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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.
Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?
BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory. ♪
Hi friends, how are you today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Now if you're new here, well, this is my chance. Me. Me. It's my chance to tell you the story like it is. And just to share the history of stuff we would never think about. All you have to do is sit back, relax, and just let me ramble because I've got some juicy history gossip that I need to tell you.
Because a lot of stuff you just don't learn in school. It's so interesting. So let me tell you how I got to today's story. It all started with one night of insomnia. Yes, yes. I got hit with it again, as one does from time to time. And those of you who have trouble sleeping know you always get the insomnia on the nights that you actually really need sleep. So I decided that instead of doom scrolling through my phone apps, I would turn on the TV to one of those cheesy music channels.
Because, you know, they always just help me fall asleep. So this one that I was watching, it had some hilarious documentaries about singers with like a countdown. So I turned on my TV and I'm thinking I'd sure be asleep in about 20 minutes or less, you know? And then the opposite happened. But actually this time I wasn't that mad because I ended up learning a lot about one of history's most interesting decades, the 70s. And was reminded of how much I love I.I.
love 70s fashion. The bell bottoms. Oh, I have so many bell bottoms. The pastel makeup. The big, gigantic, flowy hair. It was everything. And I learned that a big reason all this 70s fashion popped off and came to be was because of a little thing called disco. Wouldn't it be cool if I had like a disco ball just drop in and I'm like, you know? Now, if you don't know, disco is a type of experimental kind of up
up-tempo dance music that took over the 70s. The first song I think of is "Staying Alive," which fun fact, was that even disco? 'Cause they didn't even wanna be disco. But I feel like disco is kind of a joke to us now, or maybe just an emoji.
Like so many people dressed up during Halloween as hippies or disco queens in roller skates, but disco was so much more than fun dance music and hot outfits. I mean, it's thanks to disco queens from the disco era that free spirits like you and I get to express ourselves pretty much however we want. And not only that, disco changed the face of music forever, especially for women. There was no going back, and some people were really pissed about it,
Before disco, it was men who dominated the music scene with their rock and roll, sex and drugs eye roll. The face of popular music at the time was essentially a bunch of white dudes with long, sweaty rock hair singing about women and sex and shorts and drugs like Led Zeppelin or Ozzy Osbourne. But in the 70s, music was changing, and that was just
too much for some people to handle. And this all came to a head in 1979 during one of the most surprising riots in history, a night dedicated to destroying disco music and disco culture. I'm talking about Disco Demolition Night, which if you're like me, you're probably thinking of demolition derbies. 'Cause I was like, oh my God, they probably had like a disco ball and they would run into each other with cars.
Nothing like that at all. This is about music, baby. In order to get into Disco Demolition Night, we need to talk about what the hell was going on in the 70s. Because it wasn't just all flower power and fashion. There was also a major recession. Yeah, so people were just financially screwed.
There was the Watergate scandal where the president straight up betrayed his country. So people just really lost faith in the government. And there were so many social movements going on. It was safe to say that there was definitely tension in the air, just a little bit. Kind of how it feels like now.
Yeah, sometimes. And something called "free love" aka living with a sexual partner without being married to them was becoming a more accepted thing in society for straight people. But this "free love" did not include the gay community.
So if you listened to our Pride episode from season one, you should know that when the Stonewall riots happened in 1969, it essentially changed the way queer communities were able to create safe spaces for themselves. After Stonewall, people of color, gay people, and people who just wanted to be open and express themselves came together and created underground clubs.
Now, this was the cool place to be, especially if you're a young person who maybe was considered as an outcast by the community. But maybe you also want to express yourself and just loosen up a little bit, have some fun, let your hair down, you know? So many incredible parts of culture we celebrate today, like
drag balls, sexually empowered music, DJs, glitter on tits. This all came because of underground clubs that were started. Yeah, glitter on tits started there. Within disco culture, the people created a certain attitude, a vibe, the music they wanted to listen to, the fashion. Ah, they were creating their own rules. And...
Having fun. You know, as soon as you walked into the club in your big ass fur coat and latex top, oh, and don't forget your ankle breaking heels, you were gonna get down to some groovy music, baby. And who were they all getting down to?
the undisputed queen of disco. Me? No, how dare I even claim that? I'm talking about Donna Summer. Donna would take the stage in these underground clubs wearing these gorgeous feathery outfits, and she was there to sing about love, power, strength, and having massive orgasms. Ah!
She has this 17-minute song called Love to Love You Baby. And in it, she sings about loving to have sex with her boyfriend. Hot, hot. During the second half of the song, you can hear her having orgasms. About 22 of them. Ah.
Ah, lucky her. Which when you think about it, this is wild. Not really. I think it's kind of fun. I mean, who was having orgasm in a musical performance during this time? So this was a little wild because who was? And to you and me, this just sounds like another song on the radio. I mean, we live in an era about wet ass pussies. But back then, this was shocking.
I mean, this was a big F you to the man who was trying to keep those feminists in their place. Women shouldn't be singing about orgasms. I didn't even know women had orgasms.
