bradrick

On the left is my hat from 89. Since they had been spray painted black with fabric paint and were not going to be reused, I was allowed to take mine Above that is a pic Jolesch took of me at DATR in 89. To the right of that clock is my invitation (in a little acrylic frame) to the 89 SCV Awards Banquet. in the frame on the right is my overlay from the 89 show (as shown in the Jolesch print). I was allowed to take it, since they were not going to be used again. Needless to say, I'm very glad I decided back then to preserve it. I also have my green hat from 90, with my green ageout feather in it. And I have the white epaulets from that year. I would have been allowed to keep my entire uniform from 90 since they were getting new unis for the 91 "Miss Saigon" show. But at the time, all I wanted to keep was the hat and the epaulets.

Steve, You have some very good points. How do you feel about 86 and 87 SCV? In my opinion, those shows probably seemed to have an even more discernable linear story being told than either 88 or 89. But what if I DO agree? I seem to remember Sky being introduced at some shows in 87 as "The great storytellers of Drum Corps"... or something like that. There was one show where the announcer really laid it on thick and started out shouting "IT'S A STORY ABOUT THE JETS.... AND THE SHARKS!" - after which the audience roared with that anticipation applause that really gets your blood flowing when you're out there on the field on the "starting line".

I'm sure there are MANY others, but here are the ones that first came to mind for me when I thought about what were some couple of the BIGGIE departure shows ... Shows that really lept out there in the "storytelling" area: 84 Suncoast (somebody else already mentioned) 86 and 87 SCV AND 85, 86 and 87 Sky Ryders - Probably some of the most obvious attempts at literal storytelling up to that point (and very clear departures from most everyone else on the field those years). And (IMO) a true revolutionary show as far as storytelling that can't be overlooked was 88 Suncoast. I've said it before on other threads: 2005 Cadets would have not been possible without Marc Sylvester and Karl Lowe and company trying a similiar thing 17 years earlier with Suncoast. (surreal fantasy, girl running around on the field taking us through the show's "story")

Saw the show at the Tinseltown Theater in Plano, TX. Cons: Only about 20 people in the theater. When the show started, obviously nobody was in the booth. Lights didn't dim. Looked like somebody had to go ask for them to correct that. When the show started, the volume stayed at about 10% (same as the pre-show "elevator" music). Watched the entire Bluecoats show at that volume. After I asked the guy who was checking tickets in the lobby to raise the volume level, it seemed to go to about 25%. Very disappointing. Picture was fuzzy. Seemed like the projector was out of focus. Supposed to be enhanced for widescreen, but didn't look like it was being projected in widescreen. I thought the ads said "5.1 Surround Sound". Sounded like "mono". When the show was over, lights didn't come back up. We had to leave with the reflected light from the previews on the screen (which apparently had started automatically). Pros: Getting to see a handful of other Drum Corps fans. Getting to see a little bit of the Kingsmen Alumni Corps. Major Pro: The early season vignettes DCI did of a few corps. VERY cool peak into the shows and corps as they were taking shape. Bottom Line: If it weren't for the extra vignettes, I'd once again be walking away from a "Countdown" thinking the only reason to bother with this is to see other Drum Corps peeps. Aside: OK. I'm joking here. Joking... HEY! Delucia and 2007 Crown!... Get a room already! Crown was great last year and they deserve any props they get, IMO. And it's really cute to see how much Delucia loves that show.

