What Happened During the Infamous Disco Demolition Night?
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- čas přidán 14. 07. 2022
- On July 12, 1979, the term "disco inferno" took on a whole new meaning. As the "disco '70s" drew to a close, Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl decided to speed up the process by promoting a Demolition Disco Night in between games at a White Sox double-header at Comiskey Park. He invited the listeners of his popular radio show to come out to the game and set some records on fire, and tens of thousands showed up to burn a farewell to disco. But during the event, things got seriously out of hand; after a sluggish baseball season, the stadium hadn't seen crowds like this for quite some time.
#discomusic #musichistory #weirdhistory - Zábava
Ironically, the two cities that got house music underway were Chicago and Detroit, the very same cities whose baseball teams played each other on that night in 1979. House music is disco's revenge.
lol love that statement. Long live disco! Though House, haters can suck it :P
Indeed.
It was pure racism ! Black people invented Rock and Roll
It is not ironic but still a very interesting observation
@@rykson161 Black fragility it HILARIOUS. It doesn't matter what the topic is there is a black person claiming they invented it. Go ahead and watch Thomas Sowells where black culture come from and you will find black people stole their culture from poor British whites.
Disco continued to stay popular in ethnic communities, can’t tell you how much my Mexican parents (who are also Chicago natives and white Sox fans) continued to love disco even after “the day disco died”
everyone in the edm/house music community knows how strong of an influence has had!
look at beyonce & drake - both released house inspired tracks this year, and house comes form disco.
Yip, disco became House music, which became Acid which became Techno, which led to Drum n Bass, Electronica, EDM as a whole
@@orangeradishneo im on the same record label as the guy - DJ Pierre from Phuture who basically created Acid House ! and also iv also released on Trax records,....
@@Floyd1138 did you just say techno comes from acid house?
Yup my Mexican mom listened to it all the time which is why I love it so much now
I remember in middle school being told, "Disco sucks and if you listen to it you can't be a rocker!"
My response was, "I listen to music I like. I'm not a rocker!"
When I was in school if you were black and liked anything that wasn't hip hop you are not black. You are not supposed to like rock.
@@tn420animations9
I remember getting beat-up for liking hip-hop because apparently even wearing the generic teenage metalhead uniform liking Cage (lol, of all people) apparently made me a wigger.
About a year later those people were all Eminem fans and many sharks were jumped.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 what's a shark?
@@tn420animations9
Look up the phrase 'jumping the shark'.
Gatekeeping against something only to finally concede once there's a socially approved, more popular example of the thing you're gatekeeping against seems like it fits the definition.
@@tn420animations9 I went through this too
Fun fact: Disco demolition night sparks the beginning of house music
but he said that in the video...
Disco is so fun. I'm a millennial but I love the music, photos, and stories of that era.
As a fellow millennial, we have the benefit of time. Disco music that ‘survived’ is the peak of the genre and we are fortunate to have the ‘rabble’ pruned away for us. It would be interesting to hear all of the songs that made the air, unedited.
Disco culture was fully of snotty elitists. It was a vapid, cocaine-fueled scene that was openly hostile to anyone it viewed as insufficiently rich, famous, or beautiful enough to be part of it.
@misswintertime There’s a few CZcams channels that have posted recordings of hours-long segments from the disco radio stations that existed in the late 1970s. Also, not everything that was “pruned” was rabble, believe me. Disco has so many hidden gems that you’ve never heard. Thankfully, the internet makes them easy to discover.
My dad and his friends used to sell peanuts and pop outside of Comiskey Park. He said during disco demolition they had a line around the block while the field was on fire of people buying it warm for $2 a can. It was a weird day
You lie comrade!💉💉💉✊🏿👍🏿you just raciss!
That's so funny I haven't heard it called pop since I left Romeoville in the 1980s
Steve Dahl is the embodiment of having a face for radio.
Great stories.
Never seen Eddie Schwartz, have you
Can't disagree there. But he is a decent guy.
What do you call "a fat guy with a skinny voice"? A DISC JOCKEY!🤣🤣🤣🤣
He looks like Mark David Chapman
I never knew people hated disco that much lol
the thing was: a cool thing came out of NYC, and in no time. suburbanites in every city in north america were doing disco dancing
it became super bad very fast
disco was robbed of all of it's cool
became a caricature
Ohhh yes! I’m from Chicago. We currently have a Disco club downtown. I’ve tried to get people to go to that club and many people said that they hate disco. Can’t stand it.
