Media & entertainment
Disco Demolition Night: the stadium riot that ended an era
11 min
A 1979 promotion to blow up disco records turned into a field-storming riot — and beneath the spectacle was a backlash tangled up with race, sexuality, and who pop music was for.
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Show notes
Steve Dahl organized the record burning as a personal vendetta after being fired from a disco station.
The White Sox offered ninety-eight cent tickets to boost attendance but fifty thousand fans overwhelmed the stadium.
The explosion in center field created a massive crater and forced the White Sox to forfeit.
Rioters targeted records by Black and queer artists regardless of whether the music was actually disco.
Nile Rodgers compared the imagery of burning records at Comiskey Park to Nazi book burnings.
Disco survived the backlash by evolving into house music at Chicago clubs like The Warehouse.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Architect of the Explosion2 min
- 3Chaos at Comiskey3 min
- 4The Subtext of the 'Disco Sucks' Movement3 min
- 5The Death and Rebirth of the Beat2 min
- 6Outro1 min
Sources
- Disco Demolition Night | History, Chicago, Comiskey Park, House Music, & Facts | Britannica
- July 12, 1979: 'The Night Disco Died' — Or Didn't : NPR
- Discophobia: Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco
- Disco Demolition Night wasn't funny - Chicago Sun-Times
- ‘House Music Is Disco’s Revenge’: How Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park Drove a Genre Underground | WTTW Chicago
- Disco Demolition Night
- The Death of Disco Did Not Take Place: Disco Demolition Night and The Rhetorical Destruction of Disco
- The riot that 'killed' disco
- Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park - Chicago History Museum
- White Sox’ ‘Disco Demolition’ Promotion Still Echoes in Baseball Lore - The New York Times
- “We rock ‘n’ rollers will resist—and we will triumph!” | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
- The night exploding albums caused a team to forfeit
- ‘When Fans Wanted to Rock, the Baseball Stopped’: Sports, Promotions, and the Demolition of Disco on Chicago’s South Side – Society for American Baseball Research
- Disco is dealt death blow by fans of the Chicago White Sox | July 12, 1979 | HISTORY
- Disco Demolition Night
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