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MikeD

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Posts posted by MikeD

  1. 9 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

    Actually kids commit to a corps and for a staff. Been that way for decades 

    When Garfield let our great drum instructor George Tuthill go after the 71 season a LOT of the drumline quit and moved a town over to the Hawthorne Caballeros, where he was also the drum instructor. I decided to stay with the Cadets after a couple of months, so I went back and played baritone. I would not play in the drumline under the new guy.

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    Fred Sanford.   😮

    But I did get to play horn under Don Angelica, and I had brass class coming up in the fall semester at college, so it worked out.

    • Like 1
  2. 9 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

    A fond memory of Garfield, New Jersey:  In 1972 we stayed several days at Garfield High School(?).  The neighbors across the street let us practice on their lawn for sectionals and brought us refreshments.  One restaurant owner invited the entire corps to dinner at his pizza restaurant.  To show our appreciation to the town and the Cadets we did our show for them.  They loved it and then we did a second run-through.  In all my experience in Drum Corps we were never treated better than at Garfield. 

    I hope the Cadets come back next year strong. 

     

    You guys were a great bunch of people. I was in Garfield from 70-72. I remember just what you wrote. Very classy group of people.

    • Like 1
  3. 6 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

    God love you, that’s the worst.  Knee replacement is not far behind.  You’ll wish for your own death for about two weeks but it will get better after that. PT is very painful but it really helps.  I still do PT at home everyday.  It takes about a year to fully recover.  Find a great surgeon.  I wish you the best. 

    Concur with that! I had a knee replacement 4 1/2 months ago. PT is done, but I go to our gym (live in an adult community) 6 days a week to continue on my own. My PT guy helped me create a routine.

    I am still not fully recovered. Feels like an elastic band across the front of my knee. But…getting better. 

    • Like 1
  4. 2 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:

    On my personal favorite list for sure!

    I played a concert band arrangement of the finale complete with piano and pipe organ at a church in NJ. It was amazing. 

    The marching band I taught from 1994-2018 did the finale in 1995. John "Screetch" Arietano did the wind book and I wrote the battery book.

     

    • Like 1
  5. First time I saw the Kilties was at the 1969 VFW Nats finals. A carload of us from the GSC corps I marched with in North Jersey made the drive to Philly. Our DM drove, as she was driving age. I was not yet 16 (October 69).

    They were National champs in 69, edging out the Cavies at finals.

    This is some film of prelims with audio added...the audio might be finals (not sure). It is not synchronized. Start at 2:25 to possibly hear my first live exposure to their Syne.

     1869 Kilties

    • Like 1
  6. On 12/14/2023 at 8:36 PM, ironlips said:

    The late trumpet master began his career with a valveless G bugle in the Thomas Powell Drum Corps which later became the greatest among all the notable African-American corps, The Spirit of St. Louis.

    In 2008, Clark was inducted into the Buglers Hall of Fame, recognizing his drum corps roots, his springboard to evolving into one of the finest jazz artists and educators who ever lived.

    https://clarkterry.com/biography/

    He was also a VERY nice person. I was Asst Band Director my first years teaching, and we hired a professional to do a master class and concert with our jazz ensembles. In 78 we brought in Clark. Unlike some of the people brought in, he was a very caring and nice guy. He even shared a “mumbles” number with a student. The kids loved him! 

    • Like 1
  7. 3 hours ago, ironlips said:

    And, by the way, "hats off" to Frank Williams and the much-missed Robert W. Smith for nuturing Mike's talents.

    Many moons ago, I asked the great Dr. Bernard Baggs for his advice on becoming a good music teacher. After all, he had taught Donald Angelica, a Julliard graduate and the finest bugle soloist of his time.

    Bernie's answer: "Be on the lookout for Mozart, and when he shows up, know what to do and when to send him on."

    Robert and Frank must have consulted with B.B. as well.

    Dr Baggs was a great band director in the day, as you noted with teaching Don, who took his spot when Dr Baggs became a principal.
     

    His son Bernie Jr was a very good friend of mine in college. He ended up being in my wedding in 77. I taught his marching bands at 3 HS where he was band director from 80-93.

    Bernie Jr participated in my senior recital in college, so I invited Dr and Mrs Baggs to my recital. Just as I was getting ready to go on stage for my first piece, a timpani solo, Bernie casually says to me “you know, my dad was a timpanist in college”. So there I was…a drum corps guy who knew Dr Baggs as one of the great judges of all time…going on stage to play a piece on his primary instrument…very scary. Luckily it went well. Whew!!!

     

    • Like 1
  8. 11 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

    How is someone put on the “Megan’s List”? From the people I know on the list (2 from workplace, 2 distant relatives) believe they had to be found guilty. Of course for this to work on the corps (or any other youth activity) the groups have to do their #### job and report to the authorities for this to work.