Huh. I mean, not all disco songs were like this, okay? But something about Donna just really took hold of the disco scene. She just represented something new, fun, and free to so many people. And after all the BS that was happening in society, people were ready for a change. Of course, the idea of change can also freak...
a lot of people out. Kind of another theme we've learned here on Dark History. Even murder mystery, change, freaks people out. All this feminism, sexual equality, orgasms, and radical acceptance was downright scary to some people. Now, up until the mid-70s, disco was still known as an underground DJ thing for young, cool people. I mean, most of the disco scene happened in the dark of the night. It was more like a
if you know, you know type of thing. It wasn't until a British journalist named Nick Cohn published an article about one of these underground clubs that disco took on a new identity in America. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24, 7, 365 days a year. So you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.
Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?
BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp.
Visit BetterHelp.com slash Dark History today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Dark History. History. Look, hi. In the 1970s, Nick was a journalist for New York Magazine, and he was a really popular rock music writer. So people were very excited when this article or his article came out in 1976. It was called, quote,
He started out the article in my personal favorite way by saying, quote,
"Only the names of the main characters have been changed." End quote. I mean, when you think about it, it's like when you watch a movie and it says based on a true story and you're like, hell yeah, this is gonna be fucking amazing. A lot of people were thinking that too.
Never comfy in this chair. This is a side note, but if you've been watching Dark History over on YouTube, then you should know I've been going through very different stages where I don't know what to wear. I started it off with like cute clothes and then I went to band t-shirts, so then I went to robes and then I went to pajamas. I think I'll just show up naked. Let me know down below if I should be naked. Okay, going back to disco. So this article,
It was all about the juicy secret details of the disco scene in Brooklyn, New York.
So he ends up following a popular disco dancer. His name was Vincent, allegedly. Now this is how Nick described this guy, Vincent. Quote, black hair and black eyes, olive skin, a slightly crooked mouth, and teeth so white, so dazzling that they always seemed fake. Third generation Brooklyn Italian, five foot nine in platform shoes.
Vincent and his friends wore wild, colorful clothing, did the whole lean against a wall while smoking a cigarette move. I mean, according to this article, he was an Italian stallion by the sound of it for sure.
Once a week, Vincent would go to one of these underground disco clubs and absolutely rip apart the dance floor with his like, ooh, ooh, disco moves. And people from all over New York would go to just to watch him dance. Now it was said when he took the dance floor, people cleared the floor to give him space. Like, oh, Vincent's here. He's about to blow it. I mean, not blow it, but like pop off.
Men wanted to be him. Women wanted to be him. Everybody wanted to be him. And then others just wanted to be with him. You know what I'm saying? He said there were lists of clothes you needed to have in order to really be in the disco scene. Like Gucci-style loafers, floral shirts, rings.
Flamboyant-ass fits, okay? But here's the twist according to Nick's article: you really had to know how to handle yourself in a gunfight. Because, allegedly, these disco types were always getting into fights. Which then had me thinking like, okay, let's just say this is true. How did Vincent dance so well with a full-on gun in his pocket? You know? Okay, fine, sure.
So when this article dropped in New York Magazine, people got an insight into the disco era and they were like, um, excuse me, I thought disco was just pants and shoes. They had no idea disco was bringing in gunfights and terror into these wholesome Christian neighborhoods. The horror. It doesn't matter if most people in the disco movement weren't anything like Vincent. The only thing that mattered to these people was the fear and shock that
that they felt when they read this article. And actually, one of the most famous movies of all time was completely based on Nick's article. Maybe you've heard of it. It was called Saturday Night Fever. Yes, that movie. Have you seen it? You know, I never
got around to watching it. I'm really sorry about that. But I hear it's a pretty dark movie. I just, John Travolta creeps me out. Like I like him in Grease, but in Saturday Night Fever, the outfit, he gave me like raper vibes. Now he's in Scientology. So I mean like, yeah. Worth watching?
Let me know down below. At this time, everybody thought disco was about John Travolta and those outfits, the fighting, and the crime, and dancing. It just cheapened what disco was really about, a safe haven for creativity and self-expression. But you know what really cheapened the whole thing? Years after the movie came out, Nick admitted that he completely fabricated the whole article.
Every single part of it. The disco scene he created in his article, Vincent, the outfits, the gunfights, they never happened. Never.
Not once. I don't even know if there was a Vincent. Nobody knows. It was all a lie. Nick, the writer guy, he never even stepped foot into a disco club. He has no idea what was going on. He created a character based off of the random people he saw on the street. And then he would later go on to tell like the news company, quote, my story was a fraud.
Great. The end. Just kidding. But it's kind of psychotic of him to do that. But I guess that's what happens when you give people creative freedom when it comes to their writing for news articles. I'm not sure. But hey, I give him credit for telling the truth.
Eventually, most don't. After this article dropped, disco was the talk of the town. But when people talked about disco, they weren't just talking about the music anymore. Thanks to Nick's article and all the social movements surrounding disco, people started having some really heated opinions about it. Opinions that had nothing to do with the actual music, which honestly sounds pretty innocent, right?