Thank you so much Ryan and everyone who has given a nod to 89 SCV. It's been nearly 20 years, and I'm still WAY humbled by the respect that show and the 89 SCV corps continues to receive. I mean that sincerely. Ryan, your comments have me remembering a few things about the closer that I'd like to share. One cool thing I remember about the beginning of the Closer: Drill Designer, Myron Rosander, made the awesome choice to change the final set of “Track Down the Murderer” and make it much more compact. This allowed the horns to really wail, covered up more potential stickouts and made the visual a little sharper at the same time. In order to make the drill flow smoothly at the beginning of the closer, he had us add a move to the beginning of the Closer. So, the very first drill move at beginning of the closer (at around 10:30 while we have our horns down, emptying our spit valves) actually puts us back to the original ending set of "Track Down the Murderer” that we had learned in April or May. The backfield hit before the company front: At about 11:00, you see what Ryan is talking about... A change that I think made a tremendous difference in how the end of our show felt. (...and may have even swung the G.E trophy solidly into our hands, if it wasn't already.) If anybody saw us early in the season, we played that hit facing front field. I don’t remember when exactly they changed it but I have a handheld video that my dad shot of Drums Along The Rockies (at the old Mile High Stadium in Denver) and we're still playing the hit to the front. They way I remember it being explained to us was that one of our french horn players named Scott had gone to Los Angeles in the spring with a big group from SCV including some of the instructors to see Michael Crawford in the LA cast of “Phantom of the Opera”. (I remember they all came back just gushing about it.) So Scott pointed out that the Phantom was turned to the back of the stage when it came to the end of the show and he's listening to Raoul and Christine rowing off together in the catacombs under the Paris Opera house. He sings “You alone can make my song take flight” facing the back of the stage and THEN slowly turned to the front of the stage (towards the audience) as he sang “It’s over now, the music of the night!” So that’s basically what they decided to have us all do. I guess you can probably compare the 88 ending to the 89 ending to see just what a difference it made in building of the EMOTION. I think it just pushed that show right over the edge.

88 Spirit was arguably one of the most talented (and I'm guessing mature) hornlines Spirit ever had. But it's definitely not on my list of "Best 9th Place Shows". I'm sure they'd fair a little better with a modern judging panel. And a modern crowd might appreciate them more too. Top of my list = 1986 Sky Ryders. I'd give anything to hear a modern hornline play as wide open as they did. And it would also make me happy if I could be as entertained again as I am/was by that show. (NOTE: Just what >>>I<<< want from a drum corps. If you like something else, that's ok too. )

And Jason, here's to the 88 Freelancers as well! I always thought Freelancers had a great show in 88. I can remember they had some pretty tasty horn parts that year too. I remember standing on the side watching them at Drums Along The Rockies waiting for retreat (back then still at Mile High Stadium) and really loving the big rolling arrangement of "Yoda's Theme". The soloist was awesome that night, great big fat sound. Your cool opener was from the scene in E.T. when the kids sneak E.T. out and then end up flying their bikes through the sky. The corps came off the line doing some hissing type stuff and some kinda horn visuals. Fairly simple by today's standards, but back then it was memorable, IMO. There was this fiery energy about the corps. Then the hornline completely opened up into a huge impact of the E.T. main theme. It was pretty cool. (It's been quite a while since I've heard any hornline let loose like that.) My take on the crowd's response and Scouts winning: People may have been thinking the Scouts weren't really much on the radar that summer to win (they weren't on mine either at the time) but Sky toured with both Madison AND SCV during the last month and - looking back - by the time the Scouts were making their way to Kansas City, they were a raging inferno. Stunning, classic, precise Madison. I talk a lot about how SCV had a Golden Show in Finals, but there's really no other way to describe Madison's performance. Not sure if I've EVER seen a more enthusiastic crowd response. And speaking of SCV's finals performance. Who can blame anybody for thinking they had just won when Crocker announced BD in ... 3rd?!?? SCV had really cleaned up that show SOOOO much in the last month and were clearly right on the verge of popping out of the pack. (although I'm not sure if anybody felt BD was actually truly vulnerable at that point.) And I agree with everyone who for a split second couldn't figure out who was left to win. I'll admit that I had to watch both from way up high and from like.. the Zero yard line, since I was a corps member without an actual ticket. Even from way over there, the feeling of experiencing Madison's performance that night defies description. And even though I had just seen Madison TEAR IT ALLLL UP in Finals, I had also seen SCV have an undeniably Truly Magical performance. ... So after I heard them announce BD in 3rd... I was standing out on the field at the back of Sky's horn block and was like "Holy CRAP! SCV just won DCI."

