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125-589: Disco Demolition Night was a Major League Baseball (MLB) promotion on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois , that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field between games of the twi-night doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers . Many had come to see the explosion rather than
250-555: A parody of Rod Stewart 's disco-oriented hit " Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? ". The song characterized discotheques as populated by effeminate men and frigid women. The protagonist, named Tony after Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever , is unable to attract a woman until he abandons the disco scene, selling his white three-piece suit at a garage sale and melting down his gold chains for a Led Zeppelin belt buckle. A number of anti-disco incidents took place elsewhere in
375-530: A "diabolical thump-and-shriek". Others hated it for the associated scene, with its emphasis on personal appearance and style of dress. The media emphasized its roots in gay culture. According to historian Gillian Frank, "by the time of the Disco Demolition in Comiskey Park, the media ... cultivated a widespread perception that disco was taking over". Performers who cultivated a gay image, such as
500-473: A 2004 interview that by 1979 disco was "probably on its way out. But I think Disco Demolition Night hastened its demise." According to Frank, "the Disco Demolition triggered a nationwide expression of anger against disco that caused disco to recede quickly from the American cultural landscape". Episode 3 of the 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution notes that disco's popularity had already entered
625-530: A 2006–07 investigation produced the Mitchell Report , which found that many players had used steroids and other performance-enhancing substances , including at least one player from each team. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in
750-715: A Beny More Musical show [ edit ] Best Cast Show Album Thomas Z. Shepard (producer) & various artists for Ain't Misbehavin' Packaging and notes [ edit ] Best Album Package Johnny B. Lee & Tony Lane (art directors) for Boys in the Trees performed by Carly Simon Best Album Notes Michael Brooks (notes writer) for A Bing Crosby Collection, Vols. I & II performed by Bing Crosby Pop [ edit ] Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female Anne Murray for " You Needed Me " Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male Barry Manilow for " Copacabana (At
875-703: A Duo or Group with Vocal Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson for " Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys " Best Country Instrumental Performance Asleep at the Wheel for " One O'Clock Jump " Best Country Song Don Schlitz (songwriter) for " The Gambler " performed by Kenny Rogers Folk [ edit ] Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording Muddy Waters for I'm Ready Gospel [ edit ] Best Gospel Performance, Traditional The Happy Goodman Family for Refreshing Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational Larry Hart for "What
1000-431: A Duo, Group or Chorus Earth, Wind & Fire for All 'n All Best R&B Instrumental Performance Earth, Wind & Fire for "Runnin'" Best Rhythm & Blues Song Paul Jabara (songwriter) for " Last Dance " performed by Donna Summer Spoken [ edit ] Best Spoken Word Recording Orson Welles for Citizen Kane References [ edit ] ^ "In
1125-1288: A Friend" Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional Mighty Clouds of Joy for Live and Direct Best Soul Performance, Contemporary Andrae Crouch for Live in London performed by Andrae Crouch & the Disciples Best Inspirational Performance B. J. Thomas for Happy Man Historical [ edit ] Best Historical Repackage Album Michael Brooks (producer) for The Lester Young Story, Vol. 3 Jazz [ edit ] Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Oscar Peterson for Oscar Peterson Jam - Montreux '77 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group Chick Corea for Friends Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band Mel Lewis & Thad Jones for Live in Munich Best Jazz Vocal Performance Al Jarreau for All Fly Home Latin [ edit ] Best Latin Recording Tito Puente for Homenaje
1250-1013: A Motion Picture or a Television Special John Williams (composer) for Close Encounters of the Third Kind Best Instrumental Arrangement Quincy Jones & Robert Freedman (arrangers) for " The Wiz Main Title - Overture Part One" performed by various artists Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) Maurice White (arranger) for " Got to Get You Into My Life " performed by Earth, Wind & Fire Best Arrangement For Voices Bee Gees (arrangers) for " Stayin' Alive " Country [ edit ] Best Country Vocal Performance, Female Dolly Parton for Here You Come Again Best Country Vocal Performance, Male Willie Nelson for " Georgia on My Mind " Best Country Performance by
1375-525: A WDAI promotional van at a shopping mall where a teen disco had been built. The Cohos chased the van and driver and cornered them in a park, though the situation ended without violence. On July 1, a near-riot occurred in Hanover Park, Illinois , when hundreds of Cohos could not enter a sold-out promotional event, and fights broke out. Some 50 police officers were needed to control the situation. When disco star Van McCoy died suddenly on July 6, Dahl marked
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#17327761631681500-458: A bat from the dugout. As Bill Veeck stood with a microphone near where home plate had been, begging people to return to the stands, a bonfire raged in center field. Years later, Lorelei remembered that she had been waving to the crowd when she was grabbed by two of the bodyguards who had accompanied the Jeep, who placed her back in the vehicle. The party was unable to return to home plate because of
1625-600: A batter could foul off any number of pitches with no strikes counted against him; this gave an enormous advantage to the batter. After the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, baseball was rocked by allegations of a game-fixing scheme known as the Black Sox Scandal . Eight players— "Shoeless" Joe Jackson , Eddie Cicotte , Claude "Lefty" Williams , George "Buck" Weaver , Arnold "Chick" Gandil , Fred McMullin , Charles "Swede" Risberg , and Oscar "Happy" Felsch —intentionally lost
