jms4681

Here was my post on the subject back in May of 2005 My vote goes to the 1966 American Legion "National" Championship held the evening of August 28th 1966 in DC Stadium (prior to being named RFK). After prelims the previous day the lineup was set with 10 some of the greatest Senior & Junior Drum Corps of all times: Chicago Cavaliers: Perenial Mid-West 60's powerhouse having one of their greatest years and still smarting after being upset by Casper in the VFW held the Wed. before. Boston Crusaders: Another 60's contender in the midst of their glory years. Winners of the World Open beating Casper by a wide margin then finishing 3rd at the VFW they had the misfortue of drawing 1st after a strong 3rd palce showing in the prelims. Chicago Royal Airs: Sentimental favorite after glorious 1965 season and defending champion. Came on strong at the end of the year and certainly deserved to be in this lineup. Blessed Sacrament: What can you say? Upset everyone a few days earlier to win the Dream in Jersey City and finished 2nd in the prelims. Casper Troopers: Meticulous execution, especially drill had garnered them the 1966 VFW crown and they were looking towards winning the AL to add to their titles. Seniors: Ct. Hurricanes: In the midst of perhaps their best year they were one of the favorite to win the crown NY Skyliners: Another fabulous Skyliner Corps that added a new demension to their show with a executed drill. Winners of that years Dream they were the odds on favorite going in. Rochester Crusaders: Defending champion after stunning perenial AL champion Hawthorne the previous year in Portland they had set their sites on doing it again. Yankee Rebels: Performaing in their home turf they were another corps who felt they could win. Hawthorne: A year after the senior split Hawthorne was having somehwhat of a up and down year. 4th at the Dream the previous Sunday they were determined to win back their championship. The setting. Beautiful night, DC stadium packed on one side. It was the height of the 1960's National experience. Their was tension in the air as Boston came out of the dugout and up to the starting line. One corps after another thrilled the crowd. When it was over their were cheers, tears and anger. Chicago solidified their claim as the Nation's top Junior with a solid win in the Junior competition over Boston while Casper, the VFW champion slid to 4th behind Sac & Boston. In the Seniors it was Hawthone in one of their greatest wins ever (and one of thier alltime clutch performances) edging the Hurcs while the Skyliners finished a distant 4th. The Retreat was not pretty. The Skyliners were incensed (and also Ct.) and I will let others tell the stories of what did and did not happen on the field that night after the scores were announced. Today, thousands of Drum Corps contests later and the advent of DCI it remains a night to remember and one I will never forget. If anyone else has memories of that night I would like you to share them. Sorry for these old 1960's rantings.

Memories of fall drum corps while enjoying a picture postcard early fall afternoon yesterday up here in Boston. Yes, there was a time when the drum corps field competition lasted into late Sept. and sometimes early Oct. Afternoon contests with crisp air and the beginnings of turning leaves contrasting with the lush green of the contest field. Packed stands with sweater clad spectators and creeping shadows as the competing corps ended the season with vintage performances. Not only did the field competition extend back then way beyond the Nationals but also it existed with surprisingly competitive contests and full corps complements. Unfortunately this regular part of the drum corps experience is gone lost forever to high school band contests and NFL football on HD TV. There was the CYO 2 day music festival held in Boston’s beautiful Franklin Park high school stadium. The festival was as much a part of the early fall music scene as apple picking and leaf peeping. For 2 days the spectacle went on from early morning until late afternoon in a setting right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Besides the competitive CYO top drum corps there was also the class A1 bands who were just as popular as the drum corps at the time. St. Kevin’s against the Cardinals or the heated St. Williams/St. Agnes Class A Band rivalry the competition was always fierce. The stadium was always packed on both sides and the weather always beautiful. Later in September the Eastern Mass. Circuit finals would be held this time with the same fall pageantry usually under perfect blue skies. Dominated by the Boston Crusaders the contest was always a perfect way to end the season. Following victory year after year the Crusaders being last to leave the field would exit the stadium and march up the main street of Malden, their horns and drums roaring bringing traffic to a halt as they headed to their busses a good mile from the stadium itself.

Here's one way, way before DCI and very unique. Our Lady of Lourdes from Jamaica Plain, Ma. Strong division II Corps, disbanded around 1964. No pictures but a strikingly handsome uniform consisting of a dark brown cadet jacket, crisp white cadet pants, red cumberbund, with a red cross strap and white hats. I know the combination sounds odd but it looked great especially during the day.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?amme...(@lit(NJ1029))) I am not sure if you can open this site with this attached link but if you remember the glory days of gthe 50's, 60's and some of the 70's when Roosevelt Stadium was the center of the Drum Corps Universe you might enjoy this. The Dream, Preview of Champions and many other epic battles were fought here with some of the greatest Drum Corps of all times. The Dream, hot weather, hot Corps and huge crowds (also lots of cold beer). Sac, Kevin's, Hawthorne, Skyliners just to name a few. By today's DCI standards it was not the greatest place to hold a contest but it had charm and history and in it's day was right in the center of the hotbed of Drum Corps, New Jersey. Built as a WPA project in 1937 it was finally demolished in 1985 and a Condo. complex built on the site. I found this site in the Library of Congress and it appears the photo's were taken as some Historical record just prior to the demolition. The light towers are gone but some of the pictures are classic and evoke strong memories of days gone by and faded glory.

