To be fair, someone seeing it early in the season (when the sword form was still in) might have been asking, "What does a giant vibrator have to do with Spartacus?"
Finals in 81 were in Montreal, and there were problems getting clearances for PBS to tape/broadcast from Canada. Instead, PBS broadcast DCI Midwest--the Scouts won.
As insiders seem to agree that Brett Kuhn will be the man, could someone recommend a couple of shows to get a feel for his arranging style? Both Rennick and Kuhn is obviously great teachers, but let's face it, Rennick made his rep with those mind-blowing arrangements.
I went with Downey, Prime, and Shaw, but I've got to give an honorable mention to Jim Wren--frankly, you could make a case that he deserves the top spot on the basis of Defiant Heart alone.