History Analysis / DiscoSucks

Meanwhile, disco's old rival, rock music, is looked at in a worse light in the modern era for these reasons, outside of performers like Music/JimiHendrix, Music/DavidBowie and Music/FreddieMercury, who broke racial and sexual boundaries as artists. Rock music overall is much less popular than it was in the late '70s, with many observers wondering if it will ever regain mainstream relevance.

Meanwhile, disco's old rival, rock music, is looked at in a worse light in the modern era for these reasons, outside of performers like Music/JimiHendrix, Music/DavidBowie and Music/FreddieMercury, who broke racial and sexual boundaries as artists.

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. The punks castigated disco for its political apathy, seeing it as music for mindless hedonists and comparing it to [[UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany Weimar-era]] cabaret music that was [[BreadAndCircuses lulling people into a false sense of security]] in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock around the same time, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie]] [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]], need for expensive instruments, as well as the need for expensive stereo equipment to be heard properly had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music amid an economic downturn in the second half of the decade.[[/note]]

Today, however, it seems as though the former TropeNamer for CondemnedByHistory is itself becoming [[PopularityPolynomial a subversion of its own trope]]. Younger generations have grown up with no memory of disco or their parents' hatred of it; to them, it's simply a style of music that they will like or dislike on its own merits. The Sirius XM disco station probably introduced more than a few new fans, as seen by the surprisingly large reaction to its removal, which forced it to be {{Uncanceled}}. Similarly, the advent of the internet allowed some people to discover disco for the first time after terrestrial radio stations stopped playing it. Many of the negative connotations associated with it have died out, and many of its enemies have toned down the vitriol and forgotten about it. This can be seen on the pop charts; in 2013 alone, a number of "disco revival" songs by artists as diverse as Music/BrunoMars, Robin Thicke, and Music/DaftPunk have been Top 40 hits, while 2020 saw artists like Music/DuaLipa and Jessie Ware release heavily disco-inspired albums to critical acclaim. [[{{Irony}} So the anti-disco backlash is, itself, deader than disco]].

Of course, the above only describes the United States. If you ask an European about any anti-disco backlash, you will likely get a series of puzzled looks. Across UsefulNotes/ThePond, [[PostSomethingism post-disco]] [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff stayed popular well into the '80s]], heavily influencing [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] (which eventually leaked back over to the US), SynthPop, ItaloDisco, and other styles of popular music. In France, you ''cannot'' have a wedding party without some Music/ClaudeFrancois playing, usually late in the party. In Eastern Europe and in Russia, it lingered well into the early 1990s, and disco is still very much alive in Poland (as ''disco polo'', which became something of an AscendedMeme when used in a presidential election). For much of TheEighties, the global pop charts were dominated by derivatives of disco, post-disco, and {{punk|Rock}}. Artists like Amanda Wilson and Music/LauraWhite now carry its torch proudly into the present day.

Attacked on two sides and with a powerful image against it, disco was fading fast and completely dead by early 1981, and with it went the fashions and styles related to or heavily associated with it (such as flared trousers). For the rest of TheEighties, admitting that you liked disco may as well have been, at worst, admitting to cannibalism, or at best, admitting that you were ''incredibly'' out of touch.[[note]]A joke from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', which would have been funny to audiences in 1984 but is lost on modern audiences, is Louis playing "Disco Inferno" at his party to help show how much of a dork he is. ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' also used to make the same joke about Jon Arbuckle.[[/note]] While dance artists like Music/{{Madonna}} and Music/JanetJackson continued to take influence from it (not to mention the influence it had on early HipHop), whatever remaining fandom the genre itself still had was restricted to gay clubs, which marginalized it even further.