A few other diddies to the Fenway Park stories: * It was the 2nd time the National's were held in Fenway. I belive the VFW was also held there in 1955 where the 1950's Polio scare kept manyof the corps away. Was it St. Vinny's who won? * The American Legion had the political clout to have the Red Sox take the mound down for the competition over the furious objection of the Red Sox head groundskeeper and the Red Sox. Remember, this was right in the middle of the 1967 "Impossible Dream" Pennant season for the Sox. * The Crusaders, using a little political muscle of their own, (Kennedy Familiy ties) managed a sneak Fenway rehersal right after their prelims performance. After prlims the corps was brought back to the post, jammed into a bus and taken to Fenway without anyone knowing where they were going. One hour drill rehersal ended with the Corps fielding rubber balls off the green monster before being ordered off the field. * The news of having to go on first again (1966 AL also) was greeted with stoic resolve. The Corps spent 2 hours going over the drill the afternoon of the finals with the main objective being looking for potential penalties. * The Finals performance that night was not Boston's best. Despite the rehersal there were drill angle problems, caused by the boundry and stadium relationships which had crppped up from time to time before. * The pro-Boston crowd was late arriving based on the mistaken assumptiin that the better Corps went on at the end and were unaware of the "draw out of a hat" performance lineup was in effect. * After the show I threw my brand new bucks (bought for the National's) over a wall and back into Fenway. It took me over 5 years before I would go there again. When Old "Saders" like myself meet with old friends at the Erie Pub in Dorchester it always comes up. We sip our beer, stare into space and shake our heads. Thirty eight years later it still hurts like ####.

Ok, so in reading this we have determined that it was a horn player that went out of bounds causing the penalty. I don't still have this recording but in the past never noticed the decrease in the horn line production during the exit after seeing the violation but I am not disputing the story. I am still looking for the reason that caused the infraction to occur. Did in fact the corps line up improperly on the starting line which seems hard to believe that late in the season or was it just the member of the horn line failing to execute the drill? Curious if "Kevin's" ever had a similar issue prior to the Nationals or this just happend at the wrong time.

My vote goes to the 1966 American Legion "National" Championship held the evening of August 28th 1966 in DC Stadium (prior to being named RFK). After prelims the previous day the lineup was set with 10 some of the greatest Senior & Junior Drum Corps of all times: Chicago Cavaliers: Perenial Mid-West 60's powerhouse having one of their greatest years and still smarting after being upset by Casper in the VFW held the Wed. before. Boston Crusaders: Another 60's contender in the midst of their glory years. Winners of the World Open beating Casper by a wide margin then finishing 3rd at the VFW they had the misfortue of drawing 1st after a strong 3rd palce showing in the prelims. Chicago Royal Airs: Sentimental favorite after glorious 1965 season and defending champion. Came on strong at the end of the year and certainly deserved to be in this lineup. Blessed Sacrament: What can you say? Upset everyone a few days earlier to win the Dream in Jersey City and finished 2nd in the prelims. Casper Troopers: Meticulous execution, especially drill had garnered them the 1966 VFW crown and they were looking towards winning the AL to add to their titles. Seniors: Ct. Hurricanes: In the midst of perhaps their best year they were one of the favorite to win the crown NY Skyliners: Another fabulous Skyliner Corps that added a new demension to their show with a executed drill. Winners of that years Dream they were the odds on favorite going in. Rochester Crusaders: Defending champion after stunning perenial AL champion Hawthorne the previous year in Portland they had set their sites on doing it again. Yankee Rebels: Performaing in their home turf they were another corps who felt they could win. Hawthorne: A year after the senior split Hawthorne was having somehwhat of a up and down year. 4th at the Dream the previous Sunday they were determined to win back their championship. The setting. Beautiful night, DC stadium packed on one side. It was the height of the 1960's National experience. Their was tension in the air as Boston came out of the dugout and up to the starting line. One corps after another thrilled the crowd. When it was over their were cheers, tears and anger. Chicago solidified their claim as the Nation's top Junior with a solid win in the Junior competition over Boston while Casper, the VFW champion slid to third behind Sac. In the Seniors it was Hawthone in one of their greatest wins ever (and one of thier alltime clutch performances) edging the Hurcs while the Skyliners finished a distant 4th. The Retreat was not pretty. The Skyliners were incensed (and also Ct.) and I will let others tell the stories of what did and did not happen on the field that night after the scores were announced. Today, thousands of Drum Corps contests later and the advent of DCI it remains a night to remember and one I will never forget. If anyone else has memories of that night I would like you to share them. Sorry for these old 1960's rantings.

