On the night of July 12th during the “twi-night doubleheader” between local baseball rivals the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers, former DJ Steve Dahl lead a mass deluge of angry Chicagoans onto the field at Comiskey Park to declare the “death” of disco.
The event was initially a publicity stunt but soon took on a life of its own when fans invaded the field after a crate of disco records was blown up. The furore resulted in the White Sox having to forfeit their game. Yesterday, Dahl told his side of the story on Chicago Business claiming those involved were “a bunch of disenfranchised 20-something rockers having some laughs at the expense of older brothers who had the capital and the clothing to hang with the trendy social elite”.
Needless to say, this summary will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of the African American and gay communities thriving at the time. The bottom line is Disco Demolition Night was homophobic and racist, but the whole campaign was too. And it makes my blood boil. But I take comfort in knowing disco didn’t die that night because you can’t destroy energy—it just transferred into post-disco and other genres like house, electro-funk, and hip hop. So suck on that, Dahl.
You can stream the ESPN coverage of the night below and make your own conclusions.
(via NBC Chicago)