Disco Dies An Eventful Death

For decades, rock vinyl was king. From the hip-rattling swagger of Elvis Presley to mood-altering explorations of the Beatles, from the primitive howls of Little Richard to the grating 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 discovered on turntables and the charts. Disco was challenging the new king.

But for a few, the change was hardly accepted. Wax was the realm of rock n' roll and rock vinyl would not fall without a bout. Enter Steve Dahl, a Chicago DJ, who had immediately been fired from his job at WDAI after switching to an all-disco format. As someone with more than just a personal interest in seeing rock vinyl formulated a plan.

After rain pressed 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, in conjunction with Gerry Meier, his broadcast partner, Mike Veeck, son of Chicago owner Bill Veeck, and other radio station executives planned a momentous thought that would finally 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. Many scaled fences outside the park, and the freeway had to be close down after it clogged with cars. When the stadium staff had collected more than enough albums from the crowd, many began using them as Frisbees, littering the field and hitting other spectators. It stood as a testament to their love of rock vinyl at the least. No eager music lover would ever treat "real" 'albums as such.

In between games, Dahl appeared, with a young female in town, garbed 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 run the day. The ensuing left a gaping 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. All in all, a minor riot broke out in the middle of a baseball game. In the end, the field was cleared by the Chicago Police Department. The field was so badly mangled 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.