Watch Detroit Rock City
@@User-uj7nz 👍
Growing up, I thought literally everyone hated disco. Like, hating it was just a law of the universe
LOL! I was 18 and living in Chicago when this happened. I also worked down the hall from The Loop radio station in the Hancock building at the time, hung out with some of the other DJs, and found the whole thing hilarious. I loved disco AND rock & roll. But hey, to each his own.
Hello 👋
How are you doing today ?
Hi I was 17 & at Disco Demolition. I stayed in my seat & didn't cause any trouble, but I was a girl. I still think Disco Sucks & Long Live Rock n Roll🤘😜❤️
Anybody go look on CZcams for Do you think I'm Disco by Steve Garry & Teenage Radiation it's hilarious 😆
Heal Me is great also 😂
I don't see how it was racist we didn't like Saturday Night Fever & the superficiality of the Disco life style.
There wasn't a day us Steve & Garry fans didn't miss a radio show. They were hilarious 🤣❤️👍
@@annahgibbus8 I just remember the first line of that song. "Do you think I'm disco? Am I superficial...." Lol 😂
Thanks for the refreshing comment. I was a little older than you at the time.
@@hollybodx2 EDITED: The Lyrics to Do You Think I'm Disco🕺
by Steve Dahl & Teenage Radiation ☢️🤘
" What's happening baby. How the heck are you? My name is Tony would you care to dance? No??! Hey calm down let me get you another Pina colada. I mean what did we join this exclusive disco club for anyway? Ya know it costs $100 dollars to join and we're supposed to dance. Don't you like my 3 piece white suit? My gold coke spoon, my gold razor blade and gold Italian snaggletooth necklace? Ya know? Come on, please dance with me?
I wear tight pants I always stuff a sock in. It always makes the ladies start to talkin.
My shirt is open I never use the buttons. So I look hip but I work for EF Hutton.
Do you think I'm Disco cuz I spend so much time blowing drying out my hair?
Do you think I'm Disco cuz I know the dance steps learned them all at Fred Astaire.
Look I know like you don't want to dance because there's a lot of creeps always hitting up on you. Let me tell you something I'm not a creep. I mean look at the way I'm dressed sweetheart. Look at my hair it's perfect. I saw Saturday Night Fever 87 times! Please dance with me?!
Some people call me scum because I don't have a realistic set of values, and you know what, I'm beginning to maybe think they are right? Hey where are you going? Wait a second come back here let's just go to my place. Do I live on the beach? No I live in my car I have a 280 Z. No wait where are you going can I get your phone number? Wait come back what do you mean you don't have a phone? Let me have your address I'll stop by and visit ya? What do you mean you don't live anywhere?
I like to dance with girls in sleezy dresses, lipstick, nail charms, and make-up in excess's. By them a drink and try and get their number. Usually they are as cold as a cucumber. Do you think I'm Disco am I superficial look it's my only goal? Do you think I'm Disco maybe it's not to late to get into Rock n Roll?
ROCK N ROLL!
I'll tell you something I have never been happier! Now that I'm into this Rock n Roll thing! I sold my 3 piece suit at a garage sale last weekend made $25. dollar's. Got rid of my 280 Z. Picked myself up an old beat up 69 Dart. Melted down all my gold jewelry into a Led Zeppelin belt buckle. I mean things are happening! Boy it's so easy to be led astray by all those pictures of Margret Trudou in People magazine. Making you think you're supposed to get into Disco. I was a teenage Disco duck. Oh I've been saved! Hallelujah! Oh long live Rock n Roll!
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
It's just as hilarious at 61 as it was when I was 17❤️🤣🤘
Kudos for acknowledging disco's evolution into House and more generally EDM as a whole.
It's amazing "how long" Disco remained popular in various parts of the U.S. after Disco Demolition Night in 1979. I remember hearing people say they were going "Disco dancing" as late as 1983. Disco "held on" for a while after Disco Demolition Night.
N still is im currently lsitenin to donna summer and beyonce made a disco inspired album
It killed the idea of Disco being a truly mainstream popular style of music that dominated to going back underground, not as popular... yes places still played it, but on MTV and radio it was not a popular style anymore. A lot of disco going underground molded into newer styles of dance music merging with new wave that was quite popular in the gay and club culture scene.
Disco kept going in europe, Italy specifically, and italo-disco was hugely popular in Japan where it morphed into eurobeat as featured in initial d.
Glad someone mentioned this.
Hi-NRG and eurodance are other offshoots between disco and eurobeat.
In the US house is what evolved out of disco.
