Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt).

Her story is very interesting.

Marilyn Chambers also did a disco song called "Benihana," which was ok but not as good as "More, More, More."

"She was a strong vocalist in her younger days. "

I rather doubt that. If she was such a strong vocalist what the hell happened to her voice? On "More, More, More" it's terrible; weak and tuneless.

[quote] It went to #4 on Billboard's Top 10 Singles list and she got a gold record for selling over a million copies of it.

In the Rialto Interview she said it went to number 1 and said the date and added. it was only a week but I made it to the top.

R65 Bless her hooker heart.

It never went to 1.

R64 We get it, sweetie. You didn't like her.

Well, I didn't stop Jeff Coons ex wife ex pornstar/minister/activist/businesswoman of releasing several musical masterpieces.

"We get it, sweetie. You didn't like her.'

I take it you DO like her. Did she suck your dick, sweetie? Because sucking and fucking were her areas of expertise, not singing.

Ah, isn't it cute how this hateful little troll just can't get enough? Run along and play in the street now, hon.

THIS is the best version of More More More!

I'm 38 years old and my mom and dad played this song at all of their parties...one of my favorites ever!

The second album was not Andrea True on lead. There was a DL thread about her a few years back and a poster personally knew the girl from Long Island who sang the lead in New York You Got Me Dancing, and Party Line. The voice is not breathy. It's noticeably different and by someone who could belt out a tune.

Word was that Andrea True's voice was too fucked up for a second album.

I imagine there were no fraud issues (a la Milli Vanilli) because Andrea True Connection was the name of the group, so it didn't necessarily require for Andrea True to be in it.

R63 I liked Marilyn's song "Shame on You" much more.

R73 Whoa! That's pretty bad.

r72 I think all of the songs sound like Andrea is singing them, she just used a higher, breathy voice for More More More.

R75 In the Rialto Report story, they talk about how Greg Diamond told her to record "More More More" in a high, breathy voice and conjure up her sexy porn star persona. It wasn't her natural register.

Andrea singing a trio of songs live in 1976.

God bless you Andrea True, wherever you are now in the Great Beyond, for making a song that is still getting people horny all these years later.

The best vocalist who did porn was probably Zebedy Colt.

I LOVE Rialto Report!! I highly recommend this podcast. I think the Andrea True podcasts were a highlight of this great series.

Ah, Isn't it cute how much R70 loves Andrea True? Hon, you could do better. Or maybe you couldn't.

[quote] The second album was not Andrea True on lead. There was a DL thread about her a few years back and a poster personally knew the girl from Long Island who sang the lead in New York You Got Me Dancing, and Party Line. The voice is not breathy. It's noticeably different and by someone who could belt out a tune.

False, must be some bitch who tried to make money off her. It was Andrea and the producer worked on both records. Once again, Andrea had a successful night club act in NY before the record and did well.

The best More More More mix. Love it!

Fascinating!

The 1976 Disco Purrfection Mix was the Junior Vasquez/Thunderpuss/David Guetta remix of its day. One of the YouTube comments:

[quote]Thank you for this. I knew Andrea and used to go to some of the same parties during the '70s. I liked her a lot and am sorry she's no longer with us. She told me the song was about the fakery of filming porn scenes.

More More More is a pop classic, fabulous song.

I’m listening to her third album and it’s cute, a little Debbie Harry inspired.

Enough about her music. What were her film titles?

Where is her “Behind the Green Door”? Her “Devil Inside Miss Jones”? Her Phaedra, her Lady Macbeth?