ironlips

Oh, so it's Peter Clouseau? Or perhaps Angie Conan-Doyle?

I was the designated night driver in the Garfield staff van as we headed into Denver for DCI in '77. Most of that evening the rest of the gang slept, and I listened to some custom "mix tapes" of Stan Kenton, Maynard and the Stones to stay alert. I never switched on the radio. The corps had arrived a few hours before us and as we pulled into the housing site I noticed one of our contra players in the lot. "Hi", I said. "What's happening?" "Elvis died, and they caught Berkowitz", he replied. "Who's Berkowitz?", I asked.* * Of course, no one knew his name until he was captured.

Early Sunday morning, August 17, 1969 and our corps bus is cruising back from Scranton to Long Island via I-84, nearing the connect with the NY Thruway at Newburg. (Note: today's more direct route had not been fully completed.) We come to a crawl, then a dead stop. Cars are parked all along the shoulder for miles and large groups of people are wandering about. "Who are all you guys?" we inquire out the windows. "We're coming from the show, man", is the reply. "Yeah", we shout back, "us, too". It then dawns on Jack McGuinness and the Cool Breeze that they're talking about Woodstock. A guy yells, "What band are you?" "Who, us?", replies Jack, "We're Blood Sweat & Tears". "Holy Expletive!" screams the guy, and we all break up. "Groovy, man", says the guy's girlfriend. (Sidebar: We played "Aquarius" that year. Groovy, man.)

Bud Herseth was the principal trumpet of the finest orchestra in the country, and now a drum corps kid sits in his chair. The man influenced every serious brass player in the USA, even if they don't realize it. For a good notion of how he played, I recommend the CD "The Chicago Principal".

That 1965 VFW Finals show was the very definition of "you had to be there": from Bridgeport PAL's drumline to St. Kevin's French Horns to Beverly's incredible full company front wheel in "Heat Wave" to Boston's relentless driving intensity to the game-changing Royal Airs,... all the way up the ladder to the roof of McCormick place. Years later, when SCV had risen to the top of the heap, someone asked Gail Royer to recall the best drum corps he had ever seen. He wasted no words. "Royal Airs in '65" was his reply. You had to be there, and it's gratifying to know that Alan, Ghost, Andy and so many of the rest of us on this forum actually were. We all need to get together for a drink.

It was de rigeur to repair to the St. Alban's Diner after every Queensmen rehearsal for snacks and stories, after which somebody would drive the great one to the Subway or Grand Central so he could catch the train back home. One evening, he placed the folder containing all of St. Catherine's music on the roof of the car to take off his overcoat before getting in. You can guess the rest. When the group arrived at the station the mishap was discovered. The corps members wigged out over the loss of all the charts and what a disaster this would be for teaching and cleaning the music. "Naa", said the man, pointing to his temple (with the finger he always reserved for cueing the French Horns). "Don't sweat it. It's all in here".

Mike, At age 10, in the midst of all that, you were on "information overload". Frank

There are some iconic flag presentations in my memory bank, but nothing cuts St. Kevin's barn-burning "Stars and Stripes" at the '64 Dream. We sat transfixed at the coda when that upper lead cat nailed the double C. It was the cherry on top and we all knew that a Jersey corps would not win this day. Thank all the gods that this is preserved on the Fleetwood disc. I only wish there was some extant film as well. My Xavier High School buddy (and lead sop in that corps as well as the Rough Riders)just looked at me and said, "Say 'goodnight', Gracie." It was 3 in the afternoon, but SKEK had just put the contest to bed.

There may be a connection. The Maid of Orleans was burned at the stake. This one has personality to burn.

Liberty Bell! Liberty Bell! What an extraordinary corps. We listened religiously to their Stetson Richmond recordings in John Sasso's basement, not just to appreciate the performances but to study the incredible arranging that produced such a full brass sound from sopranos and baritones alone. Hightower remarked, "That cat has a very heavy pen."

"...a young rosy-cheeked Sunriser soloist who now calls himself Iron Lips." Actually, it was Uncle Nicky who first called me that in 1966, and I've been falling short of living up to it ever since. I use it here to put a smile on the faces of those who know the derivation. If you ever played a solo at Roosevelt, somebody gave you a nickname. There were some great ones long before I could find low C: Bucky, Ta-ta-ka Tommy, Buzzy, Rip, Jimmy D, the Cisco Kid...etc. Later came the likes of Screech, Pee Wee, Grass, Bugs, China, Tinkerbell...all of them (and countless others) left their musical DNA all over that stadium. It doesn't matter that it has fallen into disrepair and been paved over. It's still a shrine.