I mean, why was it making so many people mad? Look, sometimes people are just scared of new things and that's exactly what was going on. Nick's article really just added fuel to the discophobia fire. And as more time went on, people started talking about disco like it was a freaking threat to their kids, to the neighborhoods,
to their America. For the haters, disco was directly connected to social issues like affirmative action and racial equality. There was this group of people in Detroit who they were DJs and they didn't like disco. So they came up with their own, um,
called the Disco Ducks Clan, like KKK, but Disco Ducks Clan. They were just giving themselves a name. They didn't like disco and they're like, "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah." They even planned to cause chaos at local disco clubs by ambushing their stages wearing white sheets and robes.
Jeez, Jesus, take the wheel, please. Thankfully, they never got around to actually doing that. Another group called DREAD, it stood for Detroit Rocker Engaged in the Abolition of Disco. Now that's a fucking name. They would perform on-air electrocutions
Yeah, a disco lover. So if someone came in and they're like, I love disco, they would do an, they would electrocute them. But like it was fake because it was a radio show. Just go with it. Basically what would happen is Dread would ask their listeners to send in anonymous tips about anyone they saw listening to disco music. So let's say you heard your neighbor jamming out to Staying Alive. You would call into the radio station and say, yes, I'd like to report.
My neighbor is actually listening to disco music and hears his phone number. And then the radio station or DREAD, they would call up this guy because you gave them their phone number and then call them up, call them out. So then everyone who's listening would know that this person was into disco stuff.
So yeah, no matter who you were, you had an opinion on disco. Disco at this point became mainstream and the clubs were popping up everywhere in the big cities. You couldn't even like walk down the street without seeing someone dressed up in like Saturday Night Fever inspired disco outfit. And most of all, you couldn't even turn on the radio without hearing a disco song, whether you liked it or not. And this was back in a time when radio was all you had, unless you went out and bought records, but that could be really expensive at the time.
It wasn't long until the music was everywhere and it was almost like there was no other music and other music just didn't exist at all. You know what it kind of reminds me of? It reminds me of a famous animated movie called Frozen. I roll. Because when that movie came out, you could not get away from it. It was everywhere. Everywhere I turned, someone was singing, do you want to build a snowman? And I'm like, no.
No, I don't want to build a snowman. I got things to do, bitch. First of all, it doesn't even snow here, but that doesn't matter. So disco was like that times a hundred. And this didn't sit well with some people, especially one man, a man who made it his mission to try and get rid of disco on the radio and bring back rock and roll. He was like a Karen before Karen. His name was Steve.
His name was Steve Dahl, and he hated disco music. He was like the old man who tells you to get off his lawn type of guy. Yeah, that was Steve. Steve had wanted a career in radio ever since he was a teenager. He used to hang out in the radio stations in his hometown in California, and Steve was gonna be a radio DJ no matter what anyone told him. Dream big.
Dream big. The music that was big when he was growing up was rock and roll, baby. So he naturally thought, "Hey, when I'm a DJ, I'm gonna play all the rock and roll all the time." But by the time he got a job in radio, rock just wasn't the vibe anymore. Disco had taken over and Steve hated it. But it wasn't just the music.
Steve said that one of the reasons he hated disco so much was because he didn't look good in those disco suits. It was a movement he just couldn't fit into. And you know, when you're younger, you just want to fit in. And when you can't, it's easier to hate it than to be sad about it. But the reasons didn't matter to Steve. I'm tired.
At the radio station he worked on called WDAI, he would always talk about how much he hated disco. And then one day, right around the holidays, Steve's boss broke the news. Disco was so popular that they were going to change the radio station he worked at from Rock
to Chicago's first disco station. I mean, this is gonna bring in the numbers, baby. This is where it's at. But Steve could not bring himself to be a disco radio DJ, and the station knew that. So they fired his ass. Yeah, they fired him, Joan. And you know what happens when you piss off a white man? It does not go well, especially when you fire a white man. Does not go well. Now,
Losing your job, it sucks. It's not easy. But for Steve, it was just like, I don't know, a salt in the wound. I mean, get it. Like, listen, he was young. He just got married. His wife had just quit her job. They sold their house. There was pressure from his in-laws. Oh, they're asking, hey, what are you going to do with your life? Huh?
Are you still going to work in radio, Steve? He's like, oh, fucking no, shut up. You know, it's just not a good time for him. And he's like sitting around stewing in his regret and shame and upset, thinking about how disco ruined everything for him. He'd given everything up for this job.
and then disco took it all away from him. It was said his wife got him a dart board with the radio station he used to work for, had the logo on it, and he would just throw darts at it all day. You and I probably think that's very juvenile, but...
Look, it's better than him actually throwing darts at the real people. Let him have it, okay? But eventually, Steve's harsh winter of fun employment came to an end. So at the age of 24, Steve somehow lands a new job at another radio station. And this radio station played classic rock. Now this one was a rival to the one he had just got fired from. So Steve wanted to stick it to his old bosses because why the fuck not?
and he decided to make a scene while doing so. I like revenge. It's kind of fun sometimes.
if it's towards the right person. But the white man always confuses who the right person is, don't they? This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.
Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?
For Couch Potato. Now here she is.
