The Andrea True Connection: More More More (Buddha)
I can't recall where I bought this, but would not have paid more than a dollar or two
I was in high school when disco hit. Or at least, junior high school. The exact dates are fuzzy. But I was definitely in high school for Saturday Night Fever and its hugely popular soundtrack. My school marching band played two songs from that soundtrack, even during the time I was drum major in the 11th grade, 79-80. One of my sisters had the A Night at Studio 54 double LP, which I objected to.
Such a time, when it seemed as though the widest cultural divide was whether you were pro- or anti-disco. I know that I'm considering this through the lens of nostalgia, so don't expect depth.
For crying out loud...during my lifetime, I watched the first moon landing, and Nixon's resignation. I'm feeling my age.
Here's this artifact from that era. Andrea True? Pornstar. I'm not going to say I've never seen a porn film, but I can say with reasonable confidence that I never watched her. I guess there's a Marilyn Chambers 12" single, "Benihana" maybe? I haven't heard it. But I have some curiosity about this intersection of music (and particularly 70s disco) and porn performers. There are several soundtracks to hardcore porn films I actually enjoy and admire: I have an original vinyl copy of the Devil in Miss Jones soundtrack, and a CD reissue of Bernard Purdie's soundtrack to Lialeh.
The latter is interesting. Once again (and not to get defensive) I can say honestly I've never seen the film. It's the first primarily African American hardcore feature film. (I guess you have to start somewhere.) Purdie's soundtrack is hit and miss; some great moments, some awful. I arranged one work for OPEK, which we played twice I think. "Hap'nin'". It's a pretty good piece, and the story of its origin makes it even more interesting.
This album? Disco grooves, full studio band, with whispery sung vocals, mixed on the low side. The anti-disco stance is understandable but also seems silly in retrospect. Live musicians playing real grooves, it all seems quaint now. Andrea's vocals, I've read, were meant to be demo/throwaway tracks, but I am dubious about that. The record is well produced, even with buried vocals.
It still, well, kinda sucks. Okay, I don't consider it as terrible as I might have once, but it's not the pinnacle of the disco pyramid.
I've in recent years bought the Christmas Disco Album, and The Ethel Merman Disco Album. I mean, ironically, okay? In general I like vinyl oddities, and both easily qualify.
So this? A pornstar-based fully produced disco album? That's worth a buck or two, and a spin or two.
2 comments:
But the cowbell! Trumpet solo! Not auto-tuned vocals (i.e. slightly out of tune). I've always had a sweet tooth for this disco romp.
Ha! Okay...it kind of sucks but I also kind of like it. And yes, I'll take slightly out of tune vocals to the current uber-processed Autotuned vocals any day. I remember your love of WAMO-FM, of funk and poppier African American music, you were ahead of me on that. Maybe I'm also just amazed this exists at all.
For my birthday, I got tickets to see Parliament Funkadelic last summer, whatever constitutes that band now. I'm so grateful to have seen them.
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