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The history of the Westshoremen


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and people got #### if they didn't sing along

The fans knew it too-- from what I was told People in the stands yelling "DOO-DAH!!!" etc. Kinda like Blooing the Blue Coats.... but with a bit of a different meanin'...

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The fans knew it too-- from what I was told People in the stands yelling "DOO-DAH!!!" etc. Kinda like Blooing the Blue Coats.... but with a bit of a different meanin'...

well it depends on where they were. some places, if they knew about the meaning...

:shutup:

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Jeff, I know the song. John Close taught me the opening line for the Doo-dah song... :blink:

We had two part time staff from Pittsburgh who were with us in 78(?). Think them singing that song on the bus was one of the last straws. Can't even remember what part of the corps they worked with. Other last straw was one of them almost starting a fight on the Hell Weekend trip back from Canton/Erie. Front of the bus was trying to sleep as we were getting home around 1AM Monday. Someone (Glen Perry) asked nice to tone it down and the full volume obscenities started. Think that was about the time Howie asked (over the CB) the trucker doing 5mph over the mountain if he wanted a push. Toss up if the trucker or back seat Clyde was more obscene. Hmm... sexist version of Buffets "Cheesburger in Paradise" being sung comes to mind, maybe Rickie Lee remembers as think he was there.

Later that year or the next one came up to us as we were waiting to go to the field (we were by the back field concession stand). Someone in the corps told him to beat it and words were exchanged. Then the words "suck my..." were mentioned and dingus unzipped, let it out and started screaming "there ya go". Man, corps members were bailing out in case security looked over.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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Dad was in the middle, and I've heard stories from him and several others that were there. it was WAY more than the post. Lets just say people needed to realize it wasn't 1855 anymore.

I've heard those stories from Barbara, too. She joined the corps for the 1977 season, which became the ill-fated "Yankee Rebels-South Wind" summer.

That issue came up years later with her... a story I won't share publicly.

Something to do with the.... uhhh... demographics of the 1977 corps not fitting a certain profile... and I'll leave it at that.

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Prime example of killing how people feel about your corps. And I'll try to post it in a way that won't get deleted. Only show my parents would go to was Carlisle but they would go early and talk to Benny and the few people they knew. So pre and post show was done by the WSM drum truck.

1977 after the show I get from my mom: "Who is the guy who looks like ..... Must have been with Baltimore last year." Said who I thought and admitted I didn't know him that well. Response was Mom heard "... next year we're coming back, all ##### and all ####". That was the last time she really cared about that corps.

All I say is the second set of #s stood for "male".

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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I've heard those stories from Barbara, too. She joined the corps for the 1977 season, which became the ill-fated "Yankee Rebels-South Wind" summer.

That issue came up years later with her... a story I won't share publicly.

Something to do with the.... uhhh... demographics of the 1977 corps not fitting a certain profile... and I'll leave it at that.

how white male you are

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Soooo while back I swapped some PMs with a DCPer who told me about when his corps stopped at after show party at the home Post of the corps sponsoring the show. Let's just say it involved the two corps most recently talked about here and the corps stopping by then heading home NORTH......

They didn't stay long but did get some interesting looks...... :shutup:

And like I've said before wonder if WSM being all non-minority at the time made people wonder. God knows we couldn't figure it out....

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Soooo while back I swapped some PMs with a DCPer who told me about when his corps stopped at after show party at the home Post of the corps sponsoring the show. Let's just say it involved the two corps most recently talked about here and the corps stopping by then heading home NORTH......

They didn't stay long but did get some interesting looks...... :shutup:

And like I've said before wonder if WSM being all non-minority at the time made people wonder. God knows we couldn't figure it out....

All I can say for fact as best I knew it was that we were very happy to have ANYONE on board the ship with us when I was in. We were an EEDC.... If you wanted to do it, welcome aboard. In some ways that kinda bit us in the tuckus in '83 when we got a few great people from elsewhere and some flat out ringchasers to boot that offset the good people that came on board.. We HAD guys later on while I marched-- Novelle (how's he doing, Boom!?), Jim the cool Bari dude who always had the cool hats, Alvin Pulley, Fred Pye, etc.-- I think in '84 we may have had some guys sign on in percussion Boom would know better that I really didn't get the chance to know. I'm unsure...

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how white male you are

I told the kids at Harrisburg High when I ran things it was what I was, I couldn't help it any, it wasn't my fault, and they'd just have to bear with me and the problem as best as we could. :cool:

Most of them smiled and got it fine.

Two words for me, and yeah, it is what I am: Premium Saltine. :tongue:

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I told the kids at Harrisburg High when I ran things it was what I was, I couldn't help it any, it wasn't my fault, and they'd just have to bear with me and the problem as best as we could. :cool:

Most of them smiled and got it fine.

Two words for me, and yeah, it is what I am: Premium Saltine. :tongue:

When I was in we had one guy from Harrisburg High and yep he was white.... He'd say that the band director then either knew nothing about corps or didn't care one way or the other. But much as he'd talk about corps to his bandmates there was either no interest or they weren't able to join. Yeah we didn't care about skin color, our bus talks were more like "WTF, we practice right next door to one of the biggest minority populations in Central PA and nothing?" Thinking about it I saw Hershey/York a few times and think I only saw white faces there too. Do remember seeing two minority HS'ers from York at an early season horn practice ca 79 but that was the last time I saw them so no idea what happened. It was about the time we were getting known in the area so people were dropping in (and dropping right out) a lot.

Heh, someone didn't like this subtopic. Wonder if they know the East/West Shore "thing" (thus sayeth the guy who has lived on both sides). I already "neutered" Frans -1...

Edit: Premium Saltine :rolleyes:

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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