The “Disco Demolition Night” of 1979 is one of the most infamous events in the history of pop culture, taking place at the height of the anti-disco movement in the late ‘70s. It was actually an ill-fated baseball promotional event that saw a crate of disco records symbolically destroyed on the field during halftime. It’s been viewed as symbolic of the decline of disco’s popularity that year, though it’s also equally pointed to as the trigger for the eventual rise of dancefloor culture.
The night was described by some disco artists as an expression of racism and homophobia toward elements that defined disco culture, which would also later define the early dancefloors of New York, Chicago and Detroit. For those wanting to dig deeper into what happened that night, Red Bull Music Academy has just released an awesome documentary.
Check out Disco Demolition: Riot to Rebirth over at Red Bull Music Academy . You can also watch news reports below that aired shortly after the incident.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpQfCcsqQ0E]
