Florida Flap Has Little Effect on Orange County Sales of Album

While rap group 2 Live Crew continues to generate charges of obscenity in Broward County, Fla.--culminating in the arrest of two band members after a performance early Sunday--the controversy does not seem to have touched Orange County’s record retailers.

Several stores contacted Monday by The Times reported that they have received no complaints from customers and noted little or no effect on sales of the album “As Nasty as They Wanna Be,” which was declared obscene Wednesday by a federal judge in south Florida. On Friday, Broward authorities arrested record store owner Charles Freeman for selling the recording to an undercover deputy sheriff.

Several Orange County retailers said that sales of the album have remained steady in the wake of the Florida controversy, even though some observers have predicted that the actions in Florida would boost sales of the album.

“2 Live Crew is a pretty big name for the rappers,” said Tom Erbentraut, manager of Music Plus in Santa Ana. “The album has been out for a while, so I don’t think it’s going to have any effect on sales.”

Greg Sather, assistant manager of Wherehouse Records in South Coast Plaza, agreed: “I can see that if it was a new album, sales would be going up.”

At Tower Records in El Toro, however, manager Robert Stapleton has detected “more of an interest” in the album in the past several days.

Tower sells both versions of the album: “As Nasty as They Wanna Be,” which carries a warning sticker; and a tamer version of the album, “As Clean as They Wanna Be.” “As usual,” Stapleton said, “the one with the warning sticker outsells the one without it.”

Some record chains, including Tower, will not sell “Nasty” to anyone under 18. In March, Musicland--the nation’s largest chain of record stores--pulled the record entirely from its shelves, selling only the cleaned-up version. The chain operates several Musicland and Sam Goody outlets in Orange County.

Nancy Phelps of the American Civil Liberties Union in Orange County said her office “always monitors local conditions” and has not heard of any attempts to censor the album in Orange County--”but that doesn’t mean we won’t,” she said.

In Florida, 2 Live Crew leader and producer Luther Campbell, 29, and band member Chris Won Wong, 21, were stopped early Sunday by Broward County sheriff’s deputies after an adults-only performance in Hollywood, Fla., and charged with first-degree misdemeanors. They were given notices to appear in court at a date to be determined later.

In addition, Florida authorities are preparing to charge a third band member, Mark Ross, with the same first-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.

The band flew to Phoenix Sunday for a performance there. 2 Live Crew was not expected to return to south Florida from Phoenix until today, said Bruce Rogow, the band’s attorney. Times wire services contributed to this report.