As soon as he started this new gig, Steve did all sorts of things to shake up the airwaves. One major thing that he put together was an anti-disco army made up of his listeners called, quote, the Insane Coho Lips, a.k.a. the Cohoes. I know what you're thinking, because I was thinking the same name. What the hell is this name? It's not catchy. The Cohoes?
The insane coho lips? I feel like I'm missing something. Well, I guess it was a play on a name of a street gang called the quote, the insane unknowns and a local fish called the coho salmon. This is so white, isn't it? Anyway, the cohos, the salmons, bonded over one simple idea. Disco sucks.
End of story. Backspace. Backspace. Quotations. Period. Period. Exclamation point. Quotation commas. Backspace. Period. Enter. Enter. Enter. Tab. That's right. And Steve commanded this army of cohoes...
To be all sorts of disruptive. Now, think of them as like the K-pop stans. Just think of any stan that goes way too hard for anything. Yeah, that's how his stans were. They went hard for Steve. They did whatever Steve asked of them. Now, one time Steve was on the radio and he was getting all his co-hosts hyped up. He's like, yeah.
Hey, guys, we're going to meet at this teen disco club out in Chicago. And then the listeners, the co-hosts are like, yeah, yeah. What? And then what, daddy? What? What? He's like, yeah, we're going to F up those disco people. And they're all like, yeah.
raging hormones and stuff. So they all go there and fill up the teen disco club and just stand there taking up space, making sure no one can dance to disco music. They literally shut down the dance floor because they all hog it. So no one could dance if you're just standing there, which is the opposite of Salmon. Salmon kind of like goes
Oh my God, I get it. Sammons, 'cause they go against the flow of the river. Okay, it's making sense, Steve, because for a minute there, I was, I get it, but I'm the bear. You're welcome. At this point, Steve realizes he has serious power with his stands.
So he gets them to do something else. On air, he tells them, hey, you guys, if you're listening out there and you see that van from my old radio station, here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna throw some marshmallows at it.
And guess what? That's exactly what they did. And we may be thinking, what's the point of throwing marshmallows at it? The point is Steve is realizing he got some power with his listeners. So the next thing Steve did at this new radio gig was take out his frustration by literally destroying disco records on the air.
literally, did I nail it? Literally, whatever. Like he would announce what album he was holding in his hands, say who the artist was, slide the record out of the cover. It's very ASMR before ASMR was a thing. He would then put it on a turntable, but instead of playing the music, he would drag the needle across the record, just completely ruining it. Then he would blow it up
because he would like actually use sounds of explosions, you know, explosion sound effects.
And to make it seem like he blew up the record. And fans love this shit. One fan of Steve said, quote, I remember Steve saying the reason he hated disco was because he couldn't buy a three-piece white suit off the rack. And that stuck with me because I couldn't either. End quote.
I know, like, why don't you guys just, like, band together and do something you all love? Like a craft party or something and make your own pants. Why do you gotta ruin other people's fun, you know? That's my whole question here. I mean, no one hires me for president, but they really should because I've got ideas. Like...
I'm not sure yet. Circle back. So Steve was tapping into something, but he didn't quite know how big that something was. His hatred of disco was really resonating with people. And one person in particular was listening and got an idea that would change the course of disco music forever. And this all took place on a fateful night in Chicago, Illinois. Now, I don't only talk about sports on this show, because sports...
Or just not, you know, they're not that. I'm not into it yet. Maybe when I get older. But today I'm going to mention baseball. Specifically, the Chicago White Sox. In 1979, I'm told the White Sox sucked. Which, first of all, I could completely understand because White Sox are really hard to keep clean. Your White Sox turn brown. And no matter what kind of bleach you use or anything, they don't go back to being white. I don't get it.
Why do you even buy White Sox? Anyways, but I also hear that the baseball team sucked. Their record wasn't that great. Their fans were pissed off and people weren't buying tickets to their games. So the owner of the team resorted to coming up with interesting promotions so people would buy tickets to the games again. You know that giant scoreboard you see in every baseball stadium? Well.
Wow. The White Sox had an exploding scoreboard that shot fireworks out of it. That's what they say. So every time you went to a game, you got like a little fireworks show. And the team's owner also installed a janky outdoor shower near the stadium seats so you could soak your hot body in clothes during those brutal Chicago summers. Which a lot of people were like, that's different, that's weird. And I was like, I would do it. I would give it a try. That sounds nice. When it's hot or humid, ugh.
Ugh, be able to take a little rinse off? I'm down. Maybe just me. Okay. And surprisingly, the fireworks no one asked for and the unique outdoor shower still didn't raise ticket sales. The stadium wasn't even filled a quarter of the way through and they were hemorrhaging money fast. This is when Steve somehow gets involved. So there's this other guy, his name's Mike Veague.
Now, this guy was a son of the White Sox owner, so he's probably rich. And get this, he was a big fan of Steve's radio show. Maybe he was a co-host, Dan. We don't know. But Mike was trying to find a way to get people back to the White Sox games. He gets in his car, drives to the radio station, waits for Steve to finish his show. Now, Steve does his usual attention grabby things.
like smashing records and bashing disco. And the minute he's done, Mike bangs on the door to the studio. Steve opens it up and Mike says he has an idea. You know those records you've been destroying on the radio? Well, what if you did that at the White Sox stadium, like on the field?
