Since 1971, Easyriders magazine has been the premiere biker magazine (or “rag,” to use the biker colloquial term) on the newsstands. Most of the ladies Easyriders featured on their covers, at least in the early days of the magazine, were not well-known or even professional models However, not all who’ve graced the covers and pages were amateur models. In fact, several were lades who were already, or shortly thereafter went on to become, top names in the porn industry. My educated guess is that, back in the 1980s, Easyriders‘ contributing photographers hired some of their models through Jim South’s World Modeling Agency. The most (in)famous model being their November 1985 cover girl Traci Lords (above), who at the time and unbeknownst to Easyriders‘ staff or even the adult entertainment industry, was underage. When she posed for the her Easyriders shoot, she was no older than 17. Traci went on to have a successful mainstream acting and later singing career. These days, she is still active in the entertainment industry and has launched her own fashion line with Pinup Girl Clothing.
Traci Lords may have been the most infamous porn starlet to grace the cover of Easyriders, but she sure wasn’t the first or last. What follows are several more covers of issues that featured top porn starlets of the late-70s “Golden Age” era, the 80s-90s video era, as well as a couple from the post-2000 Internet era. All were also featured in spreads in the issues they graced the covers of, adorning the bikes, but, with the exception of Marilyn Chambers, no mention was made of their work in the adult film industry.
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I was a subscriber to Easyriders from ’79 to ’90. After reading this article, I now wish I would have kept all these issues. I do remember all theses faces, but I just thought they were local amateur models. In the 90s, Easyriders became a more ‘polished’ magazine and started using professional models who were obviously professionals. Not sayin’ it was a good thing, just sayin’.
Great article! Fortunately Easyriders back issues are still obtainable. So, with the exceptions of Traci Lords (who achieved mainstream success), Marilyn Chambers, and Kandi Barbour (RIP to both), where are these ladies today??