1750-479: A capacity of 44,492. The White Sox were not having a good year, and were 40–46 going into the July ;12 doubleheader. The White Sox and WLUP hoped for a crowd of 20,000, and Mike Veeck hired enough security for 35,000. Owner Bill Veeck was concerned the promotion might become a disaster and checked himself out of the hospital, where he had been undergoing tests. His fears were substantiated when he saw
1875-406: A chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions. The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial , Bob Feller , Ted Williams , and Joe DiMaggio , but baseball clubs continued to field their teams. Branch Rickey, president and general manager of
2000-446: A disco record; between games, Dahl was to destroy the collected vinyl in an explosion. White Sox officials had hoped for a crowd of 20,000, about 5,000 more than usual. Instead, at least 50,000—including tens of thousands of Dahl's listeners—packed the stadium, and thousands more continued to sneak in after capacity was reached and gates were closed. Many of the records were not collected by staff and were thrown like flying discs from
2125-408: A general decline due in part to the public's negative perception of the scene's elitism and excesses, with many radio stations in the process of changing back from a Disco to a Rock format. Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh described Disco Demolition Night as "your most paranoid fantasy about where the ethnic cleansing of the rock radio could ultimately lead". Marsh was one who, at the time, deemed
2250-506: A grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking. The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason. Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players hit 40 or 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s. It later became apparent that at least some of this power surge
2375-419: A larger venue. The matter had also been brought up early in the 1979 season when Schwartz told Mike Veeck of Dahl and his plans to blow up a crate of disco records while live on the air from a shopping mall. Dahl was asked if he would be interested in blowing up records at Comiskey Park on July 12. Since the radio frequency of WLUP was 97.9, the promotion for July 12, "Disco Demolition Night" (in addition to
2500-658: A little better in subsequent campaigns—but in their eighth season (1969) the Mets became the first of the 1960s expansion teams to play in the postseason, culminating in a World Series title over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the major leagues moved to the "Deep South" when the Braves moved to Atlanta. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics moved west to become the Oakland Athletics . In 1969,
2625-464: A major backlash from rock music fans—an opposition prominent enough that the White Sox, seeking to fill seats at Comiskey Park during a lackluster season, engaged Chicago shock jock and anti-disco campaigner Steve Dahl for the promotion at the July 12 doubleheader. Dahl's sponsoring radio station was WLUP (97.9 FM, now WCKL ), so admission was discounted to 98 cents for attendees who turned in
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#17327761631682750-671: A man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." That year, Robinson won the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate NL and AL Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). Less than three months later, Larry Doby became the first African-American to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. The next year, a number of other black players entered
2875-451: A mock organization, the "Insane Coho Lips", an anti-disco army consisting of his listeners. According to Andy Behrens of ESPN , Dahl and his broadcast partner Garry Meier "organized the Cohos around a simple and surprisingly powerful idea: Disco Sucks". According to Dahl, in 1979, the Cohos were locked in a war "dedicated to the eradication of the dreaded musical disease known as DISCO". In
3000-413: A new National Agreement which tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause contracts. The agreement also set up a formal classification system for minor leagues, the forerunner of today's system that was refined by Branch Rickey . Several other early defunct baseball leagues are considered major leagues, and their statistics and records are included with those of the two modern major leagues. In 1969,
3125-431: A one-armed outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include any black players through the end of the war. Black players, many of whom served in the war, were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball . Wartime blackout restrictions , designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to
3250-501: A rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Teams came and went; 1882 was the first season where the league's membership was the same as the preceding season's, and only four franchises survived to see 1900. Competitor leagues formed regularly and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1882–1891), sometimes called
3375-543: A single-game MLB attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In 1961, the first Washington Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins . Two new teams were added to the American League at the same time: the Los Angeles Angels (who soon moved from downtown L.A. to nearby Anaheim ) and a new Washington Senators franchise. The NL added
3500-540: A successful Baltimore chop, the batter hits the ball forcefully into the ground, causing it to bounce so high that the batter reaches first base before the ball can be fielded and thrown to the first baseman. The adoption of the foul strike rule—in the NL in 1901, in the AL two years later—quickly sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring runs became a struggle. Before this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes:
3625-639: Is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was founded in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball saw rivalries between leagues, and players often jumped from one team or league to another. These practices were essentially ended by the National Agreement of 1903, in which AL and NL agreed to respect each other's player contracts, including
3750-713: The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for Beethoven : Symphonies (9) (Complete) Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance Luciano Pavarotti for Luciano Pavarotti - Hits From Lincoln Center Best Opera Recording George Sponhaltz , John Coveney (producers), Julius Rudel (conductor), Beverly Sills , Alan Titus & the New York City Opera Orchestra for Lehár : The Merry Widow Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) Georg Solti (conductor), Margaret Hillis (choir director) &
