Disco Vs. Rock vs. Sea Girt

Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, ended in a riot. Between games of the twi-night doubleheader, the Chicago White Sox blew up a crate of disco records to rock music. Saturday Night Fever and the Bee Gees’ soundtrack to the movie were number one, and the record stayed on the Billboard Charts for 120 weeks. Traditional rock fans reacted vehemently to the new style, prompting the promotion.

The popularity of Disco dancing peaked with the release of Saturday Night Fever

Fans rushed onto the field after the explosion. The field damage caused the White Sox to forfeit the second game to the Tigers. Rock’s most popular acts were Hair/Metal bands, and the destruction of equipment, drugs, and drunken behavior were almost expected. The number one comedy of 1978 was National Lampoon’s Animal House, the story of a fraternity run amok. 18-year-olds could drink in bars, and College kids emulated the brothers of Delta House. Many old cottages at the shore were “Share Hosues”, with dozens sharing a rental and fueling the attraction of local bars.

Cleveland hosted the World Series of Rock at Municipal Stadium, with Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Journey, Thin Lizzy, and AC/DC. While lined up overnight for good bleacher seats, there were five shootings, two deaths, many robberies, and fights. During the concert, Aerosmith and their wives got into the act, battling it out.

This was the backdrop when the Parker House opened in 1979, and it competed most closely with Jimmy Byrnes Sea Girt Inn. Jimmy was in Wall township and could stay open later (last call 3 AM vs. 2 AM), but the Parker House matched them in volume.

The new managers catered to Disco and Rock tastes. The Parker House was the biggest hit with young people, but its success was a disaster for the neighbors. The noise, mostly from the basement bands and DJs, was audible only to the immediate neighbors. The litter, parking problems, fights, and amped up young people spilling out of the bar at closing were upsetting over a greater radius. When the fun ended at Parker House, you could walk up Beacon Blvd. to Rt. 71, to Jimmy’s and sing with the Byrne’s boys or Willie Lynch, “I don’t wanna go home”.

Council suggested the new owners didn’t keep up with their end of the bargain. The Sea Girt Real Estate Owners group lobbied for ten restrictions to renew the license for 1980.

The debate was long and drawn out. Some argued that you can’t chase away someone who just put $250,000 into a business to restore it to its former glory, followed the law, and just had some unruly patrons. Everyone acknowledged that the use of the building in the residential neighborhood posed challenges. Solutions were elusive. People in town liked the new establishment and the local owners.

The Parker House was not the only target of residents. The Wall Township Committee called in Jimmy Byrnes to answer questions about a petition signed by 124 residents of the surrounding neighborhood. The neighbors were almost exclusively in Sea Girt and the Wall Township Barbara Lynn Apartments.

The Inn made noise past 3:30 AM, and the petition cited, "Shouting, using foul and obscene language; urinating in public; shooting off fireworks; fighting in the parking lot; discarding trash on adjoining properties and roadways and carrying on the above named abuses in the parking lot until 5-6 a.m."

Jimmy noted that some of the complaints went too far, but he also knew Sea Girt Police were beefing up enforcement around his club, and he made changes to lessen sound leakage and put up signs warning patrons to respect the neighbors.

When the Council met after the Parker House closed in November, they implemented new ordinances clearly aimed at the Parker House. They banned disco music and rock bands from playing in bars. Alcohol could only be served to people sitting at a table. It limited the pieces in a band, how many could sing, and where they had to stand. The Parker House sued on First Amendment grounds. The ban and the subsequent suit were the topic of newspapers and TV. “NJ Town Bans Disco and Rock.”

In February 1980, Judge McGann in Superior Court Freehold struck down the most restrictive parts of the ordinance, calling the reference to Rock and Disco, “Silly”. Borough Council would have to deal with it at the licensing application in the spring of 1980.