{"id":11857,"date":"2016-07-08T11:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T16:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=11857"},"modified":"2016-07-08T11:37:03","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T16:37:03","slug":"finally-a-full-blown-history-of-disco-demolition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/07\/08\/finally-a-full-blown-history-of-disco-demolition\/","title":{"rendered":"Finally, a full-blown history of Disco Demolition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Comiskey<\/a>

<\/a> Comiskey Park July 12, 1979<\/p><\/div>\n

To Dave Hoekstra and most of the other 50,000-plus young people who packed old Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979, Disco Demolition <\/a>was nothing more than a chance to have a little goofy fun on a hot summer night and blow off some steam.<\/p>\n

Enter Steve Dahl, a pitch-perfect pied piper for Chicago\u2019s rock and roll rebels: Right on cue, the 24-year-old recently-hired morning host from WLUP FM 97.9<\/a> exploded a box of disco records between games at a White Sox double-header with the Detroit Tigers. Suddenly thousands of rowdy fans stormed the field. The ensuing pandemonium, which forced the White Sox to forfeit the second game, made worldwide headlines the next day.<\/p>\n

In the 37 years since that night, the episode has taken on mythic proportions. Depending on your point of view, it was either the most successful radio promotion of all time, or<\/em> a blot on the White Sox and the city of Chicago, or<\/em> a turning point for disco and pop culture in the Midwest (if not America), or<\/em> a shameful spectacle of racism and homophobia run amok. To some, it may have been all of the above.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>

Dave Hoekstra<\/p><\/div>\n

Hoekstra, now a celebrated Chicago journalist<\/a> and author, thoughtfully considers the myth and the reality of the era in Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died, <\/a><\/em>just published by Curbside Splendor and available on Amazon. <\/a>Illustrated with Paul Natkin\u2019s archival photos, the 200-page hardcover features interviews with some 50 key figures, including a wide array of witnesses and many who were directly involved in one way or another.<\/p>\n

Over the two years he researched the book, Hoekstra said, one of his most surprising revelations involved the opposite trajectories of his two protagonists.<\/p>\n

While Disco Demolition proved a career-defining moment for Dahl, it marked a dead end for Mike Veeck, who organized the event for the White Sox. Although Veeck\u2019s famous father shouldered much of the blame for the publicity stunt gone awry, Hoekstra said, the son\u2019s career fell apart after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike was living in the populist shadow of his father, Bill Veeck, Jr., and that was already a daunting thing for him,\u201d Hoekstra told me the other day. \u201cMike really wanted a career in baseball and this event ruined that. His maverick father already wasn't popular with MLB owners, and then Disco Demolition came along. As Mike said in the book, he could\u00a0only get hired by soccer teams because \u2018apparently they\u00a0like riots.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAdding to that drama, like any good father, Bill Veeck took the hits for his son.\u201d<\/p>\n

It takes until Chapter 15 (155 pages into the book) to reach the best part \u2014 a vivid account of the events on the field and behind the scenes. Hoekstra does a masterful job evoking the excitement, the giddiness and, at times, the terror of that historic night from all angles.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>

Steve Dahl<\/p><\/div>\n

Even so, is the world still interested in Disco Demolition \u2014 or Steve Dahl \u2014 37 years later? According to the latest Nielsen Audio ratings, Dahl\u2019s weekday afternoon show on Cumulus Media news\/talk WLS AM 890 <\/a>is tied for 27th place with a 1.5 percent audience share. To his credit, at age 61, sober, and a grandfather several times over, Dahl is still in the game. But clearly everything and everyone else around him has changed.<\/p>\n

What makes the book fresh and relevant today, Hoekstra said, is the \u201csociological approach\u201d he took to recast a familiar story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it important for readers to know about Chicago neighborhoods and Chicago radio of the period,\u201d he said. \u201cLate 1970s Bridgeport \u2014 Comiskey, International Amphitheatre, Stockyards, etc. \u2014 was a pop culture petri dish for this event. That's why I interviewed Bridgeport chef Kevin Hickey, the late Jack Schaller [owner of Schaller\u2019s Pump], and also why I went sort of deep into radio characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoekstra writes with particular authority about the local radio scene, including the generational divide Dahl and partner Garry Meier so skillfully exploited with the city's reigning king of morning drive, Wally Phillips. Mitch Michaels, Bob Sirott, Les Grobstein and Jeff Schwartz add much to Hoekstra\u2019s insight (although one glaring gaffe was a passing reference to \u201cthe late Randy Michaels,\u201d who\u2019s still very much alive).<\/p>\n

Not everyone Hoekstra interviewed dismisses those who later claimed Disco Demolition carried undertones of racism and homophobia. In hindsight, there was plenty of anger and prejudice in the crowd toward a music genre closely associated with blacks, Latinos and gays. One asks: Is burning records that much different from burning books?<\/p>\n

But those few voices of dissent are overwhelmed by Dahl\u2019s vehement denials and those of people closest to him. \"I'm worn out from defending myself as a racist homophobe for fronting Disco Demolition,\" Dahl writes in his introduction. \u201cThat evening was a declaration of independence from the tyranny of sophistication. . . . We were just kids pissing on a musical genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, according to Dahl\u2019s wise and supportive wife, who gets the last word in the book, Disco Demolition gave what mattered most. Says Janet Dahl: \u201cEverybody craves validation.\"<\/p>\n

\"Disco<\/a>

Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To Dave Hoekstra and most of the other 50,000-plus young people who packed old Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979, Disco Demolition was nothing more than a chance to have a little goofy fun on a hot summer night and blow off some steam. Enter Steve Dahl, a pitch-perfect pied piper for Chicago\u2019s rock and... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11857"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11873,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11857\/revisions\/11873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}