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N0KFQ > TODAY 12.07.16 15:05l 62 Lines 3033 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 813_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jul 12
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 160712/1357Z 813@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.12
1979
Disco is dealt death blow by fans of the Chicago White Sox
As the 1970s came to an end, the age of disco was also nearing
its finale. But for all of its decadence and overexposure, disco
didn't quite die a natural death by collapsing under its own
weight. Instead, it was killed by a public backlash that reached
its peak on this day in 1979 with the infamous "Disco Demolition"
night at Chicago's Comiskey Park. That incident, which led to at
least nine injuries, 39 arrests and the cancellation and forfeit
of a Major League Baseball game, is widely credited_or, depending
on your perspective, blamed_with dealing disco its death blow.
The event was the brainchild of Steve Dahl and Garry Meier,
popular disk jockeys on Chicago's WLUP "The Loop" FM. Dahl had
only recently moved to WLUP from rival station WDAI when that
station switched to an all-disco format_a relatively common
reformatting trend in American radio in 1979. But however many
other rock DJs were displaced by disco, only Dahl was inspired to
launch a semi-comic vendetta aimed at "the eradication and
elimination of the dreaded musical disease."
On May 2, the rainout of a game between the Chicago White Sox and
the Detroit Tigers led to the scheduling of a doubleheader on
July 12. Dahl and Meier approached the White Sox with a rather
unorthodox idea for an attendance-boosting promotion: Declare
July 12 "Disco Demolition" night and allow Dahl to blow up a
dumpster full of disco records between games of the doubleheader.
White Sox executive Mike Veeck embraced the idea in the same
spirit with which his father, legendary team-owner Bill Veeck,
had once sent a little person to the plate in a major league
ballgame in order to amuse the fans and draw a walk.
The first mistake organizers made on Disco Demolition night was
grossly underestimating the appeal of the 98-cent discount
tickets offered to anyone who brought a disco record to the park
to add to the explosive-rigged dumpster. WLUP and the White Sox
expected perhaps 5,000 more fans than the average draw of 15,000
or so at Comiskey Park. What they got instead was a raucous
sellout crowd of 40,000-plus and an even more raucous overflow
crowd of as many as 40,000 more outside on Shields Avenue. The
second mistake was failing to actually collect those disco
records, which would become dangerous projectiles in the hands of
a crowd that was already out of control by the time Dahl
detonated his dumpster in center field during warm-ups for the
evening's second game.
What followed was utter chaos, as fans by the thousands stormed
the field and began to wreak havoc, shimmying up the foul poles,
tearing up the grass and lighting vinyl bonfires on the diamond
while the stadium scoreboard implored them to return to their
seats. Conditions were judged too dangerous for the scheduled
game to begin, and the Detroit Tigers were awarded a win by
forfeit.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
E-Mail : kohiggs@gmail.com
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