Attacked on two sides and with a powerful image against it, disco was fading fast and completely dead by early 1981, and with it went the fashions and styles related to or heavily associated with it (such as flared trousers). For the rest of TheEighties, admitting that you liked disco may as well have been, at worst, admitting to cannibalism, or at best, admitting that you were ''incredibly'' out of touch.[[note]]A joke from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', lost on modern audiences, is a scene where dorky character Louis is shown playing "Disco Inferno" at his party, to help show how much of a dork he is. ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' also used to make the same joke about Jon Arbuckle.[[/note]] While dance artists like Music/{{Madonna}} and Music/JanetJackson continued to take influence from it (not to mention the influence it had on early HipHop), whatever remaining fandom the genre itself still had was restricted to gay clubs, which marginalized it even further.

Attacked on two sides and with a powerful image against it, disco was fading fast and completely dead by early 1981, and with it went the fashions and styles related to or heavily associated with it (such as flared trousers). For the rest of TheEighties, admitting that you liked disco may as well have been, at worst, admitting to cannibalism, or at best, admitting that you were ''incredibly'' out of touch.[[note]]A joke from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', lost on modern audiences, is that Louis playing "Disco Inferno" at his party is meant to show just how much of a dork he truly is. ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' also used to make the same joke about Jon Arbuckle.[[/note]] While dance artists like Music/{{Madonna}} and Music/JanetJackson continued to take influence from it (not to mention the influence it had on early HipHop), whatever remaining fandom the genre itself still had was restricted to gay clubs, which marginalized it even further.

Attacked on two sides and with a powerful image against it, disco was fading fast and completely dead by early 1981, and with it went the fashions and styles related to or heavily associated with it (such as flared trousers). For the rest of TheEighties, admitting that you liked disco may as well have been, at worst, admitting to cannibalism, or at best, admitting that you were ''incredibly'' out of touch.[[note]]A joke from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', lost on modern audiences, is that Louis playing "Disco Inferno" at his party shows just how much of a dork he truly is. ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' also used to make the same joke about Jon Arbuckle.[[/note]] While dance artists like Music/{{Madonna}} and Music/JanetJackson continued to take influence from it (not to mention the influence it had on early HipHop), whatever remaining fandom the genre itself still had was restricted to gay clubs, which marginalized it even further.

Attacked on two sides and with a powerful image against it, disco was fading fast and completely dead by early 1981, and with it went the fashions and styles related to or heavily associated with it (such as flared trousers). For the rest of TheEighties, admitting that you liked disco may as well have been admitting to cannibalism. While dance artists like Music/{{Madonna}} and Music/JanetJackson continued to take influence from it (not to mention the influence it had on early HipHop), whatever remaining fandom the genre itself still had was restricted to gay clubs, which marginalized it even further. Disco would start to reemerge (or at least, come to the surface for fresh air) during TheNineties' [[PopularityPolynomial wave of nostalgia for the '70s and its backlash against all things '80s]], mainly in the form of {{sampling}} for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiKOif0UKRM rap and]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSV0D_Id8Ho&feature dance songs.]] (It didn't hurt that most popular dance music, particularly {{house|Music}} and its offshoots, can trace its lineage straight back to disco.) Still, during this same time, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had a character named [[DiscoDan Disco Stu]] who was used almost purely for comic relief, showing that the genre was still far away from returning to public acceptance. Hatred of disco as a symbol of everything wrong with TheSeventies is so legendary that the CondemnedByHistory trope was [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes once called]] "Deader Than Disco".

Of course, the above only describes the United States. If you ask a European about any anti-disco backlash, you will likely get a series of puzzled looks. Across UsefulNotes/ThePond, [[PostSomethingism post-disco]] [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff stayed popular well into the '80s]], heavily influencing [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] (which eventually leaked back over to the US), SynthPop, ItaloDisco, and other styles of popular music. In France, you ''cannot'' have a wedding party without some Music/ClaudeFrancois playing, usually late in the party. In Eastern Europe and in Russia, it lingered well into the early 1990s, and disco is still very much alive in Poland (as ''disco polo'', which became something of an AscendedMeme when used in a presidential election). For much of TheEighties, the global pop charts were dominated by derivatives of disco, post-disco, and {{punk|Rock}}. Artists like Amanda Wilson and Music/LauraWhite now carry its torch proudly into the present day.

