tommytimp

I'm going with 1985 as well. So many great shows, so many great concept shows. 1978 was a great year as well.

/Does anybody else see this becomming a Jeff Foxworthy type monologue? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Except that these are tinged with humor and pleasant memories instead of tired-### trailer trash tropes.

Madison 88 is the loudest crowd response I've ever heard. (And well earned, I might add. Holy crap.) For me, Whitewater 83 does it. We finished our "chords of death," and the place went up. (Warhawk Stadium going nuts for you is a thrill I wish on each and every one of you.) Our manager lit up a cigarette, turned to the crowd, held his hand up to them, and looked back and said, "There you go."

The fleur-de-lis is an offshoot of the Boy Scouts of America, of which the Madison corps was a member. (Still are?) The Phantom Regiment takes its name from a poem (Kipling, I believe) called "The Lost Legion," detailing the disappearance of a British Regiment in Asia. The chevron is a sergent's stripes (or was in the 70s when they took the logo), and when they adopted the British-looking uniform in the mid-70s the chevron fit even better than with the old black-and-red uniforms. It's also a logo that translates well to souvenir sales and looks great on the side of a semi, IMO.

If DCI is so committed to having shows in Indy and San Antonio, why couldn't they put Finals in Minneapolis, in the Rollerdome? ($1 to Mike Ditka)

27 in 80 and 81 is hard to beat as a wepaons line, that's for sure. Phantom 78, 79 and 80 are great, as was Madison in 80 and 81. Oh, OK, 82 as well. The Spirit lines of the 80s, the Salas/Easterwood consortium, were awesome equipment handlers and dancers, probably the best early combination of both. Suncoast 88 had some stuff in their show that was unbelievable. (The "Army rifles" in particular were phenomenal.) But the one guard show I always think of, that could have possibly stood on its own without the horns and drums as enough of a show on its own, is the 1987 Sky Ryders. Marrone, what a show. Doubly impressive for me because I'm so tired of West Side Story in drum corps.

One of the sweetest, most genuine people I ever met and worked with in the activity. I'll miss him terribly. One more time..."Let's DO IT, guys!" Requiem aeternum, et lux perpetua.

That being said, anybody who thinks cymbals are the MOST interesting part of any corps' visual program must have some serious guard issues. I always thought the dearth of cyms was mainly due to the dearth of ride-heavy (IE jazz, show tunes or rock) programming these days.

Not for nothing, but Cavies also used Sambandrean Swing as their drum solo in 79. They got a great keyboard sound that year, too. I played it in jazz band in college. It cooks at the fast tempo, whereas it's more of a driving beat for the Cavies, until the end anyway.

88 was my age out year and the electricity in the place was palpable after Madison finished. I still think that's the loudest fan reaction I've ever heard(I wasn't in Montreal for SCV 82 or in Buffalo in 95 for the Boys.) at the end of that awesome decel and chord cluster. My fave controversy from 88? Check the little bit after BD performs where they're talking about the blind draw. They show a little video snippet of Scouts DM Dan Feeney and the lady assisting w/the draw, and it LOOKS LIKE she is SHOWING him WHICH ONE to PICK. OOOOH. Of course, that would never happen. Would it. Hah!!

Waah, waah, waah. What could have happened, did happen. Exept for the Knights in 1983-now THAT was a conspiracy!!!!

I didn't see them this year, but their 1980 show was easily the most influential show of the decade. First time they ever finished out of the top three, even.

I was never a big fan of album rock, but I stuck with the Knights, even though that's what we wound up playing the most, for the same reason given by just about everyone else: They were my guys. And I was theirs.

North Star, 1980, right there on tape at Finals, in the push of Ole at the end of the show, two horn players run right into each other. Poor guys. North Star, 1982. The final push in their closer, a horn player comes in a full count early, then stops. Oops. A friend of mine always wondered why they didn't scrub it off the record, it was so obvious. (To which I always said 'Did they DO that?') Sorry to pick on the Star so much, cause they kicked azz when they were around. I miss them. And no, Roman Blenski's hat isn't screwed on. At Normal in 1988, We tied for, um, last with Northern Aurora, and we decided to flip his hat to decide who would exit first. To this day I still can't believe he let us take it from him. I remember at a little bitty DCM show in 1985 the Knights took the field for retreat on the wrong yard line, so we had to crab 5 yards over to the right. Stupid sexy contest director...

I also liked the 1980 version, when they reversed it.

I'll take the Stravinsky medley from 1978, the greatest show of all time. Love all the visual ideas, but please add the rifle gates a la 'Pilgrim's Chorus.' Come to think of it, why not play 'Pilgrim's Chorus?' Or just the end of it. So many choices.

It's hard to tell on the Fnals broadcast, because tyhe venue is so large and the camera doesn't pick him up right away, but the first time I saw Pee Wee, at Bettendorf, Iowa, at a high school stadium, I nearly peed my Precious Little Drum Major's Uniform, I laughed so hard.

That was a great show, and a filthy tight drumline. They had that East coast neck-bob thing working in 87. Thanks for the post. Good Lord!

Heck yes; I almost went West to try out after 1985; too bad their 86 show was the weakest of the decade for them. I loved them the first time I saw them, in 1982, and still think the 1984 show is one of the most confidently executed programs I've ever seen. The Bridgemen did gonzo first (and probably better) but they were more East coast street, VK was beach and Hollywood. YMMV, of course.

The Knights Suncoast Sound Bridgemen 27 VK Avant Garde North Star Never Saw, Only Heard: Argonne Rebels Oakland Crusaders Seneca Optimists Muchachos

In 88 the DCM open class corps got the field at Huskie Stadium for an hour or two to run stuff, our staff judged Bluecoats then they judged us. As far as an advantage, I think most synthetic surfaces are more or less equal, of course no two snowflakes are exactly alike, but there you go. I don't think there's a huge advantage to be gained. But the Cavies are the Big Dog, and they get to walk the talk.

That had to be Rita Kimberly, right? Wasn't she the only girl in the pit (which was actually only Ray at the timps, everyone else still marched the keyboards in 82)? I never heard the 'sunglasses' story. Do tell!!!

No way. Never happened. I sincerely doubt the drunk thing happened either. Although, supposedly, in 1982 one of our instructors went ballistic on a judge after Whitewater. I doubt that too. (Although, you know, justified...) As for the pizza thing, one of our age-outs in 88, Jay Ferm, bass player, talked about ordering pizza on the field at one of our last shows on tour, and ###### if he didn't have four Domino's delivered at our last show in Omaha. Unfortunately, they came outside the stadium, whilst we were getting set for retreat. But he carried them boxes out on to the field and the Quad City Knights ate pizza at retreat in Omaha. That's rock and roll. Of course, I was front and center with the other DMs...no pizza. $*$@*!!!

I have nothing to add except that the title of this thread sounds like a folk song.

So does that have anything to do with why they were disqualified in 1975? Say, why were they disqualified in 1975? Just kidding.:OT: Didn't 1974 involve a tape error of some magnitude rendering their performance unusable?