bobby burke

I have to give credit to that un named other baritone soloist from St Rita's.His name is Steve Wright...a former SKYLINER and unquestionably one of the finest horns i have ever heard.Steve is very humble and layed back....but I marveled at his talent when he marched with me in NY. Jimmy M..Ruben, Billy P, The Col.Joe..on and on...no wonder the BRASSMEN sound so good ...with a compact horn line.

SUNRISER come back after one year not marching.Almost all are seasoned veterans,playing traditional SUNRISER favorites.'THE MOUSE THAT ROARED !!!!! Great kids...and a lot of spirit. BB

Hey St Lucy....you got some splaining to do !!!!!

Met and was instructed by George in the SUNRISERS in the late 80's.His sense of humor was only matched by his genius in drill design.I used to be amazed at how he would change drill sets on the fly....all in his minds eye.Of course the changes would always work and make the final result so much better.He would never belittle anyone on the field,,,,even if they were WAY out of the form.Even as a veteran and lead soloist in the corps ..when I was not where i should have been his remark was "BOBBY darling do you really want to be in that spot.....there is no soprano solo in this segment." We all laughed and trust me.... I was never out of that form again. We will never see his like again .R.I.P. GEORGE

The first time I heard the1960 SKYLINERS at the Dream play the kick off to SLAUGHTER ON 10th AVENUE...it was like an organ ...never heard a sound like that before or since.How the CABS seemed to kick up dust on the "starting line" even if the grass was 6 in.high.Sac's El Cid...Garfield's 'KING OF KINGS"...Kevin's "Voice of the Guns"with what seemed like the whole lead line hitting a high A above the staff on the last chord.Again Sac's "NATIONAL EMBLEM"...and of course the thrill of this young teenagers career... the incredable off the line of BALLANTINE 'Somethings Coming"after I played "HEY GET YOUR COLD BEER" .definetly one of the LOUDEST horn lines I ever heard.ETC ETC..

THANK YOU....IT'S NICE TO BE REMEMBERED....TA TA KA TA.

How about the old fashioned 'PRODUCTION NUMBER " The Hurcs 'CARAVAN " Ny's "MISERLOU",the CAB'S "FLAMENCO CHA CHA...ST. LUCY'S 'GIRL FROM IPONIMA." HAVA NAGILA....SKY/BALLANTINE/BOSTON CRUSADERS/. Sac's "MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY ...etc...I remember sitting in the stands already knowing the corps routines,..saying to everyone 'wait till you hear this...here it comes!!!!

I remember Blue Rock entering the field in a tight block formation....looked like something from SPARTACUS in Roman times. very intimidating !!!

Some of my favorite solo "going off the field exit" moments.Bill Pusey with Blessed Sacrament with his beautiful "Free Again" MARCHING BACKWARDS NO LESS!!! That memorable soprano from Garfield playing "MARIA" in the early 60's... the Cabs soprano feature in 'Evita' ....And of course Sir Thomas Martin from my beloved SKYLINERS with his incredible triple tongue embellishment of "Little Old New York " as the corps marched off to Hy's masterpiece. Ta ta Ka ta,,,,,

Are they still accepting applications for the horn line ?Can't read music that well.....play by ear !!!!! but i think i can pick up the music ....i've heard it once before..

The Blue Devils company front charging the stands from the 5 to the 5 yard line with an incredable wall of sound.Bridgemen soprano line triple tongue feature ala Gus Wilke The disappearing Phantom of the Opera trick at the finale of SCV 's show.....Casper Trooper's exploding circle...and their 0 to 50 yard line company front ...straight as an arrow.Sky's Butch Anderson's limo entrance to the Dream contest.....drove chief judge Kelly crazy. The Matador's megaphone trio in ROCKY.Richie Price hitting notes that only dogs could hear....before it became run of the mill.and so on and so on !!!

With the evolution of modern Drum Corps shows ,and all the "over the top" effects that are included in them ,I thought maybe it would be interesting to go back in time to the beginning of our hobby ,and reminise about some single moments in the "GOLDEN YEARS" that stood out in our memories.The" WOW FACTOR". It could have been just one note ...like Reilly's High "G " in Irish Eyes. The Yankee Rebels 'stripper"...Just about anything that PEPE from NY played or 'performed" on the field. The concert ending of STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER from St. Kevin's .Reilly's classic "head /chopper" move.the Cab's concert with Jimmy D'amico and Don Angelica wailing away in the early 60s.Kevin's color pre intro to 'SEA HAWK".and their stratisferic soprano ending at the finish line NY'sTommy Martin's effortless playing of the most famous 4 notes in drum corps history.27s rifle line.The lightning storm that simultaniously occured when the Hurcs played ''Stormy Weather " at a show.i could go on and on...but lets see how long we can keep this going..Once again any memory is allowed ,as simple or brief as it was ,as long as it brought the" WOW" response from the crowd.

The legend tells of a Spanish "GENTLEMAN" hanging out with a "GHOSTRIDER"sitting by a guy from the 'CONCRETE CANYONS OF NEW YORK CITY"