3875-899: The Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves , the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles , and the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics . The 1958 Major League Baseball season began to turn Major League Baseball into a nationwide league. Walter O'Malley , owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era," moved his team to Los Angeles, marking
Disco Demolition Night - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-538: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Brahms : Concerto For Violin in D Comedy [ edit ] Best Comedy Recording Steve Martin for A Wild and Crazy Guy Composing and arranging [ edit ] Best Instrumental Composition John Williams (composer) for " Theme From Close Encounters of the Third Kind " Best Album of Original Score Written for
4125-799: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus for Beethoven : Missa Solemnis Best Classical Performance Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with orchestra) Eugene Ormandy (conductor), Vladimir Horowitz & the New York Philharmonic for Rachmaninoff : Con. No. 3 in D Minor for Piano (Horowitz Golden Jubilee) Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (without orchestra) Vladimir Horowitz for The Horowitz Concerts 1977/78 Best Chamber Music Performance Itzhak Perlman & Vladimir Ashkenazy for Beethoven : Sonatas for Violin and Piano Best Classical Album Christopher Bishop (producer), Carlo Maria Giulini (conductor), Itzhak Perlman &
4250-596: The Great Depression , baseball's popularity had begun a downward turn in the early 1930s. By 1932, only two MLB teams turned a profit. Attendance had fallen, due at least in part to a 10% federal amusement tax added to baseball ticket prices. Baseball owners cut their rosters from 25 men to 23, and even the best players took pay cuts. Team executives were innovative in their attempts to survive, creating night games, broadcasting games live by radio, and rolling out promotions such as free admission for women. Throughout
4375-682: The Houston Astros and the New York Mets in 1962. The Astros (known as the "Colt .45s" during their first three seasons) became the first southern major league franchise since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899 and the first franchise to be located along the Gulf Coast . The Mets established a reputation for futility by going 40–120 during their first season of play in the nation's media capital—and by playing only
4500-611: The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of the strongest clubs remained those based in the Northeastern United States. For professional baseball 's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was established. A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after
4625-487: The National Basketball Association (NBA). Baseball games are broadcast on television, radio, and the internet throughout North America and in several other countries. MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2023, it drew more than 70.75 million spectators. MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises lower-tier teams affiliated with
4750-678: The National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the commissioner of baseball . MLB
4875-493: The New York Philharmonic for Varese : Ameriques/Arcana/Ionisation (Boulez Conducts Varese) Producer of the Year The Bee Gees , Albhy Galuten & Karl Richardson R&B [ edit ] Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Donna Summer for " Last Dance " Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male George Benson for " On Broadway " Best R&B Vocal Performance by
5000-621: The Texas Rangers . In 1977, baseball expanded again , adding a second Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays , as well as the Seattle Mariners . Subsequently, no new teams were added until the 1990s and no teams moved until 2005. By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968—later nicknamed "the year of the pitcher" —Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski won
5125-646: The Village People (described by Rolling Stone as "the face of disco"), did nothing to efface these perceptions, and fears that rock music would die out increased after disco albums dominated the 21st Grammy Awards in February 1979. In 1978 WKTU (now WINS-FM ) in New York, a low-rated rock station, switched to disco and became the most popular station in the country; this led other stations to try to emulate its success. In Chicago, 24-year-old Steve Dahl
Disco Demolition Night - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-694: The World Series , a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. The New York Yankees have the most championships with 27. The reigning champions are the Los Angeles Dodgers , who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series . MLB is the third-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue in the world after the National Football League (NFL) and
5375-817: The first and second Negro National Leagues (1920–1931 and 1933–1948), the Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East–West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), and the Negro American League (1937–1948). In 2021, baseball reference website Baseball-Reference.com began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics. In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it
5500-442: The "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the NL and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series . The two leagues merged in 1892 as a single 12-team NL, but the NL dropped four teams after the 1899 season. This led to the formation of the American League in 1901 under AL president Ban Johnson , and
5625-541: The 1870s. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the National League or NL) was established after the NA proved ineffective. The league placed its emphasis on clubs rather than on players. Clubs could now enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play the full schedule of games instead of forfeiting scheduled games when
5750-426: The 1940s, Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck had been noted for using promotions to increase fan interest; he stated "you can draw more people with a losing team plus bread and circuses than with a losing team and a long, still silence". His son, Mike Veeck , was the promotions director for the White Sox in 1979. Mike wrote in a letter to a fan before the season that team management intended to make sure that whether