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. The punks castigated disco for its political apathy, seeing it as music for mindless hedonists and comparing it to [[UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany Weimar-era]] cabaret music that was [[BreadAndCircuses lulling people into a false sense of security]] in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock around the same time, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie]] [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]], need for expensive instruments, and need for expensive stereo equipment to be heard properly had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music amid an economic downturn in the second half of the decade.[[/note]]

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. The punks castigated disco for its political apathy, seeing it as music for mindless hedonists and comparing it to [[UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany Weimar-era]] cabaret music that was [[BreadAndCircuses lulling people into a false sense of security]] in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock around the same time, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie]] [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]] had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music amid an economic downturn in the second half of the decade.[[/note]]

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. The punks castigated disco for its political apathy, seeing it as music for mindless hedonists and comparing it to [[UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany Weimar-era]] cabaret music that was lulling people into a false sense of security in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock around the same time, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie]] [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]] had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music amid an economic downturn in the second half of the decade.[[/note]]

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. The punks castigated disco for its political apathy, seeing it as music for mindless hedonists and comparing it to [[UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany Weimar-era]] cabaret music that was lulling people into a false sense of security in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]] had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music.[[/note]]

Today, however, it seems as though the former TropeNamer itself is becoming [[PopularityPolynomial a subversion of its own trope]]. Younger generations have grown up with no memory of disco or their parents' hatred of it; to them, it's simply a style of music that they will like or dislike on its own merits. The Sirius XM disco station probably introduced more than a few new fans, as seen by the surprisingly large reaction to its removal, which forced it to be {{Uncanceled}}. Similarly, the advent of the internet allowed some people to discover disco for the first time after terrestrial radio stations stopped playing it. Many of the negative connotations associated with it have died out, and many of its enemies have toned down the vitriol and forgotten about it. This can be seen on the pop charts; in 2013 alone, a number of "disco revival" songs by artists as diverse as Music/BrunoMars, Robin Thicke, and Music/DaftPunk have been Top 40 hits, while 2020 saw artists like Music/DuaLipa and Jessie Ware release heavily disco-inspired albums to critical acclaim. [[{{Irony}} So the anti-disco backlash is, itself, deader than disco]].

!!The disco renaissance

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. The punks castigated disco for its political apathy, seeing it as music for mindless hedonists and comparing it to [[UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany Weimar-era]] cabaret music that was lulling people into a false sense of security in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]] had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music.[[/note]] Not helping matters was a number of factors that added rank bigotry into the mix: disco's popularity (and continued CultClassic status) in gay clubs, the popularity of black musicians and large presence of nonwhite disco fans, and the European origins of some successful musicians and record labels all became fodder for homophobia, xenophobia, racism, and nationalism to be thrown into the mix, leading disco to be perceived among a generation of young, blue-collar men as pretentious, effeminate, and un-American. Many radio stations promised "[[Music/TheBeeGees Bee Gee]]-free weekends", and a novelty country song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqSBQFJRKq8 "Disco Sucks"]] became a crossover hit on the pop charts. Meanwhile, hard rock and punk rockers mocked it publicly, even if several of them admitted in Creator/VH1's ''[[ILoveTheExties I Love the '70s]]'' that they thought the soundtrack to ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' was brilliant.

