Disco Dies An Eventful Death
For decades, rock vinyl was king. From the hip-rattling swagger of Elvis Presley to mind-expanding explorations of the Beatles, from the primal howls of Little Richard to the guttural roar of Led Zeppelin, rock n’ roll was here to stay. But as mid-1970s arrived, a new sound – complete with quick hi-hat runs, infectious choruses and pop sensibilities – could be found on turntables and the charts. Disco was challenging the new king.
But for some, the change was hardly welcomed. Wax was the realm of rock n’ roll and rock vinyl would not go down without a fight. Enter Steve Dahl, a Chicago DJ, who had instantly been fired from his job at WDAI after swapping to an all-disco format. As someone with more than just a personal interest in seeing rock vinyl remain at the top, Dahl hatched a plan.
After rain forced the cancellation of a Chicago White Sox game in early April, the game was rescheduled on July 12, 1979 as part of a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. Dahl, together with Gerry Meier, his broadcast partner, Mike Veeck, son of Chicago owner Bill Veeck, and other radio station executives planned a crucial idea that would eventually live in infamy in both rock vinyl and baseball history: Disco Demolition Night.
The promotion asked fans to bring unwanted disco vinyl albums to the park in exchange for an admission charge of only 98 cents. And boy did they came. Rock fans turned up in scores; nearly 90,000 showed up at the 52,000-seat Comiskey Park. Some scaled fences outside the park, and the freeway had to be shut down after it clogged with cars. When the stadium staff had accumulated more than enough albums from the crowd, many began using them as Frisbees, littering the field and hitting other watchers. At the least, it stood as a testament to their love of rock vinyl. No willing music lover would ever treat “real” records as such.
In between games, Dahl appeared, with a young female in town, dressed in fatigues and riding in a jeep. A crate filled with disco records and wired in explosives was brought onto the field. Rock vinyl would rule the day. The following left a huge hole in the outfield and a small fire burning. However, it was only the beginning.
True to the spirit of the beloved rock vinyl albums collections, fans stormed the field. Some walked aimlessly; some ran from police, some started more fires. In sum, a small-scale riot broke out in the middle of a baseball game. The field was cleared by the Chicago Police Department in the end. The field was so severely crushed that the White Sox had to forfeit the game to the Tigers. And while Disco Demolition Night has gone down as perhaps the most ill conceived promotion ever, in a twisted way, rock vinyl certainly ruled the day.