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Did DCA even have Inspections?


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No inspection at 78 AL Nats at New Orleans. And pretty sure 1980 was last corps show at AL Convention.

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The last Sr Circuit I remember having inspection was the Northeast Circuit ... circa mid-late 60's ...

:-)

No inspection at 78 AL Nats at New Orleans. And pretty sure 1980 was last corps show at AL Convention.

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But Andy that would mean the Sr Circuits (not counting AL/VFW) did away with inspections before 1972....

Then how could it be DCIs fault???? :devil:

OK had to get that out of my system here considering some of the comments on the FB thread....

Yeah sometimes facts and bias don't match up....

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Inspection at DCA shows? No way. They were lucky to find judges wiling to evaluate music and drill, never mind haircuts and stray threads.

That said, just about every corps took great pride in its general appearance. By that time the notion was ingrained that look and demeanor were ways of showing respect to the audience as well. It was simply drum corps tradition.

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Guess I don't understand what the original accusation was regarding inspections ... someone thought they were actually good? ... That's a first ... LOL ...

I remember the days at some shows in the 60's where corps lined up in three's ... on the Inspection Line ... the Ready Line ... and finally the Starting Line ... each was about 5-7 yards from the other ... you can see the depth of the lineup of corps in many of the archived photos and videos that are online ... the last shows I remember being at as a spectator that employed this was the 69 WO in Lynn and the 69 VFW in Philly ... there's also some fokelore stories of Sr's mixing it up between the lines at various National competitions ... OH MY!!!!

:-)

But Andy that would mean the Sr Circuits (not counting AL/VFW) did away with inspections before 1972....

Then how could it be DCIs fault???? :devil:

OK had to get that out of my system here considering some of the comments on the FB thread....

Yeah sometimes facts and bias don't match up....

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Long story Andy, a few posters on that FB page give the vibe that any move away from the pure military aspects (not sure what they mean) DC went into the hopper. Or more likely any change from their era is "proof" DC lost its' way. So no OTL = bad, no Color Pre = bad, Color Guard doing anything except marching and equipment work = REALLY bad, etc, etc and etc <$1 to King and I> . And yep..... inspections are military based so no inspections = bad...... And won't get into why the local corps scene has gone under as it just can get off the wall. Mod is trying to tame it down because it is a history side page. But it still sneaks thru at times.... Pick up a good bit of history there but some comments have me rolling my eyes (at least they are getting good exercise).

Main complainers seem to be all former Jr folks as they have no idea the Sr/All Age side have/had the same problems. If it gets bad enough I'll throw in an All Age bit of info and watch the sputtering. That was one reason why I asked, the other was it got me thinking and I had no idea.

Or when I read "inspections, OTL, finish line = real drum corps" I'll just post that I never did any of them.....

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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I think, Jim, some of these folks forget a lot of the big picture surrounding the past, or have a rather selective memory.

In part, the reason DCA broke loose was because they wanted to create their own rules that were less restrictive. No regs that the show had to fall between x and y beats per minute or get a penalty for instance. Show designers who didn't want to start on Side 1 Goal line and end on side 2 goal line because they *had* to.

Also, A lot of corps folded before DCI- you can't blame them for several of the collapses. AL/VFW posts not able to fund organizations, for instance. School instrumental music programs starting to take up some of that slack and getting those kids and providing their music education. Heck, talking to Reilly people when I asked them simply, "What happened?" I was told in effect the core of the Raiders were mostly drafted, served in SE Asia, etc. there was no one left to march.

And on that tangent, you had a bit of a turn away from the AL and VFW during that era.

Add to that the loaded questions, and I know many of those folks would not like to try and answer these issues:

Would people really go to that kind of presentation nowadays? Artistic tastes have changed radically. People expect more.

And.. would kids want to join one of those organizations? You may be able to perpetuate getting the kids off the street in the big cities, IF you had the money available to run a Boys and Girls Club Corps, but the last of those went under with Garden State. The only survivors of GSC , Surf and the Raiders- weren't from NYC/Newark like the other corps, had more ambition and funding.

But there's no way they could get most decent kids to come out and join, not when a competitive HS band of today is doing far more challenging things than would be allowed in Pre-DCA corps.

I'm also thinking, Jim, of guys we both knew, guys like Al Beran, Norm Selak, "Little Pete" Messina, Benny Behrens, who WERE around during those times and were still with us when we both marched. Those guys were as old school as you can get- WW2 vets in at least Norm's and Al's cases- and I didn't hear them griping for the good old days when you and I hung out with them as kids. I think, Jim, we were good medicine for those guys, kept them young at heart, and they were good for us, passing on memories and history, and we were all happy to be around each other. I have a feeling Hurcs guys like Ray Fallon would say the same thing about Harvey Olderman, and the Cabs about like... a zillion guys out there.

Man, the only downside Jim, is I start realizing how *bleep* much I miss Benny, Norm, Al and Pete. I'm tearing up, gotta go.

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I heard ya W. Benny would say he didn't like something and that was it. No extra breaths griping....

Just tried looking for the FB post griping about DCI and can't buy vids. Wanted to say "oh by the way.... MBs are hit too".

LOL Al told me about his first parade in a Zouvre kiddie corps. Holy crap must have been the 1930s wish I could remember the name.

Then there is the time Benny had his hernia surgery BITD when you were supposed to lay in bed for two weeks. Paul G and I walk in the bedroom and there is the 1952 VFW Nats trophy on his dresser.... all 3-4 FEET of it. :wow: Tell us we missed out by doing Sr corps as kids LOL.

Oh yeah Harrisburg Privateers (Bill Lights old corps?) won a class at 1959 VFW Nats. Long story but finally found out where their Post (Earl Aurand) was located.... right in the middle of Allison Hill. My old church is dying due to changes in the city so can dig what happened to this Post.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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Nope ... uniformed judging and increased prize money were the two main objectives of forming DCA ... the "rules" stuff you cited didn't come about until later in the game in the early 70's ... I'm not sure when DCA published their own sheets and first "Blue Book" ... but, in the beginning (64-71ish) they followed the AL sheets and participated in the Legion Rules Congress ...

Later on, what you wrote is correct ... the Sr. corps wanted to break away from the rigidity of the AL rule (VFW never really came into play) ...

And that's what I remember ... the first big change came in 68 with the 10/10/10 GE sheets (which Angelica pushed since 62) and the next was the introduction of the PA caption in drumming (thank you Eric) in 71 ... abandoning the Starting Line happened in 71 ... starting "on the field" occurred in 78 ... going over the "Finish Line" was ended circa 74/75 ...

Of course, this is only from my meager memory banks ... after all ... I was in NY ...

:-)

In part, the reason DCA broke loose was because they wanted to create their own rules that were less restrictive. No regs that the show had to fall between x and y beats per minute or get a penalty for instance. Show designers who didn't want to start on Side 1 Goal line and end on side 2 goal line because they *had* to.

Edited by ajlisko
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