Traci Lords

    Traci Lords is probably still very much associated with the scandal surrounding her phenomenally successful career in porn while under the legal age. After being busted by the FBI all but one of her movies were seized and banned. Since then Traci has forged a successful career in mainstream b-movies and television. In fact she is the most successful cross-over star there has ever been, which still causes much resentment in her former colleagues.

Little Baby Traci!

 In 1992 Traci was asked to record a duet with Welsh rock group the Manic Street Preachers when pop sensation Kylie Minogue was unavailable. The track Little Baby Nothing, a spangly guitar pop ditty about being the object of men’s desire was the perfect vehicle to launch her recording career. It was released as a single and reached a very respectable #29 on the UK charts.

Traci Lords, techno singer/songwriter

She signed with Retroactive Records based in England in 1994 and spent awhile in London writing and recording with producers Juno Reactor, Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones and Babble (alias the Thompson Twins). The first single Control was featured on the double platinum soundtrack to the movie Mortal Combat, sadly sans Traci’s fabulous vocal! Her vocal version became a club hit, and in my opinion it’s a definite techno classic. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Dance/Club chart. Check out the house mix if you can, it’s just perfect, and very sleazy! The promotional video featured a cameo from cult movie director John Waters and spoofs memorable scenes from the James Bond movies.

 The album 1,000 Fires was issued shortly afterwards to favourable reviews. Critics were surprised that someone like Traci would record a proper dance album, rather than taking a poppier route to success. A second single Fallen Angle, written by Traci about late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain was released, remixed by Chad Smith and Dave Navarro of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. It was picked up for the soundtrack to the Denzel Washington movie Virtuosity and Traci even performed the song herself during once scene! The Perfecto Mix is also excellent.

Award Winning Actress

Years passed and it seemed Traci was more interested in her acting career. A season on NBC’s Profiler and another on the Sci-Fi Channel’s First Wave amongst a whole host of independent movies, and the occasional blockbuster like 1998's Wesley Snipes mega-hit Blade! In 2000 Traci received her first ever award for mainstream acting for her role in the independent comedy Chump Change. Traci even turned her hand to writing, her New York Times best-selling autobiography Underneath It All was published in 2003. She finally released a single in 2004 via the cdbaby website which included two songs. The lead track Sunshine, a rough sounding rock tune, and an electronic ballad You Burn Inside Of Me. Around the same time a video appeared for an unreleased single, an electro cover of Missing Persons’ classic Walking In L.A., inspired by her early days in the porn biz. A few other songs were used during episodes of the hit TV show Joan Of Arcadia.

Sunshine

 In 2007 Traci announced that she was expecting a baby and a brand new single, Come Alive’ would follow soon. She has also written a new book about looking good while being pregnant. We wish Traci and baby Lords all the best.

Walking In L.A. (2003)