| Andrea True | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrea Marie Truden[1] |
| Born | July 26, 1943 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | November 7, 2011 (aged 68) Kingston, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop, disco |
| Occupations | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1972–2005 |
| Labels | Buddah Records |
Andrea True (July 26, 1943 – November 7, 2011)[2] was an American adult film star and singer from the disco era.[3] In addition to her given name, she had multiple stage names, including Inger Kissin, Singe Low, Sandra Lips,[1] Andrea Travis, and Catherine Warren.
She is best known for the disco tune "More, More, More", released in 1976, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100,[4] and reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 1976.[5]
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Andrea Marie Truden was born in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.[2] She attended Saint Cecilia Academy, an all-girl Catholic school in Nashville, where she was a boarding student. She graduated in 1961.[6]
True moved to New York City as a teenager, to seek fame as a mainstream film star. While she did manage to get some minor roles in mainstream movies, including The Way We Were, the fame she sought was fleeting. When some friends asked her to join them in a pornographic movie, she went along with the idea, initially thinking of this opportunity as the best way for her to gain more experience with films and acting. She first performed in pornographic films in Scandinavia, and in the late 1960s, began appearing in American adult films. Eventually, she appeared in more than 60 hardcore porn films throughout the 1970s and early to mid-1980s, and distinguished herself as one of the more recognizable porn stars in the early New York adult film industry.[6]
During her heyday as a porn actress, around 1975, True was hired by a real estate business in Jamaica to appear in their commercials. During her stay in Jamaica, a political crisis gripped the island, and no one was allowed to leave with any money. Not wanting to lose the pay she had earned from the real estate ads, True asked her friend, record producer Gregg Diamond, to travel to the island and produce a track for her, which she would finance locally using that money. Diamond arrived with a composition in hand, to which True added her vocals. The result of their collaboration was "More, More, More." Ultimately remixed by producer Tom Moulton, "More, More, More" became a favorite in discos and nightclubs. It ultimately reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and a full album with the same title soon followed. The single also reached the charts in the United Kingdom (where it peaked at No. 5)[5] and Germany (where it reached No. 9).[3]
By the time of her singing career, True admitted she was burned out and tired of porn, saying "I'd rather be a waitress or a typist than make another adult film" and also "Don't think of me as a porn star anymore, think of me as a recording star. I just want to record and perform." In early 1977, True released the single "N.Y. You Got Me Dancing" from her follow-up album, White Witch. The single became True's second biggest hit, reaching No. 27 on Billboard's pop chart. In 1978, she had a second hit in the UK with "What's Your Name, What's Your Number," which peaked at No.34 in the UK.[5] Both albums included studio musicians with a new band assembled for the tour, the second line-up which included future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick. In 1980, she released her third and final album, War Machine, a more hard rock-oriented album; released only in Europe, but it flopped.
After her third album failed, True briefly attempted returning to porn, but at nearly 40, she was too old for a comeback. She also could not return to music because a goiter that developed on her vocal cords required surgery, essentially ending her singing ability.[7] She then lived in Los Angeles for some time and subsequently moved to New York. During the early 1990s Andrea lived in an apartment on Manhattan's east side and was known for cooking gourmet meals for her friends. Finally, by the turn of the century she had begun a new low-profile career, living in Boynton Beach, Florida working as a psychic reader as well as a counselor for drug and substance abusers.
True continued receiving royalties from her music, and "More More More" remained a popular song on TV and movies. True received a renewed burst of publicity when the Canadian group, Len, sampled the instrumental break from "More, More, More" in their own hit single, "Steal My Sunshine." Subsequently, True appeared on several VH1 specials including Where Are They Now in 1999, VH1's 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2001 ("More, More, More" was the No. 45 greatest dance song), and VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders in 2003, in which she said she wants to be remembered as a person who "gave people pleasure" — then emphasized the words — "with my music." She also made an appearance in the 2005 documentary movie Inside Deep Throat.
True died on November 7, 2011, at a hospital in Kingston, New York near her home in Woodstock. A longtime friend, Louise Marsello Landham, said the cause was heart failure. In line with her wishes, she was cremated.[2][8] She left behind no immediate survivors. True was 68.
| Year | Album | U.S. Black |
U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | More, More, More | 49 | 47 |
| 1977 | White Witch | — | — |
| 1980 | War Machine (Europe only) | — | — |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [9] |
US Black [9] |
US Club [9] |
US Disco [9] |
CAN | UK [5] |
|||
| 1976 | "Call Me" | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | More, More, More |
| "Keep It Up Longer" | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | ||
| "More, More, More" | 4 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| "Party Line/Fill Me Up/Call Me" | — | 95 | 9 | — | — | — | ||
| "Party Line" | 80 | — | 4 | — | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "N.Y., You Got Me Dancing" | 27 | — | 4 | — | 89 | — | White Witch |
| "What's Your Name, What's Your Number" | 56 | — | 9 | — | — | 34 | ||