Now Steve didn't even blink an eye. An anti-disco night in front of thousands of people? Ooh, I see it now. Me, Steve, the center of attention? Hating on disco? Sign me up. So Mike and Steve set the date, July 12th, 1979.
And in the days leading up to it, Steve was on the radio promoting the hell out of what they're calling Disco Demolition Night. He kept telling listeners that, hey, if you want to bring a disco record to the baseball park, you can get a discounted ticket to the stadium for just 98 cents. Oh.
Less than a dollar? And on top of that, the White Sox were playing a double header, AKA two games in one day. 'Cause I didn't know what that meant, just in case anyone out there is like, "What's that?" Two games in one day, back to back.
And this is important to know because it was between these two games that Steve was going to blow up the piles of records and from the whole stadium, like a little halftime show. Because of Steve's following and his ability to, let's say, motivate people to do things, the White Sox owners expected 35,000 people to come out for the event, which was a few thousand more than for normal game days. But when Disco Demolition Night finally rolled around, it turns out they were way too
off. It was estimated that 60,000 people showed up that night and there were thousands hanging around outside the stadium. Yeah, so almost 60,000 Steve Stans.
That's a lot of people, huh? Yeah. So these are co-hosts. These salmons are everywhere, all holding records in their hands. And what do you think is gonna happen when that many hardcore disco hating fans show up? You really think they're gonna follow the rules here? They're here to celebrate hate. What do you think they're gonna do? They're just gonna sit there and smile while Steve blows up records?
Yeah, that's what they really thought was gonna happen. So cute. First of all, when people got to the stadium, there wasn't one big box for all the disco records people brought. There were dozens of boxes of records packed to the brim, just ready for Steve to blow up. It's so like, geez whiz. So yeah, the promotion worked. Good for him. But disco-hating fans were not waiting for Steve to start some drama. One of the guys selling soda at the stadium said that fans brought
extra records to throw like a Frisbee onto the field, but they were gonna do this during the game, which made me laugh, kind of giggle at first, but that actually, when you think about it, that can like seriously hurt someone because when you toss a record, like a Frisbee, if you give it a night enough, that could like chop someone's head off. A Frisbee from fricking hell, which great horror film idea, if you're out there. Frisbee from hell, I'd watch it.
You know? And little did we know that... This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24, 7, 365 days a year. So you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.
Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?
BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp.
Visit BetterHelp.com slash Dark History today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Dark History. It was kind of a foreshadow into the night. Now, the atmosphere was reportedly feeling, quote, a little mayhem-ish.
End quote. Just a little. First-hand witnesses said that dozens of banners were hung around the stadium with anti-disco slogans like, Disco sucks! Or another sign that said, Burn, baby, burn! Disco destruction! They're so boring. Honestly, not that creative. Come on.
What do you expect from salmon, huh? Then as the first game was coming to an end, people started chanting "Disco sucks! Disco sucks!" so loud that it drowned out all the sounds on the field. Not that anybody was there for the actual game, but still.
So the first baseball game came to an end at about 8:16 p.m. and the blowing up of the disco records was about to begin. The crowd was getting super amped up. People were chanting. They're pounding on their chairs, shouting, ready for action. And they're just so excited to hate disco. Everybody in the stadium knows something big was about to go down. They just weren't sure what. And then when the clock
Strikes 8:40 PM, a door in center field opens up and a Jeep Commando drives onto the fields. Commando. And riding inside the Jeep Commando was Steve Dahl. And I guess he had been drinking a little. So he's a little sloshed. He was wearing military clothes and a general's helmet.
which obviously to the audience looks like he's gonna fight. So that's really setting the tone here. So Steve shows up, he enters the field, he's looking around, thousands are cheering for him. Oh man, he's probably taking all this in, feeling like he's a master of the universe. It's feeding his ego, but...
but it didn't take long for him to get a taste of what he created. As the Jeep was doing a slow driving tour around the park, the fans that Steve recruited to come to this event were throwing full beers and cherry bombs at the Jeep. If you don't know what a cherry bomb is, I guess it's like very powerful. It's illegal. It's a illegal firework and it could actually kill a person, but it has such a cute name, I know. But very beautiful if you practice safe cherry bombing.
Good to know. While this was happening, Steve was a little confused. Like, wait, hello? Why are they throwing fireworks at me? I am their God. Now he thought these people were on his side. So he's feeling a little nervous. Like, hmm, it's not nice. But he shakes it off and keeps going on with his performance. After the Jeep does a loop around the inside of the stadium, it comes to a stop in the middle of center field. It was time to explode a box of records.