It got to the point where, on July 12, 1979, the UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams White Sox]] (whose South Side base meant that their fans were black and white in about equal measure) hosted a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Disco Demolition Night"]] promotion (see picture on main page, see Wiki/TheOtherWiki for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night more information]]), the brainchild of a White Sox executive and Steve Dahl, a DJ who had been fired from the rock station WDAI on Christmas Eve, 1978 as part of its switch to a disco format. After being snapped up by the rival rock station WLUP, Dahl reinvented himself a ShockJock who turned WLUP into a bully pulpit "dedicated to the eradication of the dreaded musical disease known as disco", where he regularly mocked his old station as "Disco D.I.E.", recorded a disco-bashing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLFMELubizU parody]] of Music/RodStewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?", and rallied his fans into a mock "anti-disco army" called the Insane Coho Lips. Fans could bring in their disco records in exchange for less than a dollar admission; since the game was a doubleheader[[note]]Incidentally, against the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Tigers, probably the closest thing the White Sox have to a rival within the American League. The Sox, of course, have a FandomRivalry with the Cubs, but until interleague play was instituted in 1997, they had only played each other in six official games--all part of the 1906 World Series.[[/note]], the plan was that the records would get blown up in the middle of the field between the games, and the stands at Comiskey would be extra-full because everyone and their uncle would pay to see those stupid disco records get what they deserved. Instead, the White Sox were forced to forfeit the second game (the last time a game was forfeited in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} American League]]) after the explosion led to a riot--fueled by another ill-considered moneymaking venture that afternoon: Comiskey Park had a discount on beer that day ([[AlcoholInducedIdiocy whoops]]). It got so bad that even rock artists who were ''influenced'' by disco like Music/RodStewart, and African-American Creator/{{Motown}} musicians like Music/MarvinGaye, were attacked.

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor.[[note]]A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]] had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music.[[/note]] Not helping matters was a number of factors that added rank bigotry into the mix: disco's popularity (and continued CultClassic status) in gay clubs, the popularity of black musicians and large presence of nonwhite disco fans, and the European origins of some successful musicians and record labels all became fodder for homophobia, xenophobia, racism, and nationalism to be thrown into the mix, leading disco to be perceived among a generation of young, blue-collar men as pretentious, effeminate, and un-American. Many radio stations promised "[[Music/TheBeeGees Bee Gee]]-free weekends", and a novelty country song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqSBQFJRKq8 "Disco Sucks"]] became a crossover hit on the pop charts. Meanwhile, hard rock and punk rockers mocked it publicly, even if several of them admitted in Creator/VH1's ''[[ILoveTheExties I Love the '70s]]'' that they thought the soundtrack to ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' was brilliant.

Of course, the above only describes the United States. If you ask a Brit or a European about any anti-disco backlash, you will likely get a series of puzzled looks. Across UsefulNotes/ThePond, [[PostSomethingism post-disco]] [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff stayed popular well into the '80s]], heavily influencing [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] (which eventually leaked back over to the US), SynthPop, ItaloDisco, and other styles of popular music. In Eastern Europe and in Russia, it lingered well into the early 1990s, and disco is still very much alive in Poland (as ''disco polo'', which became something of an AscendedMeme when used in a presidential election). For much of TheEighties, the global pop charts were dominated by derivatives of disco, post-disco, and {{punk|Rock}}. Artists like Amanda Wilson and Music/LauraWhite now carry its torch proudly into the present day.

It got to the point where, on July 12, 1979, the UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams White Sox]] (whose South Side base meant that their fans were black and white in about equal measure) hosted a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Disco Demolition Night"]] promotion (see picture on main page, see Wiki/TheOtherWiki for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night more information]]), the brainchild of a White Sox executive and Steve Dahl, a DJ who had been fired from the rock station WDAI on Christmas Eve, 1978 as part of its switch to a disco format. After being snapped up by the rival rock station WLUP, Dahl reinvented himself a ShockJock who turned WLUP into a bully pulpit "dedicated to the eradication of the dreaded musical disease known as disco", where he regularly mocked his old station as "Disco D.I.E.", recorded a disco-bashing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLFMELubizU parody]] of Music/RodStewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?", and rallied his fans into a mock "anti-disco army" called the Insane Coho Lips. Fans could bring in their disco records in exchange for less than a dollar admission; since the game was a doubleheader[[note]]Incidentally, against the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Tigers, probably the closest thing the White Sox have to a rival within the American League. The Sox, of course, have a FandomRivalry with the Cubs, but until interleague play was instituted in 1997, they had only played each other in six official games--all part of the 1906 World Series.[[/note]], the plan was that the records would get blown up in the middle of the field between the games, and the stands at Comiskey would be extra-full because everyone and their uncle would pay to see those stupid disco records get what they deserved. Instead, the White Sox were forced to forfeit the second game (the last time a game was forfeited in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} American League]]) after the explosion led to a riot--fueled by another ill-considered moneymaking venture that afternoon: Comiskey Park had a discount on beer that day ([[AlcoholInducedStupidity whoops]]). It got so bad that even rock artists who were ''influenced'' by disco like Music/RodStewart, and African-American Creator/{{Motown}} musicians like Music/MarvinGaye, were attacked.