5875-557: The 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf , as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed
6000-463: The 1990s. During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era (1900–1919). The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced
6125-491: The American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in the history of Major League Baseball. Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the only pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12. Following these pitching performances, in December 1968
6250-861: The American and National Leagues both added two expansion franchises . The American League added the Seattle Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers after one disastrous season in Seattle) and the Kansas City Royals . The NL added the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , as well as the San Diego Padres . In 1972, the second Washington Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to become
6375-476: The Brooklyn Dodgers, began making efforts to introduce a black baseball player to the previously all-white professional baseball leagues in the mid-1940s. He selected Jackie Robinson from a list of promising Negro league players. After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to any racial antagonism directed at him, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month. In what
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#17327761631686500-613: The Copa) " Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group The Bee Gees for Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack Best Pop Instrumental Performance Chuck Mangione for Children of Sanchez Production and engineering [ edit ] Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical Al Schmitt & Roger Nichols (engineers) for " FM (No Static at All) " performed by Steely Dan Best Engineered Recording, Classical Arthur Kendy , Edward T. Graham , Ray Moore (engineers), Pierre Boulez (conductor) &
6625-818: The Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning the Negro league teams that they had followed exclusively. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspaper writers and white major league players. Manager Leo Durocher informed his team, "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a fucking zebra. I'm his manager and I say he plays." After a strike threat by some players, NL President Ford C. Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson received significant encouragement from several major-league players, including Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who said, "You can hate
6750-683: The Great Depression, no MLB teams moved or folded. The onset of World War II created a shortage of professional baseball players, as more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F , indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray ,
6875-496: The MLB Playing Rules Committee voted to reduce the strike zone from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits and lower the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches, beginning in the 1969 season. In 1973, the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, sought to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter (DH) rule. Throughout
7000-607: The Special Baseball Records Committee of Major League Baseball officially recognized six major leagues: the National League, American League, American Association, Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890), and Federal League (1914–1915). The status of the National Association as a major league has been a point of dispute among baseball researchers; while its statistics are not recognized by Major League Baseball, its statistics are included with those of other major leagues by some baseball reference websites, such as Retrosheet . Some researchers, including Nate Silver , dispute
7125-540: The Sunshine Band , Kool & the Gang , Walter Murphy , Tavares & Trammps for Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack Song of the Year Billy Joel for " Just the Way You Are " Best New Artist A Taste of Honey Children's [ edit ] Best Recording for Children Jim Henson (producer) for The Muppet Show performed by The Muppets Classical [ edit ] Best Classical Orchestral Performance Michel Glotz (producer), Herbert von Karajan (conductor) &
7250-455: The Sunshine Band , did not believe Disco Demolition Night was discriminatory and felt that Dahl was simply an "idiot". University of East London professor Tim Lawrence wrote that the event was the culmination of the overproduction of disco, the investment by major record companies in music their heterosexual white executives did not like, and the "disco sucks" campaign, which he argued was homophobic, sexist and racist. Dahl denies that prejudice
7375-409: The White Sox had failed to provide acceptable playing conditions. The day after the event, Dahl began his regular morning broadcast by reading the indignant headlines in the local papers. He mocked the coverage, saying: "I think for the most part everything was wonderful. Some maniac Cohos got wild, went down on the field. Which you shouldn't have done. Bad little Cohos." Tigers manager Anderson said of
7500-400: The White Sox won or lost, the fans would have fun. Early in the 1979 season , a game between the White Sox and the visiting Tigers scheduled for Wednesday, May 2, was rained out. Officials rescheduled it as part of a twi-night doubleheader on Thursday, July 12. Already scheduled for the evening of July 12 was a promotion aimed at teenagers, who could purchase tickets at half
7625-486: The World Series in exchange for a ring worth $ 100,000 ($ 1,712,780.35 in 2022 dollars). Despite being acquitted, all were permanently banned from Major League Baseball. Baseball's popularity increased in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920 season was notable for the death of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians . Chapman, who was struck in the head by a pitch and died a few hours later, became the only MLB player to die of an on-field injury. Both leagues quickly began to require
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#17327761631687750-754: The Year Ceremonies 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 (years are of music release; ceremonies are
7875-449: The Year Record of the Year Song of the Year Best New Artist Producer of the Year, Non-Classical Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=21st_Annual_Grammy_Awards&oldid=1245794608 " Categories : Grammy Awards ceremonies 1979 in California 1979 music awards 1979 in Los Angeles 1979 in American music 1979 awards in