So much drama. Now their goal wasn't to make the whole box explode because they didn't want like some huge dangerous boom. They just wanted to make sure that the records would perform and like fly out of it. At this point, Steve and another guy are now standing out in the open in center field. Steve was getting the crowd super pumped up. He's yelling into a microphone and just yelling stuff at them like, yeah, disco, boo.
words he had no prepared speech or anything he just yeah
You know, he wasn't giving a performance. Ugh. At least give us a little dance or something, my God. So apparently during all this, there were three nuns in the audience that night. I'm not sure if they were there for the baseball or for the disco part of things, but they, these nuns, were starting to get worried with all the insanity going on around them. And they turned to a woman that was sitting nearby and asked, what are the people chanting? And the woman said, like, don't worry, they're just...
saying, "Let's go White Sox." Praise God. Which wasn't true. But what else are you gonna tell a group of scared nuns? The truth? They might have a heart attack. Come on, be nice. ♪ You make me feel like dancing ♪ ♪ I wanna dance the night away ♪ ♪ You make me feel like dancing ♪ So cute.
While Steve is out there whipping the audience into a frenzy and soaking in every second of attention he's getting, thousands more people, most of them part of Steve's little army of co-hosts, were outside the stadium looking for any way to break in, feeling deep FOMO they wanted in on the action. But many of them didn't have 98 cents. What a rip. Times were tough. But they wanted to blow stuff up. Come on. Let us
Listen, so what do you do? What do you think they did? You got that right. I felt like Reba right now. That's right, what she say? You got that, that's right. They ended up bum rushing the stadium. Snaps. Oh, you guys didn't see that coming? Even Joan saw that shit and she's blind.
Why are you laughing? She's blind. She can't see? Oh my God. Don't let her laugh at your disability, Joan. Mike, the White Sox owner's son from earlier. Wow. He's like, "Hello."
He got a call from the security. They were right outside the stadium saying, "Look, Mike, listen, there's a bunch of kids, thousands of them, and they're trying to break in. What do we do?" Yeah, so there's thousands of kids, they're outside. They're rocking the ticket booths back and forth and scaring the shit out of these defenseless employees who are just there to collect 98 cents and then go home. And not just that, some people started climbing fences.
Scaling walls, jumping over gates, and crawling through open windows to get inside the stadium. The situation...
was getting a little out of control. So Mike has to think quick. I mean, the safety of these employees is on the line. He didn't really care about the safety of the employees. He cared about the stadium. And he's like, oh, fuck, they're gonna tear up the stadium. This is kind of backfiring, Mike. What are you gonna do? Well, he makes a phone call that he regrets to this very day. Is he still alive? Hey, Mike.
Inside the stadium, there were a bunch of security guards in yellow jackets standing all around the baseball field. They were there to make sure the audience kept their butts in their seats. They're trained in crowd control.
But Mike offers 15 of them to leave their posts on the field and head to the outside of the stadium to save those employees and the booths and whatnot. And also stop the thousands of people from storming the gates. Now, do you think 15 people versus thousands of people is going to work out?
I'm sure you can imagine it's not going to go that well. So back inside the stadium, Steve sees his opportunity. He announces to the audience, quote, Disco sucks and we're never going to let them forget it. They're not going to shove it down our throats. We rock and rollers will resist.
and we will triumph. He probably pulled his out because I feel like a lot of guys do that when it's not needed, but they do it, you know? Or is that just me? So yeah, whipping out. Steve then lights the end of the dynamite with his out, I'm sure. Seconds later,
Kablam! The explosives go off like a bomb, destroying the disco records. Now, shards of razor-sharp records go flying in the air. Record wrappers are burning on fire in the outfield. The explosion leaves a hole in the middle of the baseball field. Aw, but how are they gonna play baseball? No one knows. It's chaos. Art imitating life. Life imitating awe.
It was disco. And they didn't even know it. Oh, okay, yeah. Back to the story. Security. Remember security? Well, they're nowhere to be found because they're out in the front trying to handle those people. So once that bomb goes off, whoo, the audience members, they look at each other and they're like, yeah, it's Charmer.
Zeppelin forever, brother! It was the green light, baby. The audience starts rushing down the stairs, jumping over seats. Those poor nuns, lost in the crowd, running onto the field by the hundreds. It was out of control. At this point, everyone knew. Um, I don't know, you guys. I don't think this is some dumb radio stunt anymore. It turned into a full-scale riot. Those poor nuns.
I hope they made it out alive. One vendor at the stadium said he remembered everything like it was yesterday. Some kid with long hair jumped out of the stands and onto the field. He then sprinted to one of the bases, ripped it out of the ground, and waved it around like it was a trophy. The vendor said everyone else followed the long-haired guy's cue and started ripping stuff up too.
Yeah, humans are pretty dumb. Us humans are really stupid. So I believe this story, I do. So, okay, stoned and drunk teenagers climbed out of the stands and slid down like these big poles that went onto the field. They went down them like they're fricking firemen responding to a call. It's kind of beauty and grace.
But instead of putting the fires out, these people were looking to start them because just above them, a sportscaster reported that people in the upper deck were pouring lighter fluid down the big poles, trying to light them on fire with their metal. Everyone was raging a little too hard to notice that these poles were made of metal, so they actually couldn't catch on fire. But they tried.
Okay. Now this was just kind of supposed to be like a little halftime show, a little halftime celebration where we just hate disco, but then we go back to baseball. And all those players that were getting ready to play the second game were just hiding, dodging shoes. They were dodging trash, things on fire, whatever else people were throwing at them. They put on their helmets and they looked for cover. One player named Rusty even said, oh my God, oh my...
