sarnia sam

For what it's worth, the OP, Dwayne Dumont, played bass #4 in 77. He died suddenly Sunday July 7. He was a great guy. Regards, John

Really only one choice - Oakland Crusaders.

Oaklands 75/76, Malaga, Tony Furiano

I have one somewhere too.

As others have said, DCI North at Ypsilanti. Pontiac Silverdome in 76. 25 years in Port Huron. There have been others, just not coming to mind right now.

I spoke by email with two people several years ago. It would take me a while to go through my emails to come up with the names, but one of them is the fellow who worked on the Legacy project. Ken Kobold's recordings are in the hands of DCI. I used to order my tapes from Ken directly because I could get the order of play I wanted and I could get corps beyond the top 25. Sound quality was not the issue, though tweaking was necessary for digital media and that is time consuming. The fellow who produced the Legacy recordings (CD compilations of various tunes from various corps on themes) spent a few years working on them. The issue is royalties. Ken recorded everyone at the U.S Open, DCI prelims and finals and a few other shows. There's a lot of music to clear. So while it may seem like an easy thing to get the recording of the Boondock Renegades from 1973 U.S. Open, imagine even ten percent of each corps membership wanting a recording of their show from every year they were recorded, that would be quite the headache. It's time and money. When I strike it rich, getting this done is on my list. Root for me.

Preston Scout House Cadets. Not sure what their competitive intentions are. Regards, John

Yes a thousand times. I just discovered Sufjan Stevens last night and have listened to three of his albums already. I don't know how I could have not known about this guy until now because his first album came out in 2000 and by the end of this year he'll have 12. A good deal of new music I hear is because of Drum Corps and I think someone dropped the ball with this guy's stuff. Illinoise and Brooklyn Queens Expressway are ripe for the Drum Corps arena. Regards, John

You too. I wrote a two-parter that ran in 2012. It was cool to trade war stories (I was the section leader of the Optimist Alumni 40 years post Skip being the section leader). Almost made him late for a gig having a smoke and chatting right before a show. Fun Times. Edit: I was replying Brian and somehow the quote function broke. Regards, John

Ron 'Skip' Prokop, bandleader of Lighthouse (One Fine Morning, Pretty Lady, etc.) died today. Skip stated drumming in a Sea Cadet band in Hamilton Ontario, then joined the Preston Scout House. A year he joined the Toronto Optimist and was lead snare drummer for three years. Of course you know the rest. As a former member of the Optimist Alumni and lead snare until 2008 this is very sad and I must say March On! in honour of a brother. Regards, John

Is that your pic? Can I put it on my facebook page? That is during the drum solo, three strokes decrescendo/crescendo, the snares knelt and rose with the dynamics. Regards, John

A couple things, in 77 we had two tours, three weeks mid june to early july, two weeks at home for local shows, and then off late July until Nationals, which were a week later than today's championships. We were on the road a lot. There was a block on the last day of prelims for the previous year's top 12 and a few corps who were competitive in that strata, which Oaklands were in. We went on just after Bridgemen and before Cavaliers (I think). The order was random for the top 20 or so and according to postmark for entry for everyone else. We were leading the pack in drum scores for a few weeks, and having looked at some of the recaps since last night, by a lot compared to today's one tenth spreads. Regards, John

18.85, first in drums, Oakland Crusaders. Regards, John

Oaklands, Optimists, and Scarborough Firefighters (Seneca Princemen) has teams. Regards, John

I met Mr. Pratt once at a CADRE Shake, 2008 I think it was. I let the rest of the CADRE gang know of this latest development. Certainly trying times for the Pratt family, I hope things turnout for the best. Regards, John Swartz

That would be awesome. That is our only hope of finding any video, some local TV station aired a show and either they kept a tape (unlikely) or someone recorded if and still has it. Atlanta was first tour and we were scoring low 60s hi 50s at that point, but the drumline was still smoking. I remember Doc Severinson played between the last competing corps and retreat. Place was an echo chamber and we had some major phasing in the opener, but not like at CYO Nationals a week later - that was much worse.

It is odd that there is so much video out there of corps that didn't make finals from just about every year but 77. I've corresponded with DCI on this a few times. I work in television and find it hilarious (not really) that they rolled up all the mobile equipment, didn't do a rehearsal run for the television crew during prelims - and didn't roll tape on that. With any crew I have been in charge of rehearsal is mandatory and taping it is as well - just in case say something happened to the finals tape of say Blue Devils and you had to go to the back up.

have to add, Harry Clark wrote the music except the drum solo Ralph wrote. Terry Kirkpatrick and Brian Fazackerley hand their mits on the El Gato chart (Brian wrote the drum break - which you can hear again if you are in Rochester Friday night at DCA's because it's the end of CADRE's I&E solo, Faz is on the right end of the snares next to me). And the wonderfully talented and missed Carol Munro wrote the keyboard parts. Regards, John

the quest continues. One day someone will find some in an attic. Regards, John

here they are at Bandfest. They played Canyon, Scheherazade and Clowns. from side 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5RweYnWHM from side 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1AixM4GUgI Regards, John

Doug Gibb Regards & Merry Christmas John

Non top 12: Polish Falcons, 74, cool rifle line and guard, good show. Black Knights, 74, in the rain, Marion. Bluecoats on the comeback, 82 or 83 I think. Glassmen's drumline mid 70s. Sertomanaires, 60s, sparked this loopy journey. Regards, John

oldest - Blue Saints, Pioneer, Empire Statesmen, wishes he could still march. Youngest - liked Cadets in 99, never marched. Regards, John

This is exactly the tunes I would list (not necessarily in that order) as my favourites. I'd also include Crown Imperial and Oakland's Swan Lake. Regards, John