8000-436: The age of 15, described the fear that white neighborhoods would be taken over by blacks and the anxiety around shifting pop culture trends. He wrote: The chance to yell "disco sucks" meant more than simply a musical style choice. It was a chance to push back on a whole set of social dynamics that lay just beneath the surface of a minor battle between a DJ and a radio station that decided to change formats. More importantly, it
8125-443: The attendees, "This is the Woodstock they never had." The odor permeated the press box, which Caray and his broadcast partner, Jimmy Piersall , commented on over the air. The crowds outside the stadium also threw records, or gathered them and burned them in bonfires. Detroit won the first game, 4–1. At 8:40, Dahl, dressed in army fatigues and a helmet, emerged onto the playing surface together with Meier and Lorelei. They circled
8250-474: The cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format. In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb 's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds . Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before
8375-403: The center field fence, and the Huntington Avenue Grounds of the Boston Red Sox , which was 635 feet (194 m) to the center field fence, thus home runs were rare, and "small ball" tactics such as singles , bunts , stolen bases , and the hit-and-run play dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore chop were used to increase the number of infield singles. On
8500-443: The club was no longer in the running for the league championship, which happened frequently under the NA. A concerted effort was made to curb gambling on games, which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. The first game in the NL—on Saturday, April 22, 1876 (at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia )—is often pointed to as the beginning of MLB. The early years of the NL were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and
8625-573: The condition of the baseball itself. The baseball used American rather than the modern Australian wool yarn and was not wound as tightly, affecting the distance that it would travel. More significantly, balls were kept in play until they were mangled, soft and sometimes lopsided. During this era, a baseball cost three dollars, equal to $ 52.72 today (in inflation-adjusted USD ), and owners were reluctant to purchase new balls. Fans were expected to throw back fouls and (rare) home runs. Baseballs also became stained with tobacco juice, grass, and mud, and sometimes
8750-434: The conservative Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in the general election, both times opposing President Jimmy Carter . Zeitz argued: "Viewed in this light, Disco Demolition Night supports an altogether different interpretation of the 1970s as a decade that saw ordinary Americans gravitate to radical grassroots alternatives, both left and right, out of frustration with the political center." The unplayed second game remains
8875-432: The contentious reserve clause . The period before 1920 was the dead-ball era , when home runs were rarely hit. Professional baseball was rocked by the Black Sox Scandal , a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series . Baseball survived the scandal, albeit with major changes in its governance as the relatively weak National Commission was replaced with a powerful commissioner of baseball with near-unlimited authority over
9000-415: The disco records you brought tonight, we got 'em in a giant box, and we're gonna blow 'em up reeeeeeal goooood . Dahl set off the explosives, destroying the records and tearing a large hole in the outfield grass. With most of the security personnel still watching the gates per Mike Veeck 's orders, there was almost no one guarding the playing surface. Soon, the first of 5,000 to 7,000 attendees rushed onto
9125-400: The disco-era band Chic , likened the event to Nazi book burning . Gloria Gaynor , who had a huge disco hit with " I Will Survive ", stated, "I've always believed it was an economic decision—an idea created by someone whose economic bottom line was being adversely affected by the popularity of disco music. So they got a mob mentality going." Harry Wayne Casey , singer for the disco act KC and
9250-492: The event an expression of bigotry , writing in a year-end 1979 feature that "white males, eighteen to thirty-four are the most likely to see disco as the product of homosexuals, blacks, and Latins, and therefore they're the most likely to respond to appeals to wipe out such threats to their security. It goes almost without saying that such appeals are racist and sexist, but broadcasting has never been an especially civil-libertarian medium." Nile Rodgers , producer and guitarist for
9375-494: The event range from none to over thirty. Veeck wanted the teams to play the second game once order was restored. However, the field was so badly torn up that umpiring crew chief Dave Phillips felt that it was still not playable, even after White Sox groundskeepers spent an hour clearing away debris. Tigers manager Sparky Anderson refused to allow his players to take the field in any event due to safety concerns. Phillips called American League president Lee MacPhail , who postponed
9500-660: The event was expressive of racism and homophobia . Disco Demolition Night remains well known as one of the most extreme promotions in MLB history. Disco evolved in the late 1960s in inner-city New York City nightclubs , where disc jockeys played imported dance music . Although its roots were in African-American and Latin American music, and in gay culture , it eventually became mainstream; even white artists better known for more sedate music had disco-influenced hits, such as Barry Manilow 's " Copacabana ". The release of
9625-571: The events: "Beer and baseball go together, they have for years. But I think those kids were doing things other than beer." Columnist David Israel of the Chicago Tribune said on July 12 that he was not surprised by the events, writing: "It would have happened any place 50,000 teenagers got together on a sultry summer night with beer and reefer." White Sox pitcher Rich Wortham , a Texan, said: "This wouldn't have happened if they had country and western night." Although Bill Veeck took much of
9750-442: The field , causing Kravec to flee the mound and join his teammates in a barricaded clubhouse. Some climbed the foul poles, while others set records on fire or ripped up the grass. The batting cage was destroyed, and the bases were pulled up and stolen. Among those taking to the field was 21-year-old aspiring actor Michael Clarke Duncan ; during the melee, Duncan slid into third base, had a silver belt buckle stolen, and went home with
