Disco Demolition Night: 30 years gone

Thirty years ago tonight — July 12, 1979 — disco hating, young, drunk, and stoned Chicagoans took over Comiskey Park in one of the most memorable and destructive nights in MLB history: Disco Demolition Night.

It’s the stuff of baseball lore. The brainchild of Chicago disc jockey Steve Dahl, DDN was a promotional event planned as an apocalyptic backlash to disco. Fans were admitted to a double-header between the White Sox and Detroit Tigers for 98 cents if they brought unwanted disco records, which would be destroyed on field between games. The management expected maybe 12,000 to attend — these were lowly days in Sox history — but an estimated 70,000 packed Comiskey to the gills.

The pre-game atmosphere was thick with marijuana smoke. Staff refused to take more records after the bin of unwanted albums was full, so fans threw the discs onto the field like frisbees during the first game.

Once the box of albums was blown up, thousands of fans rushed the field. The batting cage was wrecked, the bases were stolen, and banners used to build a bonfire in centerfield. Chicago Police equipped with riot gear cleared the field, but the umpires canceled the second game because the playing surface had been torn up. The American League forfeited the game to the Tigers the next day.

It must have been incredible to be there; it’s definitely on my list of “Reasons why I wish I had experienced the ‘70s.”

Here’s a video collection of local news coverage I found on YouTube, featuring a young Bill Curtis and Greg Gumbel (schnazzy sunglasses, by the way). Gene Siskel makes a short cameo, too. Check out those vintage Sox jersey’s with the collars and untucked shirts. Damn.