HUGADA

Wow! I'm glad to hear that someone(s) are still interested in performing patriotic music! I'm also surprised in seeing how many drum corps, (many ow which have not been mentioned as yet), have partook! BRAVO!

Back in the day, "drum breaks" were different from "drum solos." A so-called "drum feature" is presented in drum corps shows of late and thankfully the emphasis is slowly coming back to make the features longer. Long ago and far away, drum breaks were short transitions into the various pieces and there was always a lengthy drum solo included in the show. Movement has become the emphasis of today however, and has thus become more demanding for drum lines. But for me, I would rather listen to two minutes of beats as opposed to watching drum lines dance all over the place, etc.

Wow! I never got asked for an autograph but I was keen on asking for folks to sign my DCI programs even when I was in a DCI top 12 corps. It was cool to have a kid run down on the field in '82 after we performed the "Victory Show" asking for my sticks. I gave him my scoop as I wanted to keep the sticks. He was most grateful! Needless to say, it blew me away, but I remember being 16 and wanting ANYTHING that had to do with drum corps, esp. from the "big guys!"

Ha! I remember having to ask a couple of people what a "mullet" was! I just got through watching a movie called "Joe Dirt"....Tube socks for gals and guys were a must in the late seventies and head bands, (the scarf kind) were cool! Don't forget the infamous tan lines from the harness and snare strap!

If it weren't for Ken, I wouldn't have recordings of the Class A corps that I was it in '79 and '80!

The short shorts look good on the guys too!

Dang those drums are high! How did the guys do it? I didn't have to worry so much, except for stick tosses!

Hey "Rabbit!" Tell your buddy Mark O. that he has to share them with me! I marched with him that year...snare drum.

I have shared the sugar packet story here and there, cautiously, I might add! It was great to march the Halloween parade with you guys and even though there was no stick toss involved, it was SO cool to be able to march with you awesome dudes!

Yes, it is me! I would be so cool to learn the solo from you! Half tempo is fine with me! "Is he here?"

WOW! That's quite a compliment! It was so much fun to be there! I loved marching with Robbie the year before, but the '82 line made up for the inconsistencies from the previous year. It was a great year to age-out. My boyfriend marched in the '83 line so we kind of tease each other: "I got the ring, you got the drum trophy!" We met in the Renegades in '05.

Hand to hand flams, inverts, etc. are not known as smooth rudiments, but yes, they made them sound that way! The '75 Vanguard solo was just as impressive...VERY smooth and very clean! I try to just watch the hands/sticks...incredible! I remember when you and "Dr. Dennis" from the Conquistadors were playing the "CLOCK" together, and he was only 15 years old! I never got a chance to learn it, I suppose!

There was a moment in time when I thought that I would have to put hours in on that stick toss again! (Remember the sugar packet night?) Even though I did a stick toss three years in a row, (79-81), they always nerved me. The Kingsmen dudes did them so much it was like chewing gum! Our fellow instructor, section leader, Dale Lofgren, had us do one two years in a row, which prepped me for the one in '81. He had us do back sticking around the track, as well! I might add!

Well, I gotta admit it did!

There is a special feeling that one gets when the ring is worn. I have kept mine in good condition and choose to wear it at drum corps shows and events only. It just so happened that I lived an hour away from a top winning DCI corps and 20 minutes away from another! Winning was not so much my ambition as much as the want to have the experience! In fact, my main goal was to win a drum trophy. It didn't happen, but the ring was a wonderful substitute! I worked my way to the drum corps with no expectations. I was not willing to just play or do anything just to be in a winning corps. I was offered a different spot twice and turned it down. I could have had two more rings if I took the spot that I was unfamiliar with. Instead, I marched in a class A corps until I made the position that I desired.

CM76, I, too, was "raised" with the "Ballerina attack." I remember when there were never beats played by the center snare during exercises either. It was all about getting the attack, isolated or not, by following tempo,and the beads next to you...no reliance on someone else's beats or duts...you just knew...the "sixth sense" or something! The notes flowed more back in the day and the isolated attacks these days from over one's head was not desirable, needed or musical. I agree that when lines are all over the map these days and not being in position to see the drum major comfortably, a dut from the center would be needed on occasion. Dr. Beats didn't exist; how did we do it?

First of all, I stand corrected: "Hero Sandwich" was a drum solo not an exercise. I have never heard the solo, but have seen and attempted to play it. Brian, my fellow Conquistador, you are much too kind! The thing is, the cats that marched in that '71 Kingsmen drumline, WERE Gods! To here encounters of those that saw the line in those days, they were tall, intimidating and hard***! To commend my fellow Blue Devil, Greg, I commend you and the '07 Kingsmen Alumni snare line for playing the '72 solo with those stick tosses! WOW!

I lost my mother unexpectedly in March. She suffered from complications from a hip fracture at 88 years of age. Her loss leaves me with little strength at times and it takes faith to face each day. Unlike some, mom and I had a perfect mother/daughter relationship our whole life. She was the one who supported me from day one until her last day on this earth to march in drum corps and keep drumming! She loved when I gave her "concerts" i.e. drumming on my pad with an MP3, etc. late into the night. She said it put her to sleep! I empathize with your loss and will keep you in my prayers. My only consolation is that she and my mom are in a better place either at rest, or having a party in Heaven! I will be keeping your family and dad in prayer as well.

I started playing the "drums" in the sixth grade, went to music summer school, played in the concert band in junior high, and that was it! When I was introduced to drum corps, band was history. I have to give "band" the credit for a vantage point, however. I took lessons from a drum corps guy and thus my sole ambition was to be a snare drummer one day in a drum corps. Of course, I had to work my way up to it...it doesn't happen overnight! I never attempted to pursue band in high school. One reason was that the drum and bell corps season which was later in the summer than DCI, conflicted with band camps early in the school year, so I was forced to choose the most desirable activity.

"Hero Sandwich"...I looked at that very short exercise and almost choked and thought...guess I don't have any chops!

Thx Jeff and Mav for keeping us posted! Wish I were there! The Renegades are smokin!

Cool Beans! I will be viewing the '91 and '92 BD Legacy DVD's this weekend to "check you out!" Another "Floatism" was if something really sucked it was "rank as snot!"

I loved SCV's show! The jazz concert piece is one of my all time favorites and for being a drum corps with a classical flare, they did splendid! One of my top three favorite musical shows of all time.

Apparently the same thing I am!

Tom was/is very respectful of the female gender in drum lines...he always treated me like a lady and yet, I was still one of the "guys" in the line, you might say! I think that I was one of the lucky ones in my drum corps career that was never treated otherwise, unlike some other horrific stories I've heard about from some of my female colleagues who marched in other DCI corps. He gave my mom the high drums trophy at the SCV show just because I mentioned to the line at camp that it was the only show that she goes to each year...that's class!