9875-418: The field in a Jeep , showered (according to Dahl, lovingly) by his troops with firecrackers and beer, then proceeded to center field where the box containing the records awaited, rigged with explosives. Dahl and Meier warmed up the crowd, leading attendees in a chant of "disco sucks." Lorelei recalled that the view from center field was surreal. On the mound , White Sox pitcher Ken Kravec , scheduled to start
10000-490: The field unattended, and fans began throwing the uncollected disco LPs and singles from the stands. Tigers designated hitter Rusty Staub remembered that the records would slice through the air, and land sticking out of the ground. He urged teammates to wear batting helmets when playing their positions, "It wasn't just one, it was many. Oh, God almighty, I've never seen anything so dangerous in my life." Attendees also threw firecrackers, empty liquor bottles, and lighters onto
10125-414: The field. The game was stopped several times because of the rain of foreign objects. Dozens of hand-painted banners with such slogans as "Disco sucks" were hung from the ballpark's seating decks. White Sox broadcaster Harry Caray saw groups of music fans wandering the stands. Others sat intently in their seats, awaiting the explosion. Mike Veeck recalled an odor of marijuana in the grandstand and said of
10250-461: The first half of 1979, showing that "the Disco Demolition was not an isolated incident or an aberration." In Seattle , hundreds of rock fans attacked a mobile dance floor, while in Portland, Oregon , a disc jockey destroyed a stack of disco records with a chainsaw as thousands cheered. In New York, a rock DJ played Donna Summer 's disco hit " Hot Stuff " and received protests from listeners. Since
10375-535: The first major league franchise on the West Coast. O'Malley also helped persuade the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. Giants owner Horace Stoneham had been contemplating a move to Minnesota amid slumping attendance at the aging Polo Grounds ballpark when O'Malley invited him to meet San Francisco Mayor George Christopher in New York. After Stoneham
10500-585: The founding of the Cincinnati club. The NABBP split into an amateur organization and a professional organization. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , often known as the National Association (NA), was formed in 1871. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in
10625-619: The 💕 (Redirected from 21st Grammy Awards ) Award ceremony 21st Annual Grammy Awards Date February 15, 1979 Location Shrine Auditorium , Los Angeles, California Hosted by John Denver Most awards Bee Gees (4) Most nominations – Television/radio coverage Network CBS ← 20th · Grammy Awards · 22nd → The 21st Annual Grammy Awards were held in 1979, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from
10750-466: The games and rushed onto the field after the detonation. The playing field was so damaged by the explosion and by the rioters that the White Sox were required to forfeit the second game to the Tigers. In the late 1970s, dance-oriented disco was the most popular music genre in the United States, particularly after being featured in hit films such as Saturday Night Fever (1977). However, disco sparked
10875-633: The groove: Grammys go disco" . The Milwaukee Sentinel. 16 February 1979 . Retrieved 1 May 2011 . ^ "1978 Grammy Winners" . Grammy.com . Retrieved 1 May 2011 . ^ LA Times, "The Envelope" awards database. link . Accessed 2008 April 30. v t e Grammy Awards The Recording Academy Categories Grammy Nominees Records Locations EGOT Special awards Legend Award Lifetime Achievement Award Trustees Award Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award Hall of Fame MusiCares Person of
11000-489: The hit movie Saturday Night Fever in 1977, whose star ( John Travolta ) and musical performers (the Bee Gees ) presented a heterosexual image, helped popularize disco in the United States. As Al Coury , president of RSO Records (which had released the bestselling soundtrack album for the film) put it, Saturday Night Fever "took disco out of the closet ". Some felt disco was too mechanical; Time magazine deemed it
11125-429: The hole " between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games ; it was enough for a starter to pitch 6–7 innings and turn the game over to the team's closer , a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ( George Foster ) reached that mark until
11250-529: The juice of licorice, which some players would chew for the purpose of discoloring the ball. Also, pitchers could manipulate the ball through the use of the spitball (In 1921, use of this pitch was restricted to a few pitchers with a grandfather clause ). Additionally, many ballparks had large dimensions, such as the West Side Grounds of the Chicago Cubs, which was 560 feet (170 m) to
11375-481: The largest crowd of his second stint as White Sox owner. The Chicago Police Department closed off-ramps from the Dan Ryan Expressway near the stadium. Attendees were supposed to deposit their records into a large box, some 4 by 6 by 5 feet (1.2 by 1.8 by 1.5 m) tall; once the box was overflowing, many people brought their discs to their seats. The first game was to begin at 6:00 pm CDT , with
11500-443: The last American League game to be forfeited. The last National League game to be forfeited was on August 10, 1995, when a baseball giveaway promotion at Dodger Stadium went awry, forcing the Los Angeles Dodgers to concede the game to the St. Louis Cardinals . According to baseball analyst Jeremiah Graves, "To this day Disco Demolition Night stands in infamy as one of the most ill-advised promotions of all time, but arguably one of
11625-620: The major league clubs, and the MLB Draft League , a hybrid amateur-professional showcase league. MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament. In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War , "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body,
11750-603: The major leagues. Satchel Paige was signed by the Indians and the Dodgers added star catcher Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe , who was later the first winner of the Cy Young Award for his outstanding pitching. MLB banned the signing of women to contracts in 1952, but that ban was lifted in 1992. There have been no female MLB players since then. From 1903 to 1952, the major leagues consisted of two eight-team leagues whose 16 teams were located in ten cities, all in
