UNE 1991 ...THE LAW BLASTS NWA AS OBSCENE

JUNE 11

Van drivers and other workers at PolyGram’s Chadwell Heath distribution centre were astounded. In answer to a tip-off from an unnamed informant, the Metropolitan Police’s obscene publications squad had swooped on the plant, in search of copies of the new N.W.A album Efil4Zaggin. An Island Records release, it included song titles such as To Kill A Hooker, Findum, Fuckum And Flee, and One Less Bitch, covering such shocking subjects as murder, gang rape and under-age sex. The album was manufactured by EMI, distributed by PolyGram and – crammed with samples from the likes of Barry White, The Last Poets and James Brown – was filled with material published by MCA Music and Sony Music. It seemed that a large portion of the British music industry was set to become involved in a possible legal battle. In the interim, the police confiscated 5,750 vinyl albums, 5,191 CDs and 1,406 cassettes, though trade magazine Music Week reported that 16,000 copies of the album had already been shipped to retailers. The HMV chain had foreseen possible problems with Efil4Zaggin, one spokesman explaining: “We chose not to stock the item for the simple reason that we would have been liable to prosecution.” Island Records MD Marc Marot, meanwhile, urged other retailers to pull the album from their racks. “We must advise retailers not to sell the album,“he said. “The legal situation for them is still unclear.” Derek Birkett, MD at One Little Indian, was more optimistic regarding the legal aspects of the situation. His company had previously faced an obscenity charge regarding the Flux Of Pink