    And other problem is at what point does creepy as bleep become criminal?

    I think the person must be convicted of a relevant crime to be placed on the list. 
     

     

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
  9. Just now, ironlips said:

    As a member of Bugles Across America, I regularly sound Taps at military services in the SF Bay Area and beyond. I look at it as an extension of my Drum Corps and military service backgrounds and a way to honor my late father, a WWII Infantryman, and his comrades who, when they returned, devoted so much of their energy to promoting this activity we cherish.

    That is great Frank! Just today, we buried my brother-in-law at a military cemetery in NJ. The Reservist, who did an overall great job with the ceremony, just held a bugle to his lips in the back of the chapel, and a recording played Taps. Two young Air Force gals performed a flag ceremony; they did a great job.

    • Like 4
  10. 1 hour ago, TOC said:

    With so many head staff and techs working both the DCI and band circuits, have there been any shady characters that have had issues in both organizations?

    I am sure there have been. I am in NJ, and I can think of several over time, mostly long ago. The newish law passed that requires districts to report on people being let go for bad behavior (no more “passing the trash”) instead of just being forced to resign has helped a lot. It used to be that unless there was a legal case a district was not permitted to  say anything about a teacher leaving, or the teacher could have sued!!!

  11. 3 hours ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

    I don't know why I don't follow bands much. I should. They look like drum corps, sound like drum corps, have all of the pageantry and precision of drum corps minus much of the scandals and controversy of drum corps (from what little I do know anyway). 

    Some things I do not know about competitive bands that maybe someone can fill me in on.

    Where do they get all these kids? My high school had 2500 students we'd be lucky to get 40-50 even remotely interested in band and marching band was the lowlife of the HS music world. Do they rehearse one show or do they have football game type shows and competitive shows? Are the staffs for these super large bands as large as corps? Where do they come from? All volunteer? 

    There are around 25,000 high schools in the country. Just about every possible scenario you can think of is covered someplace. 

    Sticking with corps style competitve bands, there are thousands nationwide. Some few are at the BOA finalist level (whether they are part of BOA or not) all the way down to the raw beginning bands that do a competition or 2 for the experience. 
     

    There are many local circuits that serve geographic areas. They have their own rules and give bands lots of opportunities to compete. Some circuits overlap areas giving bands more options. 
     

    Competitive bands tend to have one show that they use at contests and games. 
     

    Kids come from band programs primarily, plus the guards. In some schools, marching band is mandatory…it is what they do in the fall. The last band I worked with, from 1994-2018, had a volunteer marching band. We were very small, between 45-55 including guard. We drew members from the 3 concert bands and 3 orchestras. Marching band was 100% after school. We competed in 6 or 7 competitions plus performed  at almost every game. 
     

    Some bands have large staffs, while others (like my band) have small ones. All of our staff members had to be vetted by the Board of Ed substitute teacher process which included background checks with the state. The board had 4 paid positions for marching band, director, asst director, guard advisor and percussion instructor. The band parents usually added $$ for a pit instructor position. 
     

    Again, given how many schools there are, there are probably as many stories as there are schools.

    • Thanks 1
  12. 2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

    A very good friend of mine marched  in the corps who was actually from Garfield.  She was in the little feeder corps.  I saw a pic of her on Facebook with a rifle that was bigger than her. She was in the three peat corps in the ‘80’s. 

    That would be the Plebes, a feeder corps. 

    • Thanks 1
  13. 4 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

    Curious- when you marched what percentage of Madison was from what you would consider from the greater Madison area?

    I marched Garfield from 70-72, and not very many members came from Garfield.  We came from small GSC corps all over north Jersey, plus some from parts of NY. 

    • Like 3
  14. 5 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

    We had several 12-13 year olds.  After we folded, 3 aged out of 1991 Star, 2 out of 91/2 Cavaliers & one out of 92 BD.  Fair amount of talent in that little Corps.  

    In my era, we used to see members of some of the top junior corps kiss their wives and kids when they were getting ready to line up.

    🥸

    • Like 1
    • Haha 3
  15. A number of Garden State Circuit corps merged in the 70’s to stave off folding.

    The Livingston Imperial Guardsmen and Dukes of Old Bridge merged in the early seventies to form the DIGs for a few years. They went back to just the Guardsmen name. I marched with the Guardsmen in 68 and 69, and I taught them in 76.

    The Wayne Monarchs and Greenwood Lake Lakers merged in the middle of the 76 season, coming out as the King’s Regiment in Wildwood. I wrote and taught percussion. KR came in 2nd in the GSC in 77, the first full year. 

  16. Mod hat here

    i have hidden a few posts that qualified as personal attacks between posters. As everybody is aware, those types of posts are not permitted per the guidelines of DCP,

    They also run a thread off the rails and cause such threads to be closed. 

    Please remain focused on the thread topic and not other posters.

    • Like 2
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