11875-572: The major-league status of the Union Association by pointing out that franchises came and went and that the St. Louis club was deliberately "stacked"; the St. Louis club was owned by the league's president and it was the only club that was close to major-league caliber. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within Negro league baseball as major leagues:
12000-448: The most successful as 30 years later we're all still talking about it." Game 2 forfeited to Detroit, 9–0. Major League Baseball Major League Baseball ( MLB ) is a professional baseball league and the highest level of organized baseball in the United States and Canada . One of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada , MLB comprises 30 teams, divided equally between
12125-471: The nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs. Teams began to be built around pitching—particularly their bullpens—and speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls " in
12250-458: The next year) Related Grammy Museum By country American Argentine Australian Austrian Brazilian British Canadian Chinese Cuban French Indian Irish Italian Japanese Malian Mexican Nigerian New Zealand Peruvian Philippines Polish Senegalese South African Spanish Other countries Album of
12375-527: The northeastern and mid-western United States: New York City had three teams and Boston , Chicago, Philadelphia , and St. Louis each had two teams. St. Louis was the southernmost and westernmost city with a major league team. The longest possible road trip, from Boston to St. Louis, took about 24 hours by railroad. After a half-century of stability, starting in the 1950s, teams began to move out of cities with multiple teams into cities that had not had them before. From 1953 to 1955, three teams moved to new cities:
12500-416: The occasion by destroying one of his records, " The Hustle ", on the air. Do ya think I'm disco Cuz I spend so much time Blow drying out my hair? Do ya think I'm disco Cuz I know the dance steps Learned them all at Fred Astaire ? —Steve Dahl, "Do You Think I'm Disco?" (1979) Dahl and Meier regularly mocked disco records on the radio. Dahl also recorded his own song, "Do Ya Think I'm Disco?",
12625-491: The offer for teenagers) was that anyone who brought a disco record to the ballpark would be admitted for 98 cents. Dahl was to blow up the collected records between games of the doubleheader. In the weeks before the event, Dahl invited his listeners to bring records they wanted to see destroyed to Comiskey Park. He feared that the promotion would fail to draw people to the ballpark and that he would be humiliated. The previous night's attendance had been 15,520, and Comiskey Park had
12750-718: The outfield wall, I knew my life was over!" Mike Veeck has since become the owner of minor league baseball teams. In July 2014, the Charleston RiverDogs , of whom Veeck is president, held a promotion involving the destruction of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus merchandise. Dahl is still a radio personality in Chicago and also releases podcasts . The popularity of disco declined significantly in late 1979 and 1980. Many disco artists carried on, but record companies began labeling their recordings as dance music. Dahl stated in
12875-414: The people walking towards the ballpark that afternoon; many carried signs that described disco in profane terms. The doubleheader sold out, leaving at least 20,000 people outside the ballpark. Some leapt turnstiles , climbed fences, and entered through open windows. The attendance was officially reported as 47,795, though Bill Veeck estimated that there were anywhere from 50,000 to 55,000 in the park—easily
13000-519: The point that the 1942 season was nearly canceled. On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , pleading for the continuation of baseball during the war. Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have
13125-542: The public criticism for the fiasco, his son Mike Veeck suffered repercussions as the front-office promoter. Mike remained with the White Sox until late 1980 when he resigned; his father sold the team to Jerry Reinsdorf soon afterward. He was unable to find another job in baseball for some time and claimed that he had been blackballed . For several years, he worked for a jai-alai fronton in Florida, battling alcoholism. As Mike said: "The second that first guy shimmied down
13250-459: The regular price. The White Sox had a "Disco Night" at Comiskey Park in 1977 ; At a WLUP Promotion Meeting, Schwartz mentioned that the White Sox were looking to do a promotion with the station. The station had already done two successful events at local Chicago-area nightclubs with overflow crowds. When Schwartz mentioned the White Sox were looking for a promotion, Promotion Director Dave Logan suggested it might be time to take Steve Dahl's event to
13375-542: The reserve clause, led to the organization of the Major League Baseball Players Association to collectively bargain with the owners, which in turn led to the introduction of free agency in baseball. Modern stadiums with artificial turf surfaces began to change the game in the 1970s and 1980s. Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, media reports disclosed the use of anabolic steroids among MLB players;
13500-478: The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. The war between the AL and NL caused shock waves throughout the baseball world. At a meeting at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1901, the other baseball leagues negotiated a plan to maintain their independence. A new National Association was formed to oversee these minor leagues. After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed
13625-458: The rowdy fans, so the Jeep was driven out of the stadium and through the surrounding streets, to the delight of the many Cohos outside the stadium, who recognized the occupants. They were driven to the front of the stadium, ushered back inside, and taken up to the press room where they had spent most of the first game. Caray unsuccessfully attempted to restore order via the public address system. The scoreboard, flashing "PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEATS",
13750-451: The second game to Sunday after hearing a report on conditions. Anderson, however, demanded that the game be forfeited to the Tigers. He argued that under baseball's rules, a game can only be postponed due to an act of God , and that, as the home team, the White Sox were responsible for field conditions. The next day, MacPhail forfeited the second game to the Tigers 9–0. In a ruling that largely upheld Anderson's arguments, MacPhail stated that
