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Disco; it was a genre of music that warped America's mind in the late 1970's. With artists such as The Bee Gees, Gloria Gaynor, Village People, The Jackson Five and Donna Summer, disco became one of America's most popular types of music at it's time. Many of the songs were loved all throughout America's major cities, but on the night of July 12th, 1979 it came falling down in peril.

It was made as a simple ballpark promotion on the southside of Chicago, Illinois. It would turn in to one of the most infamous riots in the world's history. It was a perfect night to play baseball, so it seemed, as the Chicago White Sox took on the Detroit Tigers in a twi-night doubleheader. The events leading up to the night may not seem very important, but they turned out to be.

Popular Chicago area radio station WDAI went to an all-disco styled format to try and fit the nation's craze. Apparently, after the events that took place, Chicago wasn't buying in to the fad. WDAI fired their star DJ Steve Dahl; in retaliation, Dahl quickly signed with a rival radio station and started an organization known as the "Insane Cholo Lips", which would oppose disco.

Meanwhile, aside from all the business matters, the May 2nd Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox game had been rained out. This would move the series to July 12th, making it a doubleheader game on the night of the riot. This made the series the White Sox played in unusual, since it was a five game series that took place before the all star break.

And unusual the July 12th meeting was. Former WDAI employee Steve Dahl and his radio partner Garry Meier had been forming a scheme to retaliate for Dahl's firing. And that's when they got the idea of all ideas; they would have White Sox fans bring in any unwanted disco CD's they owned in exchange for an admission fee of a suprisingly cheap 98 cents. The scheme was so demented and twisted that it has been compared to the infamous "Ten Cent Beer Night" in Cleveland.

The promotion would lead to the fall of disco, as the story is told. White Sox Management had hoped for 5,000 fans to pack the seats of Comiskey Park, but instead got a whopping 50,000. The promotion had encouraged people who didn't enjoy baseball or weren't fans to attend, which would cause a lot of drama. People climbed fences and walls in order to get to view the action, and many fans had to be locked out.

White Sox television announcers commented on the strange people that packed the beautiful ballpark, and Mike Veeck who was the owner's son had also commented that there was a sickly smell of marijuana floating through the ballpark atmosphere which normally was overrun by hot dogs and popcorn. The fans had brought a massive amount of disco cd's, and shortly after attending noticed they were shaped like frisbees. Many fans began to throw records, causing some other fans to be struck by flying discs. Some fans were also seen throwing beer and firecrackers from the stands to the field.

After the first game, Steve Dahl decided it was time for his plot to work. Dahl dressed himself with army apparel and a military helmet after the first game of the doubleheader, and rioting would shortly ensue. Dahl had a large box which was packed with hundreds of disco records and weighed down with the immense force of a bomb. It was to represent the destruction of disco music, and when it exploded the bomb ripped a hole in the outfield grass surface, causing thousands of fans to rush on the field. Some fans were seen lighting fires and starting miniature riots. The White Sox batting cage was reportedly wrecked, and the bases were stolen along with pieces of the field itself. Most fans stood on the field, while others ran and sat on the grass or burned banners that hung from the interior.


Riots would ensue, and many people had signs that proudly stated "Disco Sucks"

Veeck and Caray tried to calm the drunken fans by means of the P.A. system, but this attempt failed. Fans were eventually removed from the field by means of police officers in riot control gear. Six people sustained minor injuries, while thirty nine were taken to jail. Tiger's Manager Sparky Anderson refused to let his team take the field for a concern of safety, so the game resulted in a forfeit for the White Sox.

Bill Veeck took much of the heat for the promotion gone wrong, but it was known by Major League Baseball that his son Mike was the brains in the front office that allowed the promotion to occur. Mike was blacklisted from baseball for an enormous amount of time after his father retired. Mike was quoted in a newspaper saying "The second that first guy shimmied down the outfield wall, I knew my life was over!".


Fans were proud to state that Disco sucked, and proved it by seemingly destroying Comiskey. Managers and visiting ball clubs would reportedly complain about the condition when playing in Chicago. Comiskey since has been moved to U.S. Cellular Field.

So this was the day that disco ended. Mike Veeck would later apologize to Harry Wayne Casey, who was a well known lead singer for KC and the Sunshine Band in 2001. Disco has since never gained it's popularity, and this day will always live in baseball's shadow.

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Brian Pegg- whitesoxinteractive.com
The things that really stand out in my mind from that hazy night (pun intended) are :

1.An elderly man about ten seats toward left field from us had an M-80 blow up just above his head (gift from the upper deck above us).
2.A woman in a halter top two rows in front of us had a 45 rpm record stuck into her shoulder-blade (another gift from above).
3.I had a pack of lit firecrackers descend into my lap (a gift from above as well).
4.A steady stream of  kids going onto the field through our section of box seats, and then a steady stream of them returning the same way with souvenirs (large chunks of the infield and outfield).