Finally, the anti-disco backlash is seen by many as having had a very ugly undercurrent. Music historians who have investigated why disco became so fiercely hated agree that overexposure and elitism weren't the sole factors behind the death of disco, but that [[ValuesDissonance homophobia, sexism, racism, and xenophobia]] also played into it. Disco had been one of the few genres to be equally popular across boundaries of race and sexuality (barring, of course, the white rock and black funk purists), with it being particularly big among LGBT+ communities, and a good number of popular disco acts originated in Europe. Robert Christgau [[http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj78.php called out]] the latent homophobia and racism in the "Disco Sucks" movement as early as 1979, and witnesses to Disco Demolition Night noted a startling amount of destroyed records that belonged to black artists who never actually touched disco. What's more, [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/twisted-sisters-dee-snider-on-destroying-disco-why-lemmy-was-an-angel-181187/ the racism was more than open]] in some parts of the country, as Music/TwistedSister found out.[[note]]They had Music/BarryWhite hung in effigy during their concerts, and at a show in [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState upstate New York]], the mostly white male patrons started cheering and yelling "Hang the n[=----=]r!" in approval. As a multiracial band that simply thought disco was overexposed and saw Barry White as a symbol of it, they were shocked by this reaction and quickly removed the effigy from future stage shows.[[/note]] As WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows [[https://youtu.be/pvzgn9XSjgI?t=4m47s pointed out]], hatred of disco often spilled into a more general backlash by white listeners against ''all'' African-American music (seemingly forgetting that rock is originally black music), effectively raising a wall between the "white" and "black" music worlds that wouldn't be crossed until the mid-'80s, when black artists like Music/MichaelJackson and Music/{{Prince}} and white artists like Music/TalkingHeads and Music/PeterGabriel became superstars with artistically strong music that was easily accessible to both white and black audiences. The pop charts in the early '80s were effectively resegregated, topped by strictly white-oriented talent such as Eddie Rabbitt and Sheena Easton. While overexposure (which WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows [[https://youtu.be/OxvaIo-6bhk?t=279 also mentioned]]) and concerns of elitism are generally seen as having been more valid reasons for the backlash, the bigotry that grew intertwined with much of it caused many retrospective analysts to call the nature and extent of the "Disco Sucks" movement into considerable question. Most nowadays feel that the bigoted aspects ultimately co-opted and overshadowed the whole affair, turning it into a display of far-right strongarming that coincided with and fueled the Conservative Revolution of the late '70s, culminating in the election of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in 1980. The AIDS crisis that took off a few short years later also both made the practice of cruising clubs for casual sex seem dangerous and fueled a wave of homophobia in popular culture.

And this isn't even taking into account disco's influence on underground music, especially PostPunk bands like Music/PublicImageLtd and ex-No Wavers like Material, Contortions, and Liquid Liquid. All operated under the basic premise of [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly "take a disco beat and pile weird stuff on top of it"]], often to great and innovative effect. [=PiL=] even had a hit with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a song called "Death Disco"]]... although [[Music/TheSexPistols who was]] [[Music/JohnLydon singing]] probably had some effect. In the U.S., Music/TalkingHeads were heavily influenced by disco while racking up hits and critical acclaim. There was also the {{Industrial}} fascination with Eurodisco, [[YouDontWantToKnow but that's another matter entirely]]. This marriage of punk and disco later evolved into the AlternativeDance and Madchester genres of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which saw the success of groups like Music/NewOrder, Music/TheStoneRoses, Music/HappyMondays, and Music/DepecheMode. Then, the overtly disco-influenced dance-punk genre of the early 2000s led to the rise of acclaimed indie band Music/LCDSoundsystem. The disco revival scene hit a peak in 2013, when Music/DaftPunk's single "Get Lucky" (sung by Music/PharrellWilliams, who himself released the hit dance song "Happy") became one of the biggest hits of 2013, proving that the influence of disco was ''not'' dead.