Great post and thanks for the info. It was a tragedy and let us not forget another Boston tragedy being the 1967 Crusaders losing the AL Nationals at Fenway Park. They dominated the season, crushed everyone in the prelims and then drew out of a hat and had to go on first for the second year in a row. Chicago, going on last won beating Boston the only time that season.

I have fuzzy moments of this memory (probably drank too much cheap Krueger Ale sold at Roosevelt Stadium). It had to be 1970 or 1971 at the Dream and the Yankee Rebels were on the field and went into their Civil War medley (Requiem for an Era?). There was a part of the medley where they went into Camptown Races and during this part of the song the on duty Jersy City Mounted Policemen put his horse in gear accross the back of the field beyond the end lines. I think the crowd reacted. In fact I think they went nuts. Is this a figment of my loss of brain cells due to aging or did I really see this happen?

What was your Dad's name?

For years the St. Kevin's clan claimed they had lost the 1960 VFW on an out of bound 2 point pentalty. We now know that kevin's lost the National Championship by slightly more than 2 points and came in third behind Sac and Chicago. I have never quite been able to get the true story of what happend that night in Briggs Stadium in Detroit. It is my understanding Kevin's won the prelims (5-6 minutes) in what had to be a huge upset and seemed poised to win that night. I'm curious as to what caused the out of bounds violation. One story is that DM Wally Curtiss incorrectly paced off the distance from the sideline and the corps was incorrectly placed on the starting line which caused the violation later in the performance. Another theory had an errant color guard member inadvertantly going past the back sideline in a dumb move. Other stories persist claiming that marching members having seen the violation were knocked off stride and ruined what was a magnificant performance and that St. Kevin's would have won easily had it not happend. Ok, ok, I know, it was 45 years ago but before everybody out there dies does anyone have the "real story" on what happend? Sorry to bore you DCI folks.

I know for a fact that Fleetwood is on the verge or releasing another round of CD's with some of the greatest historical recordings of all time. For me it's the 1963 Dream which is on the list. The quality of the recording, the size of the crowd and the audience reaction make it my favorite Fleetwood recording of all time. Not sure if they will release individual CD's or the entire contest as was how it was done over 40 years ago as a boxed set. Favorite moment was the announcer (Mickey Patrone?) dryly saying "now lining up on the starting line are the NY Skyliners" which is followed by a tremendous roar. Seconds later Patrone inserts the clever line "who have brought all of Yonkers NY with them this afternoon". Stay tuned and keep checking that web site.

It was 1966. I was with the Boston Crusaders and we were competing the night after the VFW in Wilmingon Del. at the Blue Rock contest. Like a lot of Corps we were on our way to Washington DC for the Legion Nationals. Besides Blue Rock one of the other competing corps that night was the Madison Scouts. Now at that time Blue Rock was hardly a household name and had missed the cut at the VFW. After the competition part was over we were out on the field next to Madison during the retreat. I believe Madison finished third to polite applause and then the announcer made a big deal trying to build the tension in announcing who had finished second. After several seconds of delay he blurted out that the second place corps as Blue Rock. The crowd reacted with applause and there was a quiet lull waiting for the first place score to be announced. At that juncture a Madison veteran Contra apparently totally aware of who all the corps were loudly blurted out "Blue Rock, who the F*%@ is Blue Rock"? From that day on anyone who ever mentionedd Blue Rock would always get the same reply.

Don't forget the 3 famous instructors in the Boston area during the 1960's which I don't think are mentioned here. Ed Denon, Boston from about 1958 through at least the early 70's. True genius and the driving force in helping make a local class A Crusaders into a National Power. Frank Bergdoll, St. Kevin's. Another underated instructor who was the man behind the unique Kevin's sound mixing delicate french horn harmonies which were well ahead of their time. Check out his 1963 horn line. Still one of the greatest of all time in my book. Al Saia, St. Mary's Cardinals and the Cambridge Cabs. Another top notch Boston area arranger from the 60's. Developed the unique Cambridge sound focusing on his soprano and mid-range sections with the low voices playing a minor role. Some wonderful and unique arrangements with St. Mary's especially their strong 1964 & 1965 Eastern contenders.

Back in the 1960's there was a full retreat for almost every show. Unlike the Olympic format used today at the big DCI shows each Corps would march onto the field in parade formation one after another until they were all lined up. Usually it was the host corps or a designated corps that provided the music or drumming for the corps marching on the field. The Corps did not play coming back onto the field. After the scores the command was given to "pass in review". Each corps would then troop the stands playing a song from the far left of the the field, by the judges who would salute the colors and then exit the field to the right. As each Corps did this everyone else would "move right" to be in the same position (far left end-zone) when it was their turn to pass in review. This would continue until the final Corps (winning score) would finish the process.