Happy that you pointed out the transition into Italo Disco, the best genre ever! People sometimes seem to assume that it went straight from Disco to House, but that wouldn't really make sense. Italo/Hi-Nrg have always been the missing link. Italo records that were imported into the US made their way around and helped to directly inspire new sounds
@@MyHairIsAbnormal
There seems to be a period where 'post-disco' exists and then it starts branching out in a million different directions, some more rock-like, some more dance-oriented and some more experimental.
All of those scenes kept cross-pollinating too, to the point it needs to be remembered that often genres continued to evolve alongside genres they influenced and even sometimes borrowed back influences.
I feel like the internet has eliminated some of the compartmentalization that was common in underground music prior to the 00s. I know microgenres are more common, but they tend to be descriptive. Some older stuff was compartmentalized more on the basis of where bands were located and the internet makes that less meaningful.
If only Europe would kill off 'Eurodisco' in their countries the same way the U.S. did there(and display on tv and youtube for us to poke fun at, laugh at, and "down with disco anything", many would get jiggy with it while enjoying popcorn lol.
My dad was there. Records were flying inches from his head he says. The smell of weed was everywhere. He snuck in a 6 pack because he knew they would stop selling booze. His friend got a DUI. Oh yeah he had work at 7 am the next day 2 hours away in South Bend.
Dad was built different
I'm 62 and my phone is full of disco music....all hale Donna Summer!
Hi Jennifer
How are you doing today ?
I'm 67. I have 2 folders on a USB with Disco. So many good Disco hits during that time period but by far my favorite song is, "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer.
That song changed it ALL! Talk about birthing so many genres only for Cher to do the same with 'Believe' decades after!@@02chevyguy
Disco Demolition Night has always sounded like something that would only have happened in the 70s (like 10 cent beer night), and unfortunately the death of disco did not guarantee the survival of rock. I would probably have hated disco if I grew up in the 70s, but nowadays I can readily admit there are not only some great songs but great musicianship too
And groups like the Bee Gees, just amazing vocal talent
@@michaelrochester48 Great point as well. Seems to me like the whole beef was the glamor of disco vs the grit of rock. Can't imagine the complaints were about a lack of talent like rants about pop music today
@@Drforrester31 When you hear a disco song on the radio today, it's usually one of the better ones, e.g. "Staying Alive" or "Play that Funky Music". However, there was a ton of garbage as well that you don't hear much anymore, e.g. "Do the Hustle" or "Disco Duck". Still, I agree that much of today's pop music is not any better.
@@unadin4583 I’m still astounded that Disco Duck was a hit
@@Drforrester31 Now that I think about it, "Play that Funky Music" is not really disco but funk, and the same could be said of other songs people tend to associate with disco. True disco would be something like "Do the Hustle", which is just elevator music on top of a disco drum beat.
I got to thinking more about the anti-disco movement, and I guess you summed it up best when you said it was something that would only have happened in the 70s. Much of the baby boomer generation came of age at a time when rock and roll was taken very seriously, arguably too seriously. It is not surprising that they would have such a hostile reaction to disco.
Actually, now it’s great to say that people enjoyed a lot of disco music. Sure a lot of it was crap but when it comes to the Bee Gees, ABBA, Donna Summer, KC and the sunshine band, they were the gold standards. Nothing wrong with dance music as long as it’s good dance music
Ha Ha Ha stayin alive
Agreed
@@RavensSoTired4081 yeah but my grandparents would listen to that all the time at the dance club and also Bee Gees are good
there just was or still is an ABBA tour showing young ABBA as holograms on stage that drew huge crowds.
The "final straw" so to speak, was the amount of top-10 hits written by the Bee Gees in '79
It’s pronounced Veeck as in Wreck. It’s the title of his autobiography! Also he’s worthy of a whole video himself, the dude was wild and a true showman
This ☝️
Yeah, I had to shut the video off because of this. How could you do this and not at least pronounce the names right? 😡
No he isnt
@@FleaRHCP97 I can't believe anyone would be this much of a baby, but okay.
@@DiamondDust132 it's just the idea that a semi-reputable place would bother to make a video like that, and make such a stupid mistake... prevents me from taking any of it as serious "fact," and from believing anything else in any of their other videos 🤷🏼
I was just 9 years old when this happened but I remember it like it was just yesterday. I didn’t understand then, or now, why people would get so angry about music. Music that was bringing so many people joy and happiness. If you don’t like a song, don’t buy it or listen to it. It’s that simple really.
Exactly, I was 5 when this happened
Hi Amy
How are you doing today ?