Of course, the most prominent influence disco had on underground music was ''the entire genre of HipHop'', which originated when [=DJs=] started to loop disco instrumentals and rhythmically toast over the top of them. At the time of writing, hip-hop is the most popular genre in the world, taking the place in culture that rock music enjoyed from the middle to the end of the 20th Century, and it is disco's most direct descendent. The second most popular genre right now is {{EDM}}, a descendent of HouseMusic, a Chicago-originating disco offshoot that emerged when artists began to loop the breakdown of disco instrumentals (figuring that the breakdown was the best part), soon realising they could then play synthesizers over the top of them. Disco is something that people call 'dead', when in reality, it [[TheNthDoctor regenerated]] into both of the two most popular music genres in the ''entire world''! It isn't possible for it to be ''less'' dead than that!

Of course, the most prominent influence disco had on underground music was ''the entire genre of Music/HipHop'', which originated when DJs started to loop disco instrumentals and rhythmically toast over the top of them. At the time of writing, hip-hop is the most popular genre in the world, taking the place in culture that rock music enjoyed from the middle to the end of the 20th Century, and it is disco's most direct descendent. The second most popular genre right now is Music/{{EDM}}, a descendent of Music/HouseMusic, a Chicago-originating disco offshoot that emerged when artists began to loop the breakdown of disco instrumentals (figuring that the breakdown was the best part), soon realising they could then play synthesisers over the top of them. Disco is something that people call 'dead', when in reality, it [[TheNthDoctor regenerated]] into both of the two most popular music genres in the ''entire world''! It isn't possible for it to be ''less'' dead than that!

Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a vociferous backlash emerged in the US from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor. (A similar story played out with ProgressiveRock, which fell into decline by the late '70s as listeners came to see it as the domain of [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie idealists]] and [[InsufferableGenius pretentious, nerdy intellectuals]] whose [[GenreBusting creative boundary-pushing]] had pulled rock away from its roots as working-class party music.) Not helping matters was a number of factors that added rank bigotry into the mix: disco's popularity (and continued CultClassic status) in gay clubs, the popularity of black musicians and large presence of nonwhite disco fans, and the European origins of some successful musicians and record labels all became fodder for homophobia, xenophobia, racism, and nationalism to be thrown into the mix, leading disco to be perceived among a generation of young, blue-collar men as pretentious, effeminate, and un-American. Many radio stations promised "[[Music/TheBeeGees Bee Gee]]-free weekends", and a novelty country song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqSBQFJRKq8 "Disco Sucks"]] became a crossover hit on the pop charts. Meanwhile, hard rock and punk rockers mocked it publicly, even if several of them admitted in Creator/VH1's ''[[ILoveTheExties I Love the '70s]]'' that they thought the soundtrack to ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' was brilliant.

