Was the song "The Night Chicago Died" based on a real event?

Question

just wondering.

Answer 1

Nope. It was made up. Per Wikipedia : "Its about fictional gang shootout in Chicago between gangsters tied to Al Capone and the Chicago Police. ... The narrator retells his mother's anguish in awaiting news of the fate of her husband, a Chicago policeman".

Further noted: "Many of the discrepancies can be attributed to the fact that the songwriters do not hail from Chicago, but from England, and admitted in interviews - most notably on Beat Club shortly after the song's release - that they had never even been to the city itself, and that their sole knowledge of the city and that period of its history had been based on gangster films. When Paper Lace sent this song to Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, he was not impressed, shunning the fictionalized story, saying that the group was nuts."

Answer 2

Its subject matter is a "fictional" gang shootout in Chicago between gangsters tied to Al Capone and the Chicago Police. The narrator retells his mother's anguish in awaiting news of the fate of her husband, a Chicago policeman.

Answer 3

Lyrics ring pretty true as events took place with the gangsters back then, with Al Capone trying to run the entire city of Chicago, and all the gunfights and murders going on then. Hmmm...sounds like the same crap thats going on today, huh?