Watch CBS News

Vin Scully Play-By-Play, NWA's 'Straight Outta Compton' Named National 'Aural Treasures'

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) - Legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully and rap group NWA were named Wednesday among the newest inductees to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

The selections for the 2016 registry were called as "aural treasures worthy of preservation" because of their "cultural, artistic, and historical importance to American society and the nation's audio heritage."

Scully's play-by-play of the Brooklyn Dodgers' and the New York Giants' last game at the Polo Grounds on Sept. 8, 1957 was selected for the registry, just one of two radio broadcasts to be included. Both teams headed west for California after that season.

"I wanted that game to take forever, which is a little different. Today, everyone talks about, and maybe not the fans, but certainly those of us broadcasting and writing, we're always talking about how long the game is. Baseball is now trying to see if they can't speed things up," Scully, 89, told the Associated Press from his home in Hidden Hills. "But as a kid way back, and even as a broadcaster, I remember saying, 'take it easy fellas, be slow, let's squeeze all of the juice out of this game before we finally close the curtain on it."

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON VIP Screening With Director/ Producer F. Gary Gray, Producer Ice Cube, Executive Producer Will Packer, And Cast Members
"Straight Outta Compton" VIP Screening With Director/ Producer F. Gary Gray, Producer Ice Cube, Executive Producer Will Packer, And Cast Members at Regal Atlantic Station on July 24, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)

NWA's 1988 album, "Straight Outta Compton," was received one of the first parental advisory labels for explicit content. The track "F--- tha Police," was denounced by conservative politicians and prompted a warning letter from the FBI to the group's record label. But the album achieved platinum sales with no radio airplay and influenced a generation of rappers with its lyrics about gang violence and the drug trade in south central Los Angeles.

The album inspired the 2015 biographical film focusing on members Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Recordings picked for the registry are preserved at the library's vast audio-visual vault in Culpeper, Virginia. If they have already been preserved elsewhere, the library collaborates with those studios or archives to ensure they will be available to future generations.

Nominations were gathered through online submissions from the public and from the NRPB, which is comprised of leaders in the fields of music, recorded sound and preservation.

Other additions to the registry include Barbra Streisand's 1964 recording of the song "People," from the musical "Funny Girl"; the late David Bowie's 1972 concept album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars"; the original-cast recording of the musical "The Wiz" (1975); and Sister Sledge's inclusive anthem "We are Family" (1979).

The Eagles, on the other hand, weren't too enthusiastic about "Their Greatest Hits," which was released in 1976 against the band's wishes. But it became their biggest success and remains one of the top-selling albums of all time. The California soft-rock group was also recognized at last year's Kennedy Center Honors.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.