Don't have a large database to draw from, but:
1. DCI Finals 1974 in my one and only tour in Anaheim Kingsmen;
2. DCI Semi-Finals 2007 with Kingsmen Alumni
It didn't attract kids then - the ones who joined did so in spite of the name (I was there)....and we never got a dime from the US Tuna fleet or canneries, the Portugese community or the Italian community. A loss all around...
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Anaheim Kingsmen's 1974 drill was specifically designed to be curvilinear / non-linear, in part to deal with tics for alignment / cover, elbow contact, etc. As to whether it was exactly the first curvilinear show, I make no claim.
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Absolutely - the old recordings don't do justice to the corps (the older the recording the worse). Someone with the skills (and access to folks with firsthand corps knowledge) would do a great service by altering the old recordings to make them true to pitch, correct tempo, and removing extraneous noises, etc.
The reason that bugle corps existed and prospered for 60+ years (so that the activity could be hijacked by bandos) was that it produced exciting music that the general public appreciated.
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