WATCH: The Baseball Project Remembers “Disco Demolition”

The supergroup recounts controversial night for the Chicago White Sox on new single

July 12, 2023July 13, 2023 Ron Hart 0 Comments Chicago, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Disco Demolition, Disco Sucks, Linda Pitmon, Mike Mills, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, The Baseball Project

Today marks the 44th Anniversary of the notorious “Disco Demolition” event at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

And college rock supergroup The Baseball Project–comprised of former R.E.M. members Peter Buck and Mike Mills, Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows) and Linda Pitmon (Filthy Friends, Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3)–is sharing the new video for their song about the controversial night via YouTube (but you can watch below).

The Baseball Project L-R: Mike Mills, Linda Pitmon, Peter Buck, Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey (Image: Marty Perez)

For those out of the loop, here’s a little history of what happened 44 years ago:

Disco was at the peak of its popularity at the time, rock fans seemed all in on the backlash against the booming trend.

Meanwhile, the White Sox were having a bad season in ’79. So on July 12, as a ploy to increase attendance, fans were invited to bring their disco records to the park and see them get blown up in between games during a double header with the Detroit Tigers–a ploy cooked up by the Sox brass and local radio DJ Steve Dahl.

Approximately 50,000 people showed up (30,000 more than expected), mostly to see the explosion rather than the games. After the detonation of the records, the fans stormed the field and a riot ensued. The field was so damaged from the explosion and rioters that the White Sox ended up forfeiting the second game to the Tigers. Disco Demolition Night remains well known as one of the most extreme events in American sports history.

VIDEO: Disco Demolition footage from The Museum of Classic Chicago Television

“Have you seen the footage from this famous game in 1979?” asks Wynn in regards to the event. “It’s positively terrifying, a war zone on a baseball field, not the national pastime’s apex of civility, but such are the moments that provide fodder for a band like us. Naturally we put it all to a stomping disco beat complete with Linda on genre-appropriate police whistle.”

The Baseball Project’s Mitch Easter-produced fourth album, Grand Salami Time, is the band’s first in nine years and is out now on Omnivore Recordings.