Well, the DJ did lose his job because of it, so I can understand his beef. But, yeah, you're right, nobody has to listen to it if they don't want to. At the time there were other radio stations that were still playing Rock music.
At that time mainstream disco was super exclusive. Think Studio 54. This was a response to mainstream disco being exclusive. Look up “Do you think I’m disco.”
Amy Marckel, yes, but was it ok for radio stations to start switching to all disco formats??? That, I'd argue is what really started the anti disco thing.
I'd love to go back to see this in person just for the hell of it I'd be eating a hotdog while I watch the chaos
I'd just be stuffing my face and looking through binoculars I always bring to Baseball games.
Loved the Disco nights in LA & Chicago !! No one will ever eliminate the Love of disco dancing and the incredible dance floor techniques !! 🥰
Cuz u raciss tranzphobe!✊🏿💉💉💉
Oh, the shame. 😞
This was the best memory of my teenage years, this was a bigger story than the Skylab crashing to earth.
My dad was in his teens and early 20s in the 70s and disco wasn't his favorite music but going to places where disco was played, he knew would get him laid. The man was no fool.
So.... you owe your life to Disco?
That's powerful, BrOH.
Are you like your father?
Drunk History gave me a glimpse at some historical events in a fun way, but it's always awesome to have videos like these and others to give a broader scope and more details on these events.
Also, it's awesome you used a few clips from Drunk History to tell this story!
There is a podcast called the Dollop, they did an episode about it
Weird History AND Drunk History! If you only have time for those two, you're better off than with History channel or Brian Williams or...well, ANY of it really
I saw that episode too. That was wild.
Funny, my parents were poor and blue collar workers, but they loved Disco, and won several disco dancing competition trophies back in the late 70s here in Detroit Michigan.
That’s a pretty cool story. Where were the disco clubs in Detroit back in the day? Downtown ?
When it comes to something that gets over-commercialized and publicized people naturally want to lash out at it. As for music being inclusive, it always was in it's own way considering the range of singers and bands that have always characterized rock and roll.
It was not that inclusive, in fact it was even exploration. Elvis himself was aware of it , and trying to push some love towards the colorful artist, with little success.
We need the same thing to happen to rap.
Heard this story many times as a baseball fan. Crazy how it got greenlit in the first place
rly glad shit like that wouldn't be given permission today
I still have my D.R.E.A.D. card: Detroit Rockers Engaged in the Abolition of Disco. Used to pick em up for free around town. I think the local WRIF radio station used to give them out too.
and did u engage in this stadium riot? were u happy to see said shenanigans making waves?
I'd be a little embarrassed to have an official needledick membership card.
Thats corny i would burn it
Disco is my favorite genre of music. I grew up with my mom playing Donna Summers and ABBA. The gays never gave up disco. We still love it
Didn't it become house and hi-NRG though?
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 yes
Disco is one of my favorite music genres of all time. Long live disco.😎
Yes!
You're in the minority, Sailor. 🤣
"Nothing brings people together better than a shared disgust" 3:06
Truer words have not been spoken.
"Do You Think I'm Sexy" was the number 1 song in America on the day I was born, March 1, 1979. Coincidentally, I was born in Milwaukee, not too far from where this went down.
I'm in my 20s and I actually enjoy disco music! There was a lot of artists from different backgrounds but all had a positive upbest vibe to it.
Crazy how times and perception changes, I’m a huge metal head but like disco. My parents hate it cuz they grew up at its height, they were punks so of course they hated what was trendy back then. It’s just funny how I’ll put on a poppy disco song and they’ll be like wtf that’s lame. To me it’s classic music that was never forced down my throat like it was to them so I can accept it.
Every generation has a sickening type of music that trendy kids and teenyboppers like. I grew up in the 80s so there was stuff like Wham. Now I guess it's boy bands and K Pop. Maybe years from now, it will also be seen as classic music, but right now we hate it.
@@inhometraineroakville1174 for me it's drake and shit like that
It sounds like you have some good, logical insights...so tread carefully in this comment section, because some people here are VERY suspicious of rock fans, and they already know all about what's wrong with us and everything. They ain't interested in our other musical tastes either, or we'd all be talking about music by now, haha
Ahh you’re so lucky to have parents with punk roots!! My dad loves classic rock so I grew up with that then realized that there’s wayyy heavier (cooler) music out there. Metalheads who respect disco ftw 🤘
The interesting is rock and roll and disco music aren't that different. Both contain complex instrumentation within the composition.
Disco actually kicks ass
Agreed. Ain't better than Jazz though
@tyler. I will admit at that time, I secretly liked disco which I didn't want to mention to any of my rock and roll loving peers.
