Karl Bade 
DISCO DEMOLITION NIGHT: With Syd Barrett's passing being announced Tuesday, I forgot to note that yesterday was the anniversary of Disco Demolition Night, a promo event occurring during a scheduled twi-nite doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers that would prove to be the most ill-conceived promotional idea since the infamous “Ten Cent Beer Night” in Cleveland in 1974. Though some incorrectly think it had to do with racism, homophobia, etc., the event had much more to do with the fact that Chicago radio station WDAI forced out morning host Steve Dahl on Chirstmas Eve 1978, to switch to a disco format. A man who is cashiered wearing a Santa suit tends to carry a grudge. Dahl re-surfaced at WLUP with “Do You Think I'm Disco?” — a parody of Rod Stewart's “Do You Think I'm Sexy?” with lyrics that targeted yuppie narcissism and materialism. He also did a bit where he pretended to blow-up disco records, which Mike Veeck, the son of Sox owner (and legendary showman) Bill Veeck, thought could be turned into a promotion whereby admission was 98 cents (because WLUP was FM 98) for anyone who brought a disco record to be blown up between the two games. It was far more successful and less controllable than either Dahl or Veeck imagined, with young people storming the park to enter, creating a fog of marijuana smoke in the stands, sailing records like frisbees, throwing firecrackers and ultimately storming the diamond after the scheduled demolition had concluded and Dahl was en route to the announcer's booth for the second game. This short clip on You Tube is okay, but the Real Video accessible from ABC 7 in Chicago is much better. Neither has my favorite moment, which is when Sox color commentator Jimmy Piersall said to Harry Caray, “These aren't fans of baseball… these are fans of far-out!”
KEEF RICHARDS, LORD OF THE UNDEAD, “speaks” (and anyone who has heard him knows why that's in quotes) publicly about his brain surgery, saying that he enjoyed being under an anaesthetic.
HALFTIME REPORTS: The staff at Filter has its top picks and honorable mentions for the first half of '06. Gorilla vs. Bear asked mostly musicians and music bloggers for their picks, which included stuff from Starlight Mints, Destroyer, Gnarls Barkley, Marit Larsen, TV on the Radio, Brian Eno and David Byrne, Casey Dienel, The Gossip, The Long Winters, Band of Horses, and Midlake.
SELLING OUT: An article at Coke Machine Glow argues artists should get more involved in commercials. Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith says he'd feel like a jerk if they did that. At Stereogum, readers debate the issue and point out that RHCP have done ads for Nike and NASCAR. Ouch.
MOUNTAIN GOATS: YANP has heard — and is jazzed about — the band's upcoming album, posting “Woke Up New” and “Wild Sage.” The band also has a photo essay posted of recording Get Lonely.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: When the Buffalo Springfield visited The Hollywood Palace in January 1967, the band began with a snippet of “For What It's Worth” before cranking out “Mr. Soul.”
THE RACONTEURS already have material for a second album.
INSIDER THE ROCKER'S STUDIO is a new feature at Stereogum, with Scott posing questions to musicians playing the Siren Festival this weekend.
SONIC YOUTH talk about playing CBGB for the first time in 20 years, whether MP3 players affect your listening habits, and the Gilmore Girls at the World Cafe, in addition to playing three tunes from “Rather Ripped.”
MY MORNING JACKET went to Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock to record a cover of the Band's “It Makes No Difference” for a Band tribute album.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer and the supposedly sober supermodel are still an item, according to the latter's biographer.
LINDSAY LOHAN is a friendly gal, but this happens to be a scene from her upcoming movie, Georgia Rule. TMZ has the video for all you perverts.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes emerges from seclusion in Telluride to tell US Weekly that “Suri’s doing great!” Life & Style Weekly reports buzz that Holmes' parents intend to skip the Scientological wedding ceremony to be performed by church leader David Miscavige. Meanwhile, TMZ looks at the Tom-Kitten conspiracy theory timeline.
CHRISTIE BRINKLEY is divorcing husband number four. And looking pretty good for 52.
NATALIE PORTMAN, contrary to prior reports, will not be nude in the upcoming Goya's Ghost. Instead, you get a badly-lit body double.
AQUAMAN: Jossip has video of CNBC's Joe Kernan reporting box office figures for the fictional flick featured on HBO's Entourage. Jossip seems to think the joke is on him, but having seen Kernan in action, he may have been in on it. If not, he can get a gig with Ron Burgundy, who will read anything you put on a TelePrompTer.
SPIDER-MAN is going to be a dad.
JESSICA SIMPSON: I haven't seen this online yet, but the pneumatic blonde told OK! magazine that her “stripper name” is… Angela McGuillicuddy, suggesting that she may really be as dumb as she was on MTV. Angela McGuillicuddy? Jessica Simpson is a better stripper name than that!
BRADGELINA: Jolie may well be starring in a role that was considered a potential Oscar berth for Jennifer Aniston in a film produced by the company that Pitt created with his former wife.
CAMERON DIAZ is sporting a possible engagement ring, as spotted by Sky News.
PAMELA ANDERSON will likely do a cameo in the movie version of Baywatch.
THE EMMYS: The Gold Derby forums have posted the voting procedure and are finding the nominated episodes to watch on the Internet.
ESQUIRE'S SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE has posted the third round of questions for its mystery contest. Looking more like Scarlett Johansson all the time.
IRAQ and MID-EAST CONFLICT: At ITM, Omar argues that “a powerful strike to Hizbollah will be in Iraq's national interest,” because “Hizbollah is Iran's and Syria's partner in feeding instability in Iraq.” Bill Roggio notes that Hezbollah's successful raid into Israeli territory suggests the involvement of Imad Fayez Mugniyah, Hezbollah's chief of military operations, who has also been directly linked to al Qaeda. The Bush Admin. blames Syria and Iran for escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is not surprising. What is surprising is Egyptian Pres. Mubarak claiming his mediation efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were sabotaged by “other parties,” when it's pretty easy to infer who he means. It's a small, small world.
IRAN, meanwhile, is looking at a referral to the UN Security Council, as world powers concluded that Tehran had given no sign they would bargain in earnest over their disputed nuclear program. A 314-page study prepared for the US Army War College's Strategic Studies Center by non-proliferation experts suggests Iran could have a bomb at some time between October and three years from then.
THE DEMON DUCK OF DOOM AND KILLER KANGAROO fossils were among 20 previously unknown species uncovered at a site in northwest Queensland state down under.
EATING NEMO: In a real world fish-tank, sharks think fish are food, not friends.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT I: Don't touch the monkey.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT II: Don't pet the tiger.
PET HOARDING… WITH A TWIST: A woman won the right to care for almost 200 stray and feral cats at her home in Volusia County, FL.