For a time in the late '70s, the music genre of {{disco}} was the biggest thing ever. While it had its roots in the ethnic and gay club scenes of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} in the late '60s and early '70s, it burst into the popular consciousness with the blockbuster success of ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' and its soundtrack in 1977. Clubs like New York's Studio 54 became ''the'' places to be and be seen. Then, even before TheEighties officially started, a backlash emerged from both white and black music listeners. Whites gravitated towards various forms of rock, specifically {{punk|Rock}}, {{new wave|Music}}, [[ProgressiveRock prog rock]] (though that too was on its way out at the time), and assorted types of {{hard rock}} and [[HeavyMetal metal]] (including HairMetal, which itself became the Disco of the '80s), and rejected the genre's hip, urban image. Meanwhile, the black leaders of {{funk}} (e.g. Music/GeorgeClinton) actively led a campaign to "rescue dance music from the blahs," rejecting disco's fusion of "their" music style with mainstream pop. Additionally, working-class music listeners in an era of economic malaise rapidly grew resentful of what they perceived to be a culture of elitism and ConspicuousConsumption in the disco scene, given the large amount of money needed to afford the flashy outfits and dance lessons that were necessary to survive on the dance floor. Not helping matters was a number of factors that added bigotry into the mix: disco's popularity (and continued CultClassic status) in gay clubs, the popularity of black musicians and large presence of nonwhite disco fans, and the European origins of some successful musicians and record labels all became fodder for homophobia, xenophobia, racism, and nationalism to be thrown into the mix, leading disco to be perceived among these crowds as "pretentious, gay, and un-American". Many radio stations promised "[[Music/TheBeeGees Bee Gee]]-free weekends", and a novelty country song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqSBQFJRKq8 "Disco Sucks"]] became a crossover hit on the pop charts. Meanwhile, hard rock and punk rockers mocked it publicly, even if several of them admitted in Creator/VH1's ''[[ILoveTheExties I Love the '70s]]'' that they thought the soundtrack to ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' was brilliant.

It got to the point where, on July 12, 1979, the UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams White Sox]] (whose South Side base meant that their fans were black and white in about equal measure) hosted a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Disco Demolition Night"]] promotion (see picture on main page, see Wiki/TheOtherWiki for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night more information]]), the brainchild of a White Sox executive and a spurned album-oriented rock (code for progressive) DJ. Fans could bring in their disco records in exchange for less than a dollar admission; since the game was a doubleheader[[note]]Incidentally, against the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Tigers, probably the closest thing the White Sox have to a rival within the American League. The Sox, of course, have a FandomRivalry with the Cubs, but until interleague play was instituted in 1997, they had only played each other in six official games--all part of the 1906 World Series.[[/note]], the plan was that the records would get blown up in the middle of the field between the games, and the stands at Comiskey would be extra-full because everyone and their uncle would pay to see those stupid disco records get what they deserved. Instead, the White Sox were forced to forfeit the second game (the last time a game was forfeited in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} American League]]) after the explosion led to a riot--fueled by another ill-considered moneymaking venture that afternoon: Comiskey Park had a discount on beer that day ([[AlcoholInducedStupidity whoops]]). It got so bad that even rock artists who were ''influenced'' by disco like Music/RodStewart, and African-American Creator/{{Motown}} musicians like Music/MarvinGaye, were attacked and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyvxD1v-NXg parodied.]]

Attacked on two sides and with a powerful image against it, disco was fading fast and completely dead in early 1981, and with it went the fashions and styles related to or heavily associated with it (such as flared trousers). For the rest of TheEighties, admitting that you liked disco may as well have been admitting to cannibalism. While dance artists like Music/{{Madonna}} and Music/JanetJackson continued to take influence from it (not to mention the influence it had on early HipHop), whatever remaining fandom the genre itself still had was restricted to gay clubs, which marginalized it even further. Disco would start to reemerge (or at least, come to the surface for fresh air) during TheNineties' [[PopularityPolynomial wave of nostalgia for the '70s and its backlash against all things '80s]], mainly in the form of {{sampling}} for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiKOif0UKRM rap and]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSV0D_Id8Ho&feature dance songs.]] (It didn't hurt that most popular dance music, particularly {{house|Music}} and its offshoots, can trace its lineage straight back to disco.) Still, during this same time, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had a character named [[DiscoDan Disco Stu]] who was used almost purely for comic relief, showing that the genre was still far away from returning to public acceptance. Hatred of disco as a symbol of everything wrong with TheSeventies is so legendary that the CondemnedByHistory trope was [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes once called]] "Deader Than Disco".