I wear my ring every day (unless I forget to put it on.). But I've only had it back in one piece for a couple of years. True Story: After I aged out, I was changing a flat tire on my car ... on a slight incline... and the car rolled off the jack and the flat tire went down pinning my hand (which was wearing my 89 DCI Championship ring) to the pavement. Thank God that tire was flat and it didn't crush my hand. (It was very swollen for a week or so afterwards.) A friend that was there ran up and lifted on the bumper enough that I could pull my hand out. But it pulled the top part with the stone off (scraping the ring on the ground). For 16 years or so it was wrapped in a napkin and in two pieces in a drawer because I had been told by a jeweler that since the stone is just red plastic (that's right... plastic) it couldn't be fixed because the heat from soldiering it would melt the stone and ruin it. BUT, now -16 years later they have a laser welding process that only hits a little spot. So, my friend who's a jeweler fixed it for free. And by this time, I also needed it ... ahem... sized a little bigger due to a few... ahem.. pounds I've aquired over the years. :P Anyway, here it is.. in one piece.

From the 1989 PBS telecast, I still get a kick outta watching Steve Rondinero trying not to bust up when (right before the scores are announced) he's watching Gowdy talk about what a tight race it was between "The Phantoms and the Vanguards". (SCV having just had Phantom masks all over the field - makes it kinda funny. ) I think Rondinero jumped in and said something like "Yeah. It makes it kinda confusing when you had Phantom versus Phantom, in essence."

I honestly don't remember the guard having to relearn a bunch of work in 90. But since I was in the hornline, AND that was .. ahem... years ago I guess that could have happened. However I CAN show you the original guard uniform below. (This is a pic of my bus partner Kelly on "picture day" before first tour.) This is definitely not the guard uniform you see on the Legacy DVD from DCI Finals in Buffalo.

A really cool "Easter Egg" from the 2006 DVDs would be a hidden track that lets you actually hear SCV's hornline. <**> Can anybody who already got the 2007 DVDs please post if there are any corps with the kind of audio balance issues that happened on the 2006 DVD? If I'd known it was going to be so bad, I might not have even bothered to buy them. And I'd like to be properly informed this year before I decide what to do about 2007. (I liked nearly every show better than 2006, so I'm leaning toward buying them eventually. But if the sound balance is whacked again, then (in my opinion) they are just not worth the extra money to get them right now ... and I'd rather only spend $49 when the price comes down.)

I can't comment on 92. But I know Holsinger was around The Cadets some during finals week and in the stands for finals in 93. I've become an aquaintence of his daughter, Haven, through the DCA corps that I was on visual staff with in 2006 here in the Dallas area, Frontier. (Her husband Jeff is a former Madison Scout, a heck of a guy and one heck of a mellophone player - and marched Frontier the last three years.) Haven was in Frontier's guard in 2006. Here's a pic I took of Haven workin' it during our cold and rainy final run-through before DCA during tropical storm/hurricane Ernesto in Rochester, NY last year. (flagless poles because of the rain) Anyway, Haven told me that by shear coincidence she was in Jackson, Miss. attending a ballet school in 93 and got to sit with her dad in the stands and watch DCI finals from the press box. (I think it may have been her first exposure to live drum corps.) Kinda cool. B)

I heard this a few months ago. Very sad news indeed. :( I wish Myron peace, comfort and happiness and I will always be thankful for the times when I crossed paths with him. Words can't really express how much I appreciate his contribution to my life.

A co-worker/friend of mine who grew up in Kenosha and used to be friends with Michael's brother Greg, just e-mailed me a link to this story. Thought I'd pass it along.

I wrote this a few years ago. When this thread first started, it seemed most of the offerings were of the fun/silly nature - so wasn't going to post it. But there are a few more serious ones, so I guess this won't seem out of place now. Once upon a time, we all stood together. One hundred twenty six of us. Oblivious of the weather. We poured ourselves into a mold forged by others come before. Marching in their shadow, there rose a mighty corps. The memories flood my head like a warm summer rain. And I'm washed away in thoughts of laughter, joy... and pain. If I only had more time... Oh... the wonders I'd help create. Someday I'll find the fountain of youth, but it will be too late.

