Marilyn Chambers’ Disco Past

Lucas Jensen | April 14, 2009 12:45 pm

Porn star and Ivory Snow model Marilyn Chambers passed away yesterday at age 56. She left behind quite the legacy of pornographic work, and appeared in adult films as recently as last year. She was the lead in Behind the Green Door, which, along with Deep Throat, helped push pornography at least partially out of smoke-filled theaters and into the mainstream. She was also one of the first actresses to make points on a film; she made 1% of profits on Green Door.

Besides her appearance on the Ivory Snow box, Chambers made various bids for mainstream success, notably appearing in David Cronenberg’s Rabid. What I didn’t see in very many obits yesterday was a discussion of her 1976 disco single, “Benihana.” While it’s not terrible by any stretch, I wish I could say it was some sort of lost masterpiece. It’s produced by Michael “Let’s All Chant” Zager, and it features a pentatonic kyoto intro to go along with the Benihana theme. It’s definitely of the panting, post-“Love To Love You Baby” variety, and probably NSFW:

She certainly didn’t hide from her pornographic reputation with this one, and word is that this kept her from ever breaking through to a wider audience. All of the orgasmic panting probably didn’t help!

Porn star Marilyn Chambers dies [Reuters]

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