The county sheriff here says the Boobie Bungalow's exotic dancers get a little too much exposure, but the nightclub says it's going to fight five dancers' busts over the past two weekends.
"All they had on was the music," says Sheriff Eddie Bass to the Huntsville (AL) Times. The five dancers - three from Alabama - were charged with indecent exposure, which outraged Boobie Bungalow owner Alvin Russell.
''Im not in the porn business," Russell told the Times. ''Im in the entertainment business." Dancers have performed topless for two decades at this club six miles north of the Alabama-Tennessee border, and Russell started letting some dancers perform totally in the nude when Elkton amended its laws two years ago.
And there's the heart of Russell's battle. Tennessee state law outlaws nude dancing but Elkton ordinances allow it, and Russell argues the state also allows cities to set local standards. Bass told the Times the girls were charged under state law.
They have a Nov. 4 court date. A first offense is a misdemeanor with up to a $500 fine.
Bass says complaints about adult businesses hadn't come until lately, but Russell got a lot of publicity for the Boobie Bungalow last December, when he rode in the Ardmore Christmas Parade with Penthouse model Vanna Lace in an open convertible - with Lace wearing an open jacket. And a citizens group has formed to fight off the growth of adult businesses here.