Right. The best disco was often underground records or songs mixed with Funk elements. Disco has a lot of black lash because of greedy companies oversaturating and watering down the genre.
Mike Veeck was fired by his own father, and was blacklisted from all MLB venues for life for this stunt.
I usually have heard of your topics before but this one was. New for me. ❤❤
Not everyone who liked disco music were going to discotheques. In fact most weren't. They were too young (or too old) or not in a big city that had exclusive ones. That was Dahl's personal grudge. It was just that it became ubiquitous and people got tired of it. Things are appreciated more after some space is put between it looking back over the years.
They blowed up REAL good!
Thank you for this video! 😀🌹
I am a lifelong rock and metal fan, but this is just gatekeeping, which is still a huge problem in the community. The same dudes that harrassed people for liking disco are the ones today harrassing women for wearing rock/metal merch.
Oh yeah, and I will be the first to admit that I was a metal gatekeeper as well. Disco was amazing, but like always, some douche decided that we need to separate people by music genre and everyone followed.
Imagine hating a person because of their interests. Pure insanity.
First time I've heard of that
Women were a big part of the rock community AT LEAST since the early 1980s, if not earlier
That wasn’t what this was about. At that time mainstream disco was super exclusive. Think Studio 54. This was a response to mainstream disco being exclusive.
🤣
This is one of the most sensible factual balanced and well researched documentaries on the subject of the Disco Demolition stunt. For decades it has become a lazy shorthand for the 'end of disco". Nothing could be further from the truth. People continued to dance in clubs around the world the only thing that changed was the name "disco" became "dance' "house" "garage' "EDM" "Techno". DJs are some of the biggest most successful and influential artists in the music biz today. The dance music culture is dominant as is R&B. Rock Music is now a niche market. Disco didn't die it evolved. The truth is "Disco" was a loose term applied to a wide variety of music that was played in clubs throughout the 70s. Fact is Disco Duck was not a disco record but a cynical cash in by yet another DJ on the make- Rick Dees. Anyone with any knowledge of dance music culture recognises the cash in by the Bee Gees who would never be played in the serious dance club scene. Ignorance, racism homophobia and a backlash against the power of club DJs who could break hits without radio play all contributed to the anti disco bandwagon. A lot of those disco sucks idiots came out of retirement and started wearing red baseball caps and worshiping an obese orange imbecile who told them to drink bleach and stick a light bulb up their ass. They even had an anniversary rally at the US Capitol....
Without disco we wouldn’t have hip-hop, rap, techno, house or EDM of any kind as DJs weren’t a thing before disco.
And nothing of value would have been lost.
@@rkgaustin9043 Ignorance must be bliss, huh?
Actually rap was around in the late 60s. Plus there were DJs before disco. But you are correct in saying it become mainstream.
Would that be a big loss?
@@fr3stylr322 Would you have a problem sticking with hard rock, blues, glam metal and country, perhaps also soul and reggae? I wouldn't
Late last night I walked into a really dodgy looking Disco named Medusa's
At first I was afraid, then I was petrified.
Now it's in my head and I have to dance.
@@annetreacy2437 that's what Disco Medusa does to you! Rock solid grooves!
@@dvdv8197 I used to get into Medusa's with my fake ID! (back in 1990) I don't think I've ever been there legally 😅 I remember a lot of Nine Inch Nails, they needed a disco night!
I can't believe that this one incident changed what seemed to be an awesome era of cool music. Dahl's hatred goes deep. Maybe he was denied entrance into Studio 54, several times.
It was bigotry
@@emeraudedomingosmbuku No.
Dahl just wanted to be famous and the White Sox wanted a big crowd. As ever, people avoid laying the blame where it belongs, which is always at the feet of the power structure, ie the Sox in this case. They didn't adequately prepare and turned on Dahl when it went south.
@@emeraudedomingosmbuku Bigotry? Seriously?! Why do some people, such as yourself, always look to place the blame on bigotry, racism, sexism, etc? It's become the lazy way of disagreeing with someone simply because you don't understand them or what they stand for.
You are the very thing you disavow.
@@JSchaffer214 is it really that unfathomable
What a time to be alive
Amen to that, Brother! 👍
My dad was actually there at Comiskey that night. He was 21 at the time and went for the double-header. He always hated Disco, but he just wanted to see the games lol
Apparently he actually helped put the fires out before the Sox forfeited the second game.
Mine was too, though he just stayed in his seat.
Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
This was the day I was born.
