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I've often said that if the St. Catherine's Queensmen had gone to the 61 VFW Nats in Miami, they would have been a top-3 corps and could have possibly won ... 62 would have been interesting also if they could have attended the VFW's in MN ... IMO, they were the best NYC Jr. corps ... other NYC notables in the 60's were St. Joe's Patron/Brassmen, Loretto, Bronx/NY Kingsmen, St. Rocco's, Selden ... those were the corps that could scare the bejeezus out of the "guns" at any given show ...

:-)

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I've often said that if the St. Catherine's Queensmen had gone to the 61 VFW Nats in Miami, they would have been a top-3 corps and could have possibly won ... 62 would have been interesting also if they could have attended the VFW's in MN ... IMO, they were the best NYC Jr. corps ... other NYC notables in the 60's were St. Joe's Patron/Brassmen, Loretto, Bronx/NY Kingsmen, St. Rocco's, Selden ... those were the corps that could scare the bejeezus out of the "guns" at any given show ...

:-)

"St Catherine's Queensmen":

You nailed it. Over the winter of 1960-1961 they learned an almost entirely new program from Joe Genero, and featured baritone legend Billy Hightower in their concerts of "Tin Roof Blues" and "Black Bottom".

They had a stellar season with wins over Garfield Cadets and tied Blessed Sacrament at season's end.

Elphaba

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Edited by elphaba01
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"St Catherine's Queensmen":

You nailed it. Over the winter of 1960-1961 they learned an almost entirely new program from Joe Genero, and featured baritone legend Billy Hightower in their concerts of "Tin Roof Blues" and "Black Bottom".

They had a stellar season with wins over Garfield Cadets and tied Blessed Sacrament at season's end.

Elphaba

WWW

Speaking of Bill Hightower… In 1965, Blessed Sacrament played a great arrangement of "Cry Me a River" which had multi baritone solos. Sounded very much like Hightower. Where did he go after his stint with the Queensmen?

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>>Speaking of Bill Hightower… In 1965, Blessed Sacrament played a great arrangement of "Cry Me a River" which had multi baritone solos. Sounded very much like Hightower. Where did he go after his stint with the Queensmen?<<

"Baby John" Chalmus was BS's featured bari soloist in 65 (along with Bob Gaff and Tim Campbell) ... Hightower went on to play with the Sunrisers ...

:-)

Edited by ajlisko
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Thanks for the info, ajlisko. I always felt that the 1965 BSGK (and '64) were underrated. I say this as someone who competed with them. Most of us in the Des Plaines Vanguard held Sac in high esteem. (Members and staff)

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BS? ... Underrated? ... 64-65? ... hmmm ... seems to me they wound up 1sr or 2nd in the majority of their shows both years ... bombed at the VFW both years thanks to Tony S who has a bug up his orifice for all Eastern corps ... that being said, BS was hit by the Viet Nam draft just as hard as any corps was those years, which subsequently depleted (then eliminated) their feeder corps (the Golden Squires) and was the eventual beginning of the end for most Jr's of the 60's ... kudos to those who survived and prospered ...

:-)

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Not a major championship along the lines of the VFW, AL, World Open, etc., during those years.... but my first year around drum corps, 1967, my older brothers marched in a Garden State Circuit corps from NJ, and I remember the Riversiders from NYC dominating the circuit that year and winning the GSC championship. Great local corps.

Edited by Fran Haring
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>>Speaking of Bill Hightower… In 1965, Blessed Sacrament played a great arrangement of "Cry Me a River" which had multi baritone solos. Sounded very much like Hightower. Where did he go after his stint with the Queensmen?<<

"Baby John" Chalmus was BS's featured bari soloist in 65 (along with Bob Gaff and Tim Campbell) ... Hightower went on to play with the Sunrisers ...

:-)

As did Mr. Campbell, starting in 1978!!!

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BS? ... Underrated? ... 64-65? ... hmmm ... seems to me they wound up 1sr or 2nd in the majority of their shows both years ... bombed at the VFW both years thanks to Tony S who has a bug up his orifice for all Eastern corps ... that being said, BS was hit by the Viet Nam draft just as hard as any corps was those years, which subsequently depleted (then eliminated) their feeder corps (the Golden Squires) and was the eventual beginning of the end for most Jr's of the 60's ... kudos to those who survived and prospered ...

:-)

As a midwesterner, my knowledge of eastern corps progress through the seasons was minimal. When I said underrated, I am referring to the attitude of people I knew who were also midwesterners. I think I recall BS appearing in a 1964 competition in the midwest, and their being creamed by the Cavaliers. I attended that show and personally felt that they were screwed.

I think that the east vs midwest rivalry got out of hand in the mid-to-late sixties, and often felt that the regional judges were trying to "even the score." Of course the ones who most suffered from this were those of us who practiced under the hot sun. The "it's political" phrase was being used more and more to explain confusing contest results.

They used to say that adults were ruining Little League baseball. I think that adults were poisoning the D&BC activity at that time.

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