NEWARK, N.J. (UPI)--The sale of the Beatle record "Two Virgins" with a cover displaying front and rear nude photographs of John Lennon and his girlfriend was banned in New Jersey recently by a judge who called the cover nothing but a "suggestive naked spectacle."
Judge Nelson K. Mintz said he based his ruling on the testimony of an Elizabeth, N.J., record dealer who said he refused to show the album to 15 teen-aged girls because he felt they were more interested in seeing Lennon nude than hearing the album.
Defendants in the case, Telragrammaton of California, and Bestway Productions of Mountainside, N.J., had produced a psychiatrist last week who testified the photographs showed "calm and innocence and not a look that would appeal to prurient interests."
Mintz, however, said the "contact of the bodies" and "prominence of the genitalia are suggestive of sexual activity." He said the cover was "nothing more than an advertising gimmick to promote the sale of the record to teen-agers."
Mintz said the cover was "offensive to the community standards at large and the offensiveness aggravated when known celebrities . . . engage in this suggestive naked spectacle."
His ruling is expected to be appealed.
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