2 Live Crew Does Donahue.

One YouTube commenter said it best:  This is pretty much *the* visual reference for culture shock.

Ya’ll remember The Phil Donahue Show, right?  If not, it was pretty much like this.  The show wrapped in the mid-90s as the talk show market became saturated and as Phil voiced some opinions that his carriers didn’t exactly appreciate.  Before the  mid-90s, however, came the early 90s, which brought with it a highly publicized fight over music and censorship.  At the center of this storm was rap music, which was proving itself to be more than the passing fad the mainstream believed it to be.  And at the center of the center of this storm was Luke and the 2 Live Crew when, in 1989, their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be was banned.

Ever on the cutting edge of current events, Phil Donahue had a show about the whole rap vs. mainstream sensibilities issue in 1990.  This included a panel discussion of people from both sides of the fence, and–most awesomely–a live performance of “Face Down, Ass Up” by the 2 Live Crew themselves.  PERFECT!

The point is clearly shock value, and shock they did.  Donahue had mad white people in the audience, more than enough of them old and wrinkly.  Any Luke performance guarantees lots of ass, and with lyrics like:

And when I cum, you’ll hear me roar
I’ll treat any bitch like a whore
‘Cause it’s the way I like to fuck
It’s face down and ass up!

In front of old white people?  With wigglin’ asses everywhere?  Are you kidding me??!

Here’s the video clip.  It sort of sounds like someone dubbed the track over the clip, but the fact is indisputable:  2 Live Crew performed for a bunch of old white people on the Phil Donahue Show.  And it.  Was.  AWESOME.