Love the content
Comiskey Park never had a seating capacity of 52,000 anytime in its existence. According to Wikipedia, the seating capacity in 1979 was 44,492.
Absolutely love the mentioning of ABBA... ( Although a slight note, majority of their catalog was not disco, I would say probably Dancing Queen, and anything from their voulez-vous album era). But their main genre was not disco In all fairness 😁
Yeah, that's what I thought. What are you picking on ABBA for? 😄
I know 4 people who were there! Including my old BF who took his Sister's Saturday Night Fever Album to Blow Up!
He said when he got there you couldn't get in..So him and his friends sneaked in, through a back Entrance. His Father was a Chicago Cop, and would do Security on his off days..
Said it was PURE CHAOS!! It was supposed to be a small Stunt! By the time he knew it there was a loud Boom! People were running, there was a HUGE Crater! He jumped from the Bleachers and ran unto the field, and Broke his Ankle! He Grabbed a chunk of Turf and Limped his way out. I also know the Guy who Grabbed 2nd Base and Danced like it was an award!!
OH Thoes Glory Day's!! 😆
Wow an actual exciting baseball game
Steve Dahl - Originator of Shock Jocks. I went to 'prom' with him 😉. Silly, but GREAT times! COHO (lips) came from a type of fish. I don't remember how that came to be part of it all. It did have a large impact for kids my age - ish on the downfall of disco in Chicago. He was fresh, new and exciting. We'd never heard anything like it on radio before, because there was nothing like it on radio before the hilarious Steve Dahl, in Chicago anyways. He represented the not so pretty people; and was the advocate for the pot smoking rock n roll 'freaks'. For me, as a musician all my life, my taste in music became more varied after listening to The Loop every day at work, and that has been good for me up until this day. Thank you for covering this stupid but happy memory!!!
Coho salmon?
Of your story is true your comment is greatly underrated.
Not sure what "prom" in quotation marks means, but you don't have to share it with us . . . unless you really want to!
are u related to Dr Schmidt? The guy that said the "all the tea in China line"
I love this channel.
Weird History , Has got to be the best channel on CZcams , . Covering Disco's Demise . I still love the BEE GEES .
That was a month after my parents got married. My parents only met because of Disco and Saturday Night Fever.
Nothing wrong with Disco, I loved Abba and The Bee Gees since 1976. I also love rock n roll. Alienating art forms seems stupid if you ask me.
a riot in a baseball stadium... how have i never heard of this ? this channel is awesome...
After on unknown radio station became popular by playing disco music, others followed and soon and most of the radio DJs where playing disco only, leaving no room for anything else., so disco became the dominating music genre.
It's not different from today, when something comes up promising fame and income, all will go into it. Suddenly it seems as if all other concepts and cultural ideas are pushed away like they never existed.
Fun fact: weirdly enough, despite the second E, “Veeck” actually rhymes with “Beck,” as opposed to “week.”
Bill Veeck’s autobiography’s even called “Veeck as in Wreck.”
Boy, some people had WAY too much time on their hands.
That Dj is a LEGEND!
I'm proud to say that I kinda' know the photographer who snapped so many of the images from that night:
*Diane Alexander White!*
Apparently the city newspapers thought the promotion was just a sleazy gimmick so almost no pro photographers were sent to the park. Diane was there, though, & promptly switched into documentarian mode when things started getting so obviously out of hand.
📸
I remember the night they blew up those disco records I think it was at a baseball game but I can't remember which one. I thought those people were crazy because I liked disco music. I still listen to disco music. I never stopped listening to it.CHIC was one of the best Disco groups back then and one of my favorites. I remember a radio station called Disco DAI. (CHICAGO). yeah, those were the good old days.
Before the internet, you listened to what was played for you. Disco on the airwaves meant you weren't getting rock, soul, funk, etc. There were only so many options, and record companies were paying for disco to supplant other music. "Just don't listen" meant turning off the radio. They didn't even have cassette tapes yet.
oh god forbid, turning off music that you hated.
They had cassette tapes back then. My dad was a teenager in the 70s and he still has a few. In fact I just saw an ad in an old comic book from 1974 for Columbia House and you could get your albums on either record, cassette, 8 track, or reel to reel. My dad even has a mixed tape he made using songs from records. I don't know where you got the idea that cassettes didn't exist back then because they most certainly did
@@PinkyJujubean it probably wasn't commonly owned.
cell phones have been around since the late 80s/early 90s, but it took a good decade or two until the majority of humans on earth owned one. some people switched earlier than others.
same with computers. it's not that they didn't exist, not a lot of people owned them to make a difference in this context.
