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Memories of 1976


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On the plus side, seeing the magnificent Blue Devils that night in Philly were worth the price of admission for me. IMO, their show and performance level were on a different level than anything I had seen before. A game changer.

I was lucky enough to watch the Blue Devils closely for 3 whole days/nights while they were in Minnesota in '76. It was then that I met director Jerry Seawright for the first time, as well as a soprano player by the name of Dave Gibbs. Little did we know then that Gibbs would later become director.

Watching them perform in early August was like watching drum corps entering the future. You knew they wouldn't lose the rest of the year, and they didn't.

The scores from finals that year show BD beating Madison for the title by 2 points, but they were light years ahead of the pack.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wasn't that the year Gene Rayburn said "Etobicoke Oakland Raiders" during the telecast?

I don't recall that one, but that was the year Gene's wife, Helen, made one heck of a bizarre statement announcing Phantom's repertoire: The Theme From Rollerball, (otherwise known as Toccata & Fugue). She then said, "Racquel Welch (she pronounced it "Walsh") would be proud." Racquel Welch wasn't in the movie Rollerball. She was in another roller skating-related movie, Kansas City Bomber. I'm sure lots of viewers were wondering just what she meant by her remark.

Edited by Northern Thunder
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  • 4 weeks later...

I don't recall that one, but that was the year Gene's wife, Helen, made one heck of a bizarre statement announcing Phantom's repertoire: The Theme From Rollerball, (otherwise known as Toccata & Fugue). She then said, "Racquel Welch (she pronounced it "Walsh") would be proud." Racquel Welch wasn't in the movie Rollerball. She was in another roller skating-related movie, Kansas City Bomber. I'm sure lots of viewers were wondering just what she meant by her remark.

Not sure whether this is urban legend or whether it is true, but WGBH had an executive that was an old Boston Brahmin (old Yankee stock, can trace ancestry back to at least the Puritans if not the Mayflower). It may have been David Ives though I am not certain, but the DCI broadcasts were during Ives' tenure. He was a member of the very exclusive Oyster Harbor Club, a country club and yacht club located on Cape Cod. Gene Rayburn was too, but no one knew how he was ever allowed to join. Supposedly this is where the Matchgame host and his lovely wife were approached about DCI.

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Another 1976 memory for me...

Several of us from our junior corps traveled to Rochester, NY, to watch DCA Finals that year.

The weather that night was freezing cold. LOL. I mean, it was absolutely nuts. Probably the coldest conditions I've ever experienced at a drum corps show. I remember drinking a hot chocolate or two or three to try to stay warm.

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My dad was working in a little town in north central Ohio and I had just graduated HS and went to visit him for a week in July. I drove down one night to Marion to watch the Cadets practices. They were having a pretty good year, but one of their Tymp players had just been in a motorcycle accident and was out for the rest of the season. When they found out I played drums, the drum instructor came over and sat down next to me and asked if I wanted to fill in the temp spot. I said sure. I went back home and packed my stuff and headed back to Marion. My first show was the U.S. open prelims and the Cadets made finals. They used blocks of wood wedged between the tymp and the lower body to keep the drum level. At the parade I felt my legs start to get a little "rubbery". The drum instructor came over to ask if I was OK, I said sure. Two minutes later my legs gave out and I went down on the drum. I tried to get back up, but my legs had no feeling. The only time in 15 years of marching parades I never made it through one. At our finals performance a flag did a slam and bounced off my shako and landed on the drum head, almost breaking it. We went to NYC for VFW nats and were late and ended up performing after the Cavaliers. I remember watching them from the back side line thinking "holy sh!t". At DCI prelims we placed 27th, which was the highest the corps had ever placed.

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  • 1 month later...

1976 was my first year marching in drum corps with the Knight Raiders. Our percussion instructor, Steve Choarzy, was also teaching the Blue Devils snare line.

I remember trying on the North Tenors at one of the shows we had with BD and they were quite heavy but I always loved the echo they gave in Channel One Suite. At Finals in Philadelphia, Steve and I walked up to the top of the stadium on the 50 yard line and watched BDs encore from start to finish. Unforgetable. By the time I made it down to our corps bus, they had already left. Had to run several blocks to catch them at a red light. 1976, Franklin Field. BDs first championship. Also had the opportunity that year to see Madisons early show and the opener "Theme from Shaft".

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hmmm...1976...fond memories. Gate 2 St, MA1A Alley, The Tennessee Club. Koza City, Kadena AB in the service of my country...lol. Sorry Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Saturday nights were particuarly interesting....lol. Didn't see a drum corps show for 2 years.

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