February 7, 1989: 2 Live Crew Release "As Nasty As They Wanna Be"

February 7, 1989: Mystery Girl, Roy Orbison's last album, is released. Roy had died 2 months earlier, of a heart attack at the age of 52, while he was in the midst of a comeback that included his participation in a "supergroup," The Traveling Wilburys. The album contained his last hit, "You Got It."

From the sublime to the ridiculous: 2 Live Crew, a Miami-based rap group, release their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. It becomes one of the most controversial records ever made -- and perhaps the last to actually be a record.

2 Live Crew was the project of Luther Campbell, a 28-year-old native of Miami. The lead singer was David P. Hobbs, a.k.a. Mr. Mixx. The leadoff track was "Me So Horny," which became the group's only Top 40 hit. Other tracks included "Dick Almighty," "Dirty Nursery Rhymes" and "The Fuck Shop." On June 15, the Crew released a cleaned-up version, titled As Clean As They Wanna Be. "The Fuck Shop" became "The Funk Shop," and "Dick Almighty" and "Dirty Nursery Rhymes" were dropped, although "Me So Horny" was kept.

In 1990, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the album was legally obscene, the 1st album in history to be so deemed. This ruling was later overturned by the Eleventh Circuit. This led Campbell to record, to the tune of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.," "Banned In the U.S.A.," a Top 40 hit under his own name.

But Campbell's career was ruined. He said, "I guess America wasn't ready to hear a black man rapping about his penis."

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February 7, 1989 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Bullets, 117-105 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 109-99 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Dale Ellis scored 34 points in defeat for the Sonics.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets, 118-93 at the Chicago Stadium. Michael Jordan scored 32 points.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-106 at the Bradley Center.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Miami Heat, 96-77 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the San Antonio Spurs, 114-99 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 134-125 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. In defeat, Rolando Blackman led all scorers on the night with 37 points.

And the NHL All-Star Game was played, at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. The Clarence Campbell Conference (West) All-Stars beat the Prince of Wales Conference (East) All-Stars, 9-8. Wayne Gretzky, having left the Edmonton Oilers for the Los Angeles Kings, was named the game's Most Valuable Player, having scored a goal and 2 assists.