They did too have cassette tapes. Not everyone relied on radio either. There were nightclubs and bars and so on.
@@orangeradishneo a lot of people had cassette players back then but they would use them for home taping. Like recording family events. A lot of people used them to make mix tapes they could listen to on a little portable player in their car. My dad did that. They weren't as commonly used as they were in the 80s but they were used and cassettes from the 70s are not that uncommon. Cassettes didn't really become the popular medium until the early 80 when records were being phased out and cds were still too expensive for most people. But they were around and were more common than you think.
I happen to have been watch that, with my dad no less! It was a drunk promotion that got out of hand and that is still talked about all these years later!
I was in high school (in New York) when this happened. I'd heard about it and my first thought was that there were several people I knew who, had they been in Chicago, would have been at this event...and would have applauded it no end.
The Bee Gees were known for so many forms of music both before and after their disco years. It's sad they've become associated only with disco when they did practically everything! Victims of their own success???? Their next record after all of this happened was released only with its title (no artist listed) as a way to get people to break that association and really listen to them again -- a repeat of a trick they'd used when they got their first major recording contract in the 1960s (although that time it was to create an association with a Beatles-like sound).
It’s always good to be reminded just how crazy some Americans are. I love rock music but travelling to a stadium just to burn some records seems a ridiculous night out. Plus having to bring a disco record with you meant rock fans had to buy disco records to bring with them? Which is a great thought ha
Needledicks gonna needledick.
Trust me,..ya had to be there..it was fun as hell
I have a feeling some of those disco records were stolen, not bought. 😅
Actually,..alot of those disco records that were used were given away or stolen from a sisters Bee Gees
collection...I got mine from a record shop.
4 @ $.25 cents each.
As far as a "ridiculous night out" you can't explain it to someone who doesn't understand THAT,...has obviously NEVER seen a REAL
night out in Chi-Town.
The Anti disco album destruction was just a warm up...that's mild comparatively..🤣🤣
You'd LITERALLY have to had seen it..to REALLY appreciate it..
I STILL will burn ANY disco record I find..
I buy them in the second hand shop..
9:42 Liza (and other celebs in their heyday at the tiem) added a lot to the legend that was Studio 54.
Disco groove on! 🎵🎶
I wouldnt say Disco died but rather evolved into other genres. Music has fads that evolve with the times. Sometimes Classic Rock and Disco are both played on 70's stations.
I was born in 86 so from 1990 to the present I've seen music change so fast and every genre is embraced by man fans. My mom was a disco fan because that was her era and my gradparents thought disco was to wild and rebellious. They were into Mexican Folk and Mariachi Music lol
Disco evolved into house music and general electronic dance music.
There is a general music change with every decade, fact is 1980 hit, studio 54 shut down, synthesizers we’re taking over, the big band disco sound was out. No one ever talks about hair metal dying a fast death to grunge and people’s cultural sensitivity feelings being hurt over it.
@@mikeg2491
I remember Glam Rock and grunge. In fact guns and roses and Nirvana had a feud going on. After that there was nu metal. Even in the 90s West Coast hip Hop took the throne of hip Hop for a while. I even remember the boy band craze LOL
@@meztizo_americano86 Yea it’s crazy how fast things can become lame, I grew up with nu-metal in high school and now it’s practically considered diseased. disco actually had a pretty good 6 year run, more than alot of music genres. People shouldn’t get so butthurt about its demise, it’s the nature of the music “business”.
@@mikeg2491 Each Genre paved the way for their successors.
RnB and Soul made funk and disco
Disco and Funk paved Hip Hop
Hard Rock and classic rock paved Heavy Metal
Bob Dylan idolized Little Richard
Alice Cooper was Idolized by Rob Zombie
we can go on and on
They failed, disco is far from dead. Caught a nine year old banging out Chic just the other day. Look at the likes of Silk Sonic, funk disco influences everywhere. Dave Grohl is basically a disco drummer in Nirvana and he recently did a disco cover tour. Nile Roger's is still on top of the production game.
"Dave Grohl is basically a disco drummer in Nirvana"
you, and the 27 people who agree with this, are out of your mind.
True, people will always want to dance. It's part of our collective DNA.
Most metal and punk uses what amounts to a sped-up disco beat.
Disco morphed into EDM
@@POTC 😁Lol
I lived through this but had never heard of it! And I do have some fond high school memories of dancing to disco music!
I love this channel. And I have a folder on the tube titled "My Favorite Disco Tracks." Suck on that, Steve Dahl.