Mighty! I've never seen anything so dangerous in my life. In the dugout, the rest of the team was taking shelter, just trying to stay out of harm's way. And it was pretty clear at this point security was not going to be any help because where the hell were they? The players had a death grip on those baseball bats, just ready to defend themselves against potential rioters. And one player asked them if they're going to use those bats against them.
Look, if the rioters or whoever came down into the dugout, they were ready to defend themselves if needed. Then, like, I guess there was a time when, like, the player went onto the field to look at, like, the damage that was being done. And the second he did this, something whizzed by his head. I guess someone threw a disco record straight at him. And it was thrown so hard that it stuck right into the ground next to him.
And the player was like, holy shit, man. Like I could have been killed by the village people. Could you imagine cause of death decapitated by the village people record? This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking.
Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts.
discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.
Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?
BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory.
I'd put that on my headstone. And speaking of those records, Vince Lawrence, who was an usher working that night, happened to know something a little suspish that was going on. Lawrence, who was a black teenager, had a brilliant idea. You see, he was an aspiring musician, and he saw this event as an opportunity to not hate on disco, but this was an opportunity to
grab a hold of some of those free records people were just throwing away. Jackpot. I mean, why not? He could build a solid record collection. And I love that for him. So he's out there and he's starting to gather up all these loose records he's finding, expecting to see, you know, disco records like The Village People, The Bee Gees, and Abba. He's just like, yeah. But Lawrence starts to notice something else. A lot of the records he was scooping up or were
the ones that were blown up, weren't even disco. And in fact, tons of them were actually R&B records by black artists like Curtis Mayfield and Otis Clay. Then at one point, Lawrence said some guy ran up to him, snapped his disco record in,
in his face like it was his fault disco even existed. After that, it was clear to Lawrence that this wasn't just a fun night for people to let off some steam. He said, quote, "It was a book burning. It was a racist, homophobic book burning." Where's the lie, Lawrence? It does seem that way, huh?
But stuff like that was happening all around the stadium. I mean, it was total madness. Maniacs were tearing urinals off the walls of the bathroom and smashing them, which is so gross because people pee in those. Come on, find something else. All the bases were torn apart. People were throwing more fireworks and cherry bombs. There was a picnic area with seats in the left field. Fans broke into that, ripped out the seats, threw them in a pile in the center, and then lit themselves a bonfire.
Nearby people were dancing in circles around the burning vinyl records like it was some weird satanic cult ritual. Bizarre. The head groundskeeper and his son said that it had gotten so scary that they locked themselves in the office and just waited for things to die down. That was their, uh, safe bet. Really. That's all you can do. And remember that jeep from earlier? Well, they blew that shit up.
Just kidding. But wouldn't that be fun for the story? The Jeep blew the fuck up and there's explosion and they all died. I'm just kidding. I've been doing a lot of murder reading lately.
Anyway, and that Jeep from earlier? The one that Steve rolled in on? Yeah, that's still always on the field. Which is weird because you think someone would steal that Jeep. I would go right for the Jeep. Not only were fans throwing stuff at it, but now they were approaching it. The driver freaked out because he sees people approaching him. He...
floors it, hits the gas pedal, gets the hell out of there, comes out the way they came in. But he forgot that there was a photographer who was sitting on the hood of the car. And I guess when he floored it, the photographer flew off. And I guess this photographer managed to stop his fall by hanging onto the windshield wiper for dear life. The driver did not give a rat's ass, okay? He sped off.
and tried to get the hell out of there. Not long after that, at 9:08 PM, only 28 minutes after Steve first stepped foot on the field, gates in the outfield roll wide open and in rides the Chicago police on horseback, rolling in two by two.
I mean, someone must have called them to say what's up or maybe they saw it for themselves. But either way, they were ready for the crowd and they were all decked out in riot gear and armed with clubs. When people saw that, they were like, "Oh shit, you know, party's over." Because people knew that the Chicago police were not afraid of using their clubs. As soon as the police started closing in on the rioters, they parted like the Red Sea and they just booked it out of there. It shut them up real quick.
The crowd finally started dying down and eventually order was restored. Steve said after it was all over, he sobered up and stayed at the stadium for a while. Steve, he then got a little lecturing by the owner of the White Sox and then went home for the night. Yeah. When I read that, I was like, oh, that's it? He went home? The guy who incited a riot? Shouldn't he be arrested? You think he'd be held accountable for something?
I mean, he brought thousands of people to the stadium, right? And after all was said and done, thousands of people ended up storming the field and causing thousands of dollars in damage. And some reports said that there was up to 30 people who had very serious injuries. But Steve, just, no, Steve, no.
Go home. Okay. That's all he got. While the White Sox owner was in the office, he was just beyond stressed, complaining that his leg was killing him. And then in front of everyone, he unscrewed his prosthetic leg, plopped it on his desk. Then he pulled out a cigarette, took a deep drag, and used his leg as an ashtray.
