The Disco Demolition Night Riot
Chicago shock jock Steve Dahl hated disco. He was fired from his radio DJ job on Christmas Eve, 1978, when his station switched from rock to disco. Hired by a rival rock station, he railed against disco, and created a mock anti-disco organization of his listeners, the “Insane Coho Lips”. He promoted various anti-disco events, many of which became unruly. In 1979, Dahl and Mike Veek, son of the White Sox’s owner and the club’s promotions director, had an idea to boost attendance at a White Sox vs Tigers doubleheader. Dahl would invite his listeners to watch him blow up disco records on the field. His radio station’s frequency was 97.9 FM, and attendees who brought a disco record to blow up would be admitted for 98 cents. It was hoped that the stunt would boost attendance from a typical 15,000 to 20,000. Instead, more than 50,000 people showed up.
Veek had not hired enough security, and things got rowdy. Most attendees were uninterested in baseball. They only wanted to express their hatred of disco – and get drunk and high while at it. As the booze overflowed, and the smell of marijuana permeated the park, attendees began to throw LP disks onto the diamond like frisbees. They sliced through the air, to land sticking into the ground. They also threw cherry bombs, lighters, and empty liquor bottles. In between games, Dahl blew up a stack of disco LPs. It tore a huge hole in the outfield. Then thousands of attendees rushed the field. As players fled, the rioters ripped the grass, destroyed the batting cage, and pulled up and stole bases. It took riot police to disperse the mob. The field was so badly damaged that the second game couldn’t be played, and the White Sox forfeited to the Tigers.