Baseball had always had the best out-of-control promotions that end in chaos.
Yet disco lives on forever with that 4/4 beat and modern dance music, lmao. The sales made by disco haters buying disco records - probably didn't help their cause.
It's similar to the modern day where some people (mainly conservatives) would buy a product just to destroy it out of protest. It's nothing new and antithetical as record companies made a shit ton of money from all those people buying disco records. ;-)
This needs to happen for Marvel and Star Wars.
I visited the Philippines in 1993, disco was very much alive and kicking in the nightclubs.
I remember this night. I liked disco. Donna Summer was excellent and KC and the Sunshine Band had some great tunes, but I loved rock. Led Zeppelin, Styx, Journey, Cheap Trick and The Who are all incredible.
Wow, I loved Disco and I was a Disco queen I had so much fun. I also love rock music in all its forms too, one does not necessarily exclude the other.
Music brings people together, disco gets you a riot.
My tastes lie with Rock music through and through, but there are Disco songs and artists with a legit good sound (just as there are rock musicians with a generic, mediocre sound)
I agree there are some really good disco songs
The Loop. Steve Dahl and Gary Myers got us all hating disco. We were pot heads not coke heads. That night still lives large in my mind. We blew all that shyt up.
I had no idea Disco was considered… snobby.
You must watch the movie 54, ignore the plot, but they did pick who would get in by looks alone, or fame. Even Cher didn't get in once!
@@gaywizard2000 The wouldn't let Cher in??! Wow.
I am not sure what to think of disco music, but I am certainly a rock fan.
I do like ABBA's disco-influenced music.
Legendary video, super cool.
Thank you for making it.
I'd rather have disco than today's top 40...
I once had a Disco compilation CD that even included Disco Duck, but it accidentally broke while in my car one day and was so unplayable that I had no choice but to destroy it and throw it out.
I was 15 and living in the Midwest back then. We were at King's Island on that day. People were nuts!
I got a customized leather visor that said "Kill The Bee Gees."
I never felt too upset about disco. Those who were upset let everyone know. They even hated Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 and accused Pink Floyd of jumping on the disco bandwagon.
It was like a collective fever, pure heard mentality, then?
Amen to that.
Thanks!
It sounds like someone got offended about losing their job
Also, all that damage, it wasn’t disco’s fault, it was rock that did that and it’s supposed to be the good guy.
I wasn’t a fan of disco at the time, but I thought this “event” was absurd. Funny how disco has had numerous resurgences, and continues to evolve into contemporary music. Even I have learned to appreciate some of it.
You're a square
I love disco. Continue.
I loved it!!!
I do remember "Disco Duck" - my sister had that on a 45... she played it quite a bit back then :(
Hate, hate, HATE that song. Love disco, well all types of music. Hate that song though. I truly feel bad for you.
Disco was the first trend since the big band swing era where a lot of what was coming out was clearly following a formula and was extremely copy-cat. That's the main reason why both kids and the music press were not happy about it. The main ethos of the twenty years prior to disco, especially the immediate ten years, was much more individualistic. It was about unbridled creative expression. Disco was really the first affront to that ethos, and it reminded a lot of kids of their parents music.
Of course, the late 80's would be defined by hair metal - a period where rock music itself turned its back on its own history and started following a formula much like disco did. And then everything after would just be watered-down copy-cat trend after watered-down trend, to the point where by today's' standards disco looks absolutely amazing.
Are we really pretending psychedelic rock didn't consist of a lot of copycats? Or that prog wasn't filled with poor imitations of the archetypal bands?
I'm not so sure disco was more formulaic than other styles of the period. I believe it's more a matter of fans of one genre will often insist their preferred genre is more creative than genres that don't like.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 There were barely any. You sound like someone who wasn't there.
And it's not that I don't like some disco - I think a lot of classic music came out of that genre. It's more that it very quickly got reduced to a very simple syncopated drum/bass beat that was used over and over and over again. 4/4 hi hat - snare - hi hat - kick drum. Every single song other than the ballads that were occasionally put out by disco performers.
It was much more difficult to carbon copy the rock and roll style of the previous era because there really was no single style. Every band had their own sound.
@@mistermackey638
If you haven't noticed how derivative a lot of rock is you haven't listened to enough rock. Period.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 Way to basically ignore my whole post. I literally referenced how derivative hair metal and post grunge were.
It's not a good look to not read before you respond. Doesn't make you look very intelligent.
Good analysis Mr Mackey!
Looking forward for this one on the 1979 episode in December on 70s Timeline
I was born in 1973, and Disco is my favorite music genre!