And honestly, I had to keep this into the story because this right here is my kind of man. Yes, baby, you take off that leg and use it as an ashtray. Yes. I mean, it's a rough night. Who could blame the guy? Iconic.
moment in American history, I say. Now, there are a lot of accounts about what happened after Disco Demolition Night. Many people say it was just a fun night where thousands of people got to trash disco music and yeah, sure, things got a little out of hand, but it was no big deal. And Steve actually thought Disco Demolition Night was very successful.
One thing we know for sure is the violence of that night really freaked out record labels because they didn't want to be the one on the receiving end of that hate. One famous DJ said because of this one night, quote, it scared the record companies so they stopped signing disco artists and making disco records, end quote.
Like for example, Donna Summer kept recording and making music, but now records were labeled as dance music and not disco. At this point, disco was kind of like a touchy subject that nobody wanted to touch. And it's not like disco completely went away, but it did kind of go back underground into clubs back where it started. Made a whole full circle, didn't it? Exhausting. So what's our takeaway here? Joan, go ahead, share with the room.
Oh, you're not blind? Oh, my bad, girl. I thought you were. You know, not everything's about you. Okay.
Anyways, honestly, it's kind of hard to find just one takeaway here because there are so many damn pieces to this. Some say Disco Demolition Night tapped into a whole lot of resentment about how the face of music was changing. Maybe it was the article that fueled people's perception of disco. Maybe it was the co-hosts. Yeah, fuck salmon. But the hate was real. Maybe it was just all of it. The perfect storm. All at the right time. Just...
and exploded because the Steve guy just is so grumpy, right?
I mean, to be fair, Steve didn't create that resentment. He just exploited it, right? And it worked. I mean, radio stations that switched to disco went back to playing rock. Then even the freaking Grammy Awards canceled their best disco recording category after just one year. Wow, it happened so quick, huh? Interesting. Others say Disco Demolition Night was a night dedicated to getting rid of, quote,
black music. The real disco scene was made up of many communities of color and people who belong to the LGBTQ UIA plus community. And many people believe that Steve and the co-hosts and everyone else who hated disco just used it as a cover for resenting people that didn't look like them. Steve has denied that Disco Demolition Night was ever racist or homophobic,
He says it was just about the music. But we know that there were people who probably participated in that riot who felt differently. It wasn't just about the music for them. It was about the whole scene. The world was changing. And as we have learned here in Dark History, some people just don't like change and they will do anything to stop it from happening. Honestly, I think our biggest takeaway is no matter what you listen to, it's good.
Two things can be true at the same time. I think there's a time and place to rage. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? If you haven't, you should go. That's where a lot of people let out their anger. Oh yeah, I definitely got some hair pulled out in my early 20s in a mosh pit. Stepped on, beat, kicked, spit on. I got my pants pulled down one time. Anyways, mosh pits.
Great place to release that anger. But if people start literally blowing things up, rioting, lighting fires and destroying property because they didn't like Diana Ross, like Mimi, I don't know, you're overreacting a bit. I don't know. That's just my thought here on this couch in this room.
alone with my thoughts and feelings. But we wouldn't have so many of the artists we have today without disco. So for one, I am glad it existed because for me, the makeup, the bell bottoms, the hair, the glam, the fun, the beat wouldn't be here. Okay? And ooh, my favorite part, right as of right now, we're kind of in the middle of a disco revival. So lean in, have a little fun, relax. If somebody likes something that you don't understand,
I don't know, maybe just mind your own business and get back to crafting. If you know of any of those underground clubs, let me know where they are and I'll be there in just a few minutes. Invite me, please. I'll show up. I wanna go. That sounds fun. Now, I like this story because it seems like it's about one really specific thing, disco.
it's actually really about how one really angry person with power can essentially change history and music as a whole, which happens over and over and over again. I mean we can really see it today when people are angry about something or scared of change and they feel like someone is standing up for them, they will go to some crazy lengths to keep the status quo. But look,
Change is inevitable. It's all about how you handle change. So people listening or watching, handle it gracefully. If people are being assholes, maybe don't be an asshole. Mind your own damn business. And from one of my favorite classic movies, one of my favorite lines is, let it go, let it... I think we can all just let it fucking go, can't we?
Let it go. I'm sure Disney's gonna love that. Well, everyone, thank you for learning with me today. Remember, don't be afraid to be curious and ask questions and snoop around because...
You deserve that. Now I'd love to hear your guys' reaction to today's story. So make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along. Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, don't forget to check out my murder mystery and makeup. I hope you have a great rest of your day. You make good choices. No riots. And I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye. Wave bye.
Wave. Dark History is an Audioboom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junia McNeely from 3Arts, Kevin Grush, and Claire Turner from Maiden Network.
writers Katie Burris, Alison Filobos, Joey Scaluzzo, and me, Bailey Sarian. Shot and edited by Tafadzwa Namarundwe and Hannah Bakker. Research provided by Xander Elmore and the Dark History Researcher team. A special thank you to our expert, Theo Cape Forest. And I am your host with the most air on toast, Bailey Sarian. Leave a comment down below that you like my hair and makeup. I love it. I don't want to wash it off. Look at it. I feel so cute.
Okay, bye!
