Jay B

I judge venues primarily by how they sound. For large stadiums, sitting between the 40 yard lines no more than 10 rows up, I would choose the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (1971) and Legion Field in Birmingham (79/80). Cessna Stadium in Wichita isn't bad either. As far as small venues, which I prefer, I liked Great Bend High School (early 70's)and Mercy High School in South Milwaukee (early 60's). In both of these venues backfield was brick school walls. Great Bend had the best low end I have ever heard.

I remember watching. Weren't they on ice? Do you know how 27th got the gig?

I love seeing this. A "neighborhood" corps. Looks like old fashioned snares and rotary/piston G bugles. I'll bet they are having a blast.

In fact, if you didn't read the activity papers or mags, or were connected to the activity in some way, you were probably not aware of DCI. I had gone to 70 and 71 VFW, so thought I'd travel to Minneapolis for 72 VFW. Well, there were a lot of fans there wondering where the corps were. That is when I discovered DCI, and I remember being pretty frustrated. Yes, there were only 39 corps at Whitewater, but all the best were there. The Cavies, Argonne, Bridgemen, and Kilts were the only top 12 DCI corps in Minneapolis. It took me until 75 to make a DCI championship. Got to Whitewater for DCI midwest 80 thru 82, and feel it is a pretty good place to watch and listen to drum corps.

They had Sandra Opie as well, which didn't hurt. Wasn't their guard all-male? It sure looks that way on the videos.

And it replaced Ballet in Brass from 62. Lotta years spent playing those two pieces.

I was watching a DVD of the 1970 Troopers at the World Open and the back stands are full. Can you imagine buying a ticket to watch the performers backs? Same thing 1967 American Legion. Back in the 60's/70's, it wasn't unheard of for shows to alternate the concerts side, with every other corp playing away from you.

Marched early 60's. Avid fan up thru late 80's. 1. Grass-roots/neighborhood corps. 2. Loud horn lines using anything that would generate the sound of the old G lines. 3. Great rudimental snare lines using low-tension heads. 4. Horizontally oriented, symmetrical drills (lines and arcs, as apposed to boxes.) 5. Musical arranging done by folks who have not been indoctrinated by the music education establishment. This goes for players too. 6. You play it, you carry it.

I love these old starting line photos where 2 or three corps are stacked up. It was like an assembly line. Being from the mid-west, I don't think I ever saw the Falcons, but love those uniforms. They really pop. Same color tops and bottoms was pretty rare I think. Milwaukee St. Pats Imperials is the only other corps that I can remember doing that. From the looks of it, they must have been a pretty young group.

In 1972 I decided to go to the VFW national championships in Minneapolis. I had gone to Miami(1970) and Dallas (1971), so 700 miles up I35 from Kansas and I'd enjoy another couple of days of Drum Corps at its best. What I didn't know, is that the Combine had become DCI, had already held their own championship, and that most of the top 12 DCI corps would not be in Minneapolis. I'll bet a good portion of the crowd was as surprised as I. Once I got over my disappointment of not seeing the Vanguard or Troopers, I really enjoyed the show. As I remember, the Cavies, Argonne, and the Bridgemen were there. After the show, I picked up a subscription to Drum corps Digest (I don't think it was World) so I would know what was going on.

Mark Baker (1979-1985), Ralph Poznanski (1973-1979), and Tom Kasten (1953-1959) all spent seven years marching snare. Pretty impressive. I expected to see this happen in the 50's when corps members came from the neighborhood and were younger on average than today, but was surprised that the 70's and especially the 80's were represented. These guys were 14 when they started. There are 10 guys with 5/6 years, including a few guys from the 90's and 00's. Sal Ferrara and Larry McCormick are the most significant names on this list.

I don't remember this album, but would like to own it. Anyone know the exact name of it?

I bought this record at the 1980 DCI championships in Birmingham, and listened to it that night. Today I listened to it for the second time. This could have been the best ever. The performances are stunning, but the recording is second rate. Generally, it is the echo that destroys this recording for me. It sounds as if they put the corps in a big shower room. Sounds get muddled and indistinct, especially in the low brass and bass drums. Maybe the Concord pavilion was the wrong venue, or microphones were placed wrong. Who knows. But I can't listen to it without thinking of how much better it could have been. Anyway, I do understand about band directors. I almost got kicked out of my HS band for marching DC. My list: 1. Hawthorne Cabs standstill recording done by Fleetwood in I think 1961 or 1962, with their 1961 field performance on side B. This record introduced me to state-of-the-art DC, and listening to it you understand why the Cabs were the best. Great soloists and enough standards to make the Beatles jealous. 2. 1965 VFW Championships, McCormick Place, Chicago. This is the only instance that I can think of where a national championship was held indoors, on a hard service (tile over concrete as I remember). Some of the best performances you will ever here from most of the Corps, especially the Royal Airs, Kilts, and Cavies. A seminal show. 3. 1972 DCI championships. I think this is one of the best quality DC recordings ever made. Too bad you can't get the LP version anymore.

Finally, Ken Norman. Pretty much all of my favorites are now in (except the guy who did Madison's horn book in the early sixties and Hy Dreitzer). I remember Norman's 1964 french horn solo during the Kilties closer, which I really liked. He looked kind of Clark Kentish in his dark rimmed glasses. I didn't realize who he was until later, when he was marching with and arranging for the Kenosha Kingsmen senior corps in 65. It would be interesting to know where Emil Pavlik (2009 HOF) left off and Ken Norman began. I was thinking that they shared responsibilities during some period but not sure. Also, how much of an influence did Pavlik have on him? Anyway, congratulation to all.

A lot of truth in what you are saying. I think by the time the VFW championships ended, most corps had no connection to the VFW posts other than they needed a sponsor to march in the contest and the post wanted a corp in the contest. When I marched in the early 60's, I would say that half of our corps members fathers were VFW members. By the late 60's, early 70's, there really wasn't a lot of built in loyalty to the VFW left by the corps and Vic Versa. I think you are right about the free prelims. I went down to Miami for the 1970 championships with no real plan to attend prelims. While driving down some main drag, I passed some high school type football field with wood bleachers, and there was a drum corps performing. I quickly parked and walked in. Nobody asked for a ticket so I assume it was free. I think I caught the last 10 or so corps. Same experience in Dallas in 1971.

Those are euphoniums. There is a rotor somewhere in there. I think Madison marched all euphs that year. They just look large next to the rather small in the day Contra's on the right.

I think the Ike jackets you are talking about were from the West Point uniforms that Madison wore 67(?) and 68. Before the Ikes they wore these from 62. They looked better with black shoes (62-65). Before these they wore the traditional explorer uniforms, which they brought back in 69. This pic is from 66.

Nice article. I posted the recap a while back as I was interested in pointing out the two DCI hall of famers who judged brass; Fabrizio and Royer.

I think you are right about RA introducing multi-pitched bass drums, but wasn't it 65? I know that the Cavies used them in 66.

That's my picture. I wish I had taken more than I did, but it was hard to concentrate on photography while experiencing that show. It was one of the rare ones, like 65 Royal Airs and 71 SC, that changed my mind about what was possible. I was mistaken if I ID'd this as DATR. Mile high didn't have back bleachers in 76, and that's not Denver in the background. I think this is Ft. Collins. Anyway, thanks for using my picture to remember 76 BD.

Is this the same Cotton bowl where they held 1971 VFW Nationals or a new one?

According to this, Whaley Royce probably introduced the french horn in the 1940's. http://www.middlehornleader.com/Evolution%20of%20the%20Bugle%20--%20Section%203.htm

Beautiful snares. Premiers?