13875-420: The second game to follow. Lorelei, a model who did public appearances for WLUP and who was popular in Chicago that summer for her sexually provocative poses in the station's advertisements, threw out the first pitch . As the first game began, Mike Veeck received word that thousands of people were trying to get into the park without tickets and sent his security personnel to the stadium gates to stop them. This left
14000-428: The second game, began to warm up. Other White Sox, in the dugout and wearing batting helmets , looked out upon the scene. Fans who felt events were getting out of control and who wished to leave the ballpark had difficulty doing so; in an effort to deny the intruders entry, security had padlocked all but one gate. Dahl told the crowd: This is now officially the world's largest anti-disco rally! Now listen—we took all
14125-571: The sport. MLB rose in popularity in the decade following the Black Sox Scandal, and unlike major leagues in other sports it endured the Great Depression and World War II without any of its teams folding. Shortly after the war, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier . Some teams moved to different cities in the 1950s and 1960s. The AL and NL added eight clubs in the 1960s: two in 1961, two in 1962, and four in 1969. Player discontent with established labor practices, especially
14250-438: The stands. After Dahl blew up the collected records, thousands of fans stormed the field and remained there until dispersed by riot police. The second game was initially postponed, but was forfeited to the Tigers the next day by order of American League president Lee MacPhail . Disco Demolition Night preceded, and may have helped precipitate, the decline of disco in late 1979; some scholars and disco artists have debated whether
14375-454: The use of new, white baseballs whenever a ball became scuffed or dirty, helping bring the "dead-ball" era to an end. The following year, the New York Yankees made their first World Series appearance. By the end of the 1930s, the team had appeared in 11 World Series, winning eight of them. Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had set the single-season home run record in 1927, hitting 60 home runs; breaking his own record of 29 home runs. Afflicted by
14500-557: The weeks leading up to Disco Demolition Night, Dahl promoted a number of anti-disco public events, several of which became unruly. When a discotheque in Lynwood, Illinois , switched from disco to rock in June, Dahl arrived, as did several thousand Cohos, and the police were called. Later that month, Dahl and several thousand Cohos occupied a teen disco in the Chicago suburbs. At the end of June, Dahl urged his listeners to throw marshmallows at
14625-729: The year 1978. Award winners [ edit ] Record of the Year Phil Ramone (producer) & Billy Joel for " Just the Way You Are " Album of the Year Broadway Eddie, Richard Finch , Albhy Galuten , K.G. Productions , Ron Kersey , Arif Mardin , Bobby Martin , Bill Oakes , Freddie Perren , Karl Richardson , William Salter , Thomas J. Valentino (producers), Bee Gees , Ralph MacDonald , David Shire (producers and artists), Don Renaldo (conductor), Yvonne Elliman , K.C. and
14750-399: Was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record." The period between 1900 and 1919 is commonly referred to as the "dead-ball era". Games of this era tended to be low-scoring and were often dominated by pitchers, such as Walter Johnson , Cy Young , Christy Mathewson , Mordecai Brown , and Grover Cleveland Alexander . The term also accurately describes
14875-458: Was a chance for a whole lot of people to say they didn't like the way the world was changing around them, or who they saw as the potential victors in a cultural and demographic war. Historian Joshua M. Zeitz noted that the demographic group attending the riots swung wildly in the 1980 presidential primaries and election , first supporting liberal Ted Kennedy in the Democratic primary, then
15000-855: Was a result of players using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs . In 1993, the National League added the Florida Marlins in Miami and the Colorado Rockies in Denver . In 1998, the Brewers switched leagues by joining the National League, and two new teams were added: the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and the American League's Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tampa Bay . 21st Grammy Awards From Misplaced Pages,
15125-563: Was his motivation for the event: "The worst thing is people calling Disco Demolition homophobic or racist. It just wasn't ... We weren't thinking like that." In a 2014 op-ed for Crain's Chicago Business , Dahl defended the event as "a romp, not of major cultural significance". He wrote that it had been "reframed" as prejudiced by a 1996 VH1 documentary about the 1970s, in a move he described as "a cheap shot made without exploration". In response to Dahl's op-ed, WMAQ-TV political journalist Mark W. Anderson, who attended Disco Demolition at
15250-538: Was ignored, as was the playing of " Take Me Out to the Ball Game ". Some attendees danced in circles around the burning vinyl shards. Dahl offered his help to get the rowdy fans to leave, but it was declined. At 9:08 pm, Chicago police in riot gear arrived, to the applause of the baseball fans remaining in the stands. Those on the field hastily dispersed upon seeing the police. Thirty-nine people were arrested for disorderly conduct; estimates of injuries to those at
15375-619: Was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s, joining the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals , for the 1946 season. The following year, the Dodgers called up Robinson to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Black baseball fans began flocking to see
15500-449: Was persuaded to move to California, Time magazine put O'Malley on its cover. MLB Commissioner Ford C. Frick had opposed the meeting, but the dual moves proved successful for both franchises—and for MLB. Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals —1,600 mi (2,575 km) away —would have been the closest NL team. Instead, the joint move made West Coast road trips economical for visiting teams. The Dodgers set
15625-402: Was working as a disc jockey for ABC -owned radio station WDAI (now WLS-FM ) when he was fired on Christmas Eve 1978 as part of the station's switch from rock to disco. He was hired by rival album-rock station WLUP. Sensing an incipient anti-disco backlash and playing off the publicity surrounding his firing (he frequently mocked WDAI's "Disco DAI" slogan on the air as "Disco DIE"), Dahl created
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