I'm a HUGE fan of 1991 SCV also. They may not have been a serious contender for the title, but it was a beautiful, intense, emotional show. I loved watching it live. Truly beautiful show. I wish drum corps would still paint with that kind of brush stroke. The members never stopped pushing forward and never let down. And I would have given just about anything to have been able to march that season as my age-out year. (I aged out in 1990...) While I was on tour with Sky Ryders in 1991 (visual staff), I watched the end of the ballad "Sun and Moon" go through two or three revisions. And in my opinion, all of the mid season endings they tried were more inspiring and more effective than the one they performed at Finals. The one I remember most was when they made a tight ball or wedge and knelt down, put their horns on the ground and then raised their hands to the heavens and seemed to be suggesting a little Vietnamese village worshipping... The colorguard was behind the "village" and they gently waved those huge wicker fan blades they had to sorta suggest palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze...And then they did a seriously KEWL thing. B) When the drums started making the sounds of the helicopters approaching, the guard began shaking the "leaves" of the trees like they were being pelted by the wind from the copters. And then after it built to a violent shaking, BOOM! ... the village started exploding and then the village/corps was blown apart by incoming bombs. It was awesome. And I missed that cumulative effect the minute they changed it. I thought that was one of coolest things on the field in 1991 and it wasn't really there by the time they got to Dallas for Championships. Not a huge change from what they performed at Finals... but I thought the show was better before they changed it.

Bump... since the High Camera question has come up re: the Div 1 Volume 2 DVDs.

bump

Okey dokey. I just created my poll. Poll: How much extra would you pay for the Vol 2 DVD if you could get the High Camera angle added?

The Volume 2 DVDs for years 2000-2006 currently only contain a multi-camera mix of the shows from the corps placing 13 or lower. It DOES NOT contain a High Camera viewing option. link to DCI.org's DVD page The Vol 1 DVD costs $79. But contains several other options besides High Camera. The Vol 2 DVD costs $39. How much extra would you be willing to pay for a Volume 2 DVD that also contains the High Camera viewing angle? (but doesn't have all the rest of the extras that the Vol 1 DVDs contain)

Me too. It changed my perception of what 2006 Cadets were about just by watching the amount of actual DRILL and field coverage during all the moving around and diving off the pink platforms. I missed all that when I saw the show once live. High Camera, IMO, is essential to really evaluating what a corps is doing from a movement, drill standpoint. And it is really too bad that the only version many people have ever seen of the pre-2000 shows is from the Legacy Multicam DVD. You just don't have all the information you COULD have. And you don't get the exposure to the true feel of the show the way the designers intended --- which is from a fixed point in the stands, preferable high up and centered on the 50 (where the G.E. judge is).

(editing because I looked at the content of Div 1... shoulda done that earlier) Well, unfortunately I didn't specify "would you be willing to pay twice as much". Dangit. I wasn't that specific. And the Div 1 Volume 1 DVD is $79 and Volume 2 is $39. However, it contains more than just an extra angle. It has Video Options: Multi-Camera, High Camera (1-12 placing corps), Color Guard and Percussion Isolation Camera (1-6 placing corps only) Audio Options: 5.1 Digital Surround (1-12 placing corps), Design Staff, Music General Effect, and on-field Percussion commentary (1-6 placing corps only) If you didn't add all the other stuff and only added High Cam angle, it wouldn't be as pricey. Currently it looks like greater than 80% would pay more... just don't know how MUCH more...

I started a poll around a similar subject. Would an available High Camera Angle at a higher price make you more or less likely to buy past years of DCI on DVD? At the time of this post only 18.49% have answered "not wanting to spend any extra money for this feature." Guess it's time for a poll titled "Would an available High Camera Angle at a higher price make you more or less likely to buy the Vol. II DVDs that contain corps placing 13th and lower?"

:lolhit:

Just because the OP said "WARNING: Topic is NOT Controversial in Any Way!" (Warning: Tongue-in-Cheek fun now about to follow) First, I take a grounded timpani and chuck it out onto the field where it belongs. Then, I take a piston rotor bugle and smash it into a two-valve bugle. Then, I take a the two-valve bugle and smash it into a three-valve bugle. Then, I beat the three-valve bugle with a bass drum mallet till it's back in the key of G as God intended. Then, I smash the three valve bugle into an amplifier while it's playing a sound bite of "White Rabbit sound check". Then, I set a woodwind instrument on top of the smashed up amp and set them both on fire. Then, I stick a picture of a certain Corps Director on the end of a spike and roast it in effigy. Once that's done, I tear up my drum corps tickets and go watch an 8mm movie of a performance by the 1965 "Our Lady of the Wailing Hornline" Cadet Regiment Scouts. Because we all know there hasn't been a decent drum corps since. I kid! I kid! :P