Pendleton Puts 2 Live Crew Album Off Base; Clay Might Too

You can’t be as nasty as you wanna be if you want to sell your record albums to local Marines.

Rap group 2 Live Crew’s controversial, profanity-filled record “As Nasty As They Wanna Be,” was pulled last week from the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base store, officials said.

The album, branded obscene by a federal judge in Florida, could also be pulled from stores at the Marine Corps air stations in El Toro, Tustin and Yuma, Ariz.

“We did sell the album, but after the stories broke about how it was obscene, we pulled it,” said Master Sgt. George Spear, a Camp Pendleton spokesman.

Action won’t be taken at the air stations until Brig. Gen. David V. Shuter gives the top-selling record a listen, said Staff Sgt. Gloria Nacoste, a Camp Pendleton spokeswoman. Shuter is commander of Marine Corps air bases for the Western United States.

Camp Pendleton officials are also considering yanking another profanity-filled record, “The Day the Laughter Died,” by controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay.

Danny Goldberg, president of Los Angeles-based Gold Mountain Records, blasted the action against 2 Live Crew.

“There isn’t anything on that album that soldiers haven’t heard during basic training,” Goldberg said. “Personally, I am no fan of the album. But the government shouldn’t be music critics.”

Skywalker Records, the group’s Miami-based label, is appealing a June 6 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez in Florida that the album is obscene. Group members Luther Campbell and Christopher Wongwon and a record store owner in Broward County, Fla., have been arrested on obscenity allegations.

In the meantime, Marines who can’t buy the album will still have a chance to hear the songs from “As Nasty As They Wanna Be.” 2 Live Crew has scheduled a concert in Los Angeles on Monday.