"God made idiots for practice before making school boards." Now there's one priceless quote, no matter whose. As to the article in question, though many of us may consider ourselves better informed than Frank Deford with respect to pageantry music, he has been an esteemed professional sportswriter for over 50 years, with countless awards. His work at Sports Illustrated is legendary. He's the Michael Klesh, Pete Emmons and Ralph Hardimon of sports scribes. Naturally, he looks at life through the sportswriter's prism. In this case, it seems, Mr. Deford sees marching band as having a valid purpose in its own right, apart from its halftime function. Most of us would agree I think, even while peering through our own particular lens.

My take may be a bit different as to Mr. Deford's actual thesis here. I believe he rather clearly states his belief that we undervalue school music programs when we make their raison d'etre simply to support sports. As for the value of marching band in particular for the college music ed. major, there is no question that one gains a deeper understanding of the activity from direct participation (providing the instructional level is professional). In addition, if one seeks a secondary school position, the chances for employment are greatly enhanced for the candidate in posession of these skills. Both sports and the arts are necessary for the intellectual and social development of the young. They are of equal importance, in my view. Frank Dorritie Former Director of Bands St. Francis Prep (NYC)

Now that's funny, and speaking of which... The current individual under discussion, together with the already identified Mr. Patrone, organized one of the largest gatherings of priests, nuns, brothers, and other religious types this side of Vatican City, and they did this every August for about 30 years. The Dream, like its counterparts CYO Nationals and Mission Drums, was a bona fide movable feast, and featured more "saints" than the New Testament: St. Kevin's, St. Vincent's, Blessed Sac, Holy Name, the Saints (from Edison)... Of course there were plenty of sinners too: Skyliners, Musketeers, Raiders, Sunrisers (sun-worshipping pagans), Caballeros, Hurricanes, Princemen, Crusaders (doing penance), Brewers and Buccaneers... But all were required to present themselves before an "audience" packed with habits, Roman collars and rosaries. And every performer got the "message" that drum corps needed the church, and vice-versa. Of course, that the was whole point for our current subject, I think. And he had followers and diciples far and wide, like his colleague Fr. DeProfio, 'way out there in the wilderness of Bridgeport. It takes extraordinary individuals like these to sustain drum corps. There are just too few from that mold around at present.

Yes, Fran, me too. We're never going to live this down. Francis Timothy Patrick Dorritie

That reminds me of the famous line from Fistful of Dollars, "You are a very clever mon, senor."

When you consider the number of people he influenced during his long lifetime, this padre probably saved more souls than the last half dozen popes put together.

When I first saw the photo of the current subject, the incomparable Mr. Patrone, I thought it was possibly Scotty Chappelle in front of Lt.Norman Prince. That's why I asked about the "fields of France". Ironically, Mickey was "over there", too, albeit in the next war. With the busby, he just looked so much taller than how I remembered him. So, who's got some good Mickey stories?

No disrespet intended above. SAC pretty much invented clean, but that's because they butted heads for about a decade or so with the Big Green Band in question, who pretty much invented winning.

I was "with" St. Catherine's during the latter part of the '61 season, but as a first soprano "sub" (today's politically correct term: alternate). So technically, having not actually gotten a drill spot until the following year, I did not compete against them. However, all rookies were required to identify their music (and that of many other corps)by title, show sequence (OTL, Color Pre, Exit...etc) and year, as sung by the veterans on the bus for their entertainment on those endless voyages to and from Rome, Emmaus or wherever.* We knew their folklore well. The Queensmen regarded them highly. Frank * One of the older guys hipped me to a trick: If you thought it might be a Blessed Sacrament tune, you could guess any year. They never seemed to change their show.

Was the corps in the photo based in norhern New Jersey?

The busby had me fooled. The corps I was thinking of had no green and was not a boy scout troop, but a gathering of military veterans. Year of this photo? 195....?

Do the fields of France figure in here somewhere?

A young drum corps friend of mine saw this and asked about the red dust. On that afternoon in '68, the Dream was not wet. The low mark time, first introduced by Bobby Hoffman about 8 years later, began the slow death of its more energetic (and exposed) ancestor, the high mark time. Generating that cloud was a rite of passage denied to later generations. "It looks like fun", he remarked. "You bet your bucks", said I. The response: "What's a buck?"

The '68 Dream footage is a hoot. I especially enjoy watching Don Angelica not going to his pad when the Sunrisers play. Man, those Hurricanes could march. Whoever shot this was clearly a Boston Crusader and Skyliner fan. Those corps get about 4 times the face time as anyone else.