FlamMan

1976 Bkue Devils.

1981 Madison Scouts at DCI Midwest in Whitewater, WI. We won the show. Every big time corps was there & winning this show is the highlight of my Drum Corps career. This is the recording that is on the 1981 DCI DVD since finals in Montreal wasn't televised.

I really hope the Blue Devils win DCI this year & start a new trend towards entertaining melodic shows.

I am not impressed with the show themes that the Scouts have come up with the last few years...and no more original music please. On another note, the Scouts easily have the worst web site of any of the World Class Drum Corps. The home page still has corps members in last years uni's. I personally think the problem with the Scouts is they have a lot of new staff members who aren't used to working with each other. Back in the day the Scouts had the same staff for many many years...they knew how to put together a "Madison" show. The Scouts are just another Drum Corp who has lost it's identity by changing uniforms every year for the last 5 or 6 years. The Uni decision should have been an easy one...return to a version of the traditional Scouts uniform and tell Stanbury to hit the road.

I am disapointed that Madison has not improved from last year. I really thought the Scouts would move up into the middle of the pack this year between 7th & 10th place. Right now Madison is in 16th place I believe. It's not looking good for finals. On another note, the Blue Devils have helped restore some of my faith in the Drum Corps activity. Their show is a throwback to the days when melody, listenability & memorability were king. I only hope that this style of show rubs off on other corps...including Madison.

OK...now I'm getting pi$$ed off! It is one thing for the Scouts to be struggling with their show... but it is a diferent matter when the Madison Scouts are undisciplined & screwing off. When I marched Scouts in 1981, the #1 rule being a Madison Scout was to always display class. Always display uniformity, toughness, & class. We got of on standing still at retreat for god knows how long...starting straight ahead, & NEVER deviating from displaying uniformity, toughness & class. We used to get disgusted watching BD, Bridgemen & a few other corps who always screwed around...guys walking around, talking, laughing, acting like goofs. When we would see BD acting like this, it would make us proud to be Madison Scouts...& to not be them. Discipline is the backbone of the Madison Scouts organization...it is the very essence of being a Madison Scout. For the Madison Scouts to display this kind of lack of discipline & class. in front of the home crowd & hundreds of alumni, is completely unnacceptable. A lack of discipline in any type of organization is a direct reflection on leadership...or a lack thereof. Jeff Spanos is a great guy, but he is young & new to drum corp directorship. Sometimes young managers & leaders are reluctant to give direction...or to take a stance that may be contrary to others...but Jeff must take control of his drum corps & start kicking some ### if it is needed. If the Madison Scouts are going to be undisciplined & lackadaisical, they might as well close up shop.

1977 Oakland Crusaders had te cleanest snare line that I have ever heard. I mean they were perfect. Listen to the prelims performance...no fuzz, no blops, nothing. Perfect attacks without the aid of todays ever popular cheater stick clicks prior to every attack, or the always annoying audible "Dut Dut Dut Dut".

Ah yes...Gyros at The Parthenon. Afternoon practice was always fun after half the drum line went there for Gyros at lunch!

I marched in 1981 & our hats were the heavy solid "concrete" version! No one had the plastic hat.

The DCI PBS broadcasts were great exposure for the drum corp activity. In todays cable & satelite TV age with hundreds of channels, it's a shame that DCI doesn't have someone capable of negotiating a broadcast deal with someone...PBS, Bravo, whoever. But given the fact that drum corp participation & attendance have been on the decline for as long as it has, it's probably difficult to convince anyone to make a commitment to an activity that has been showing negative growth for so long.

Exactly. Well said.

... Wow...those are some pretty strong words there kid... Yea...the 1976 Blue Devils & 1975 Madison Scouts...they were loaded with obnoxious brass playing & messy drumming. Sheesh...I suggest you listed to these shows...then listen to last years DCI champion. 1970's drum corps had mass appeal...modern drum corp is high brow dreck that has zero mass appeal. As for drum lines, actually, 1970's drum lines were cleaner than todays...snare drums today with the table top drum heads are hardley audible now so fuzz & blops are buried. The critics of modern drum corp never direct our criticism at todays marching members, but rather to the show designers & those writing the charts.

Whoa...wait a minute...there is no Brass caption being judged??? You've got to be freaking kidding! In my opinion Brass is the most important caption. I'd like to know what knucklehead served this idea up! Heck, why not save more money & let one judge score the entire show? This is bad business & is a very bad decision for drum corp.

The lack of attendance & the last minute attendees are because most drum corp members are college students, as opposed to the local members who really were the backbone of the corps back when you & I marched. Sure we had some out of state members, but I remember a good percentage of the corp was local to WI & IL. The lack of local membership really hampers todays drum corps...& it doesn't help the corps community efforts either. And todays economic conditions just add to the challenges of todays corps who don't aggressivly recruit locals anymore.

The original post mentioned that the guard unis & flags weren't ready yet. That has nothing to do with the music itself. Unis & flags is basic perperation that has nothing to do with members learning their show.

When I marched Scouts (1981) we were always the most prepared corp when the season started...which was either the last weekend in May or the first weekend in June. Now the season starts 3 weeks later & corps aren't prepared for the first show? I don't understand the lack of preparedness.

Destroying corp equipment is irresponsible, immature, & displays a total lack of class & charachter. When I marched Scouts, if someone would have done this he would have got his ### beat!

Tommy is right...Pits are waaay too big & too loud...& to me it is distracting.

Well said and right on the money!

Did anyone else who watched the DCI Fan Network free video of the Scouts notice how low & controlled the Snare stick heights were? Is this a style change or perhaps just a quiet part of the book?

Bingo.

You can easily find the numbers on line regarding how many active drum corps there were & are as well as attendance numbers. The activity has gone from more than 500 corps to about 50 in 30 years. That my friends is a crash & burn...with no end in sight.

Mark my words...the drum corps activity is a few years away from consisting of 10 corps, a one Month season, & 3 judges in the stands...& perhaps becoming integrated with local high school & college bands. I'll take the stone ages right now!

Troubled times lie ahead for DCI & the activity. Without question, this upcoming season will be the least attended in drum corp history. When you compare the total number of drum corp & drum corp shows now compared to the 1970's & early 1980's, it isn't even close. Besides the obvious issues now with gas & food prices, here in my opinion are the other issues having a negative effect on drum corps: 1. DCI canceling it's TV contract with ESPN. Are you kidding me? ESPN isn't the right kind of exposure??? 2. Signing up for 10 years of DCI in Indy. I like Indy & all but how many people are going to want to go to Indy every year? And how many people on the east & west coasts are going to want to go to Indy? 3. Lucas Oil Field won't be completed in time for DCI 2008. Projects of this magnitude are never completed on time. DCI has egg on it's face for rolling the dice & hoping it would be done. This is a major mistake & is inexcusable. DCI should have scheduled finals elsewhere...like Madison. Now you have 20,000 fans with hotel rooms in Indy but they must travel to Bloomington? I really can't believe that DCI committed to Lucas Field in year one. This is just plain bad management & bad decision making. In the business world, heads would roll for a goof like this. It's just plain bush league. 4. DCI moving it's headquarters from Chicago to Indy. What is it with Indy??? I don't get it. 5. High brow shows with absolutely no mass appeal. Todays shows appeal to music majors & fashion designers. Nothing about drum corp in 2008 appeals to the neighborhood kid who is looking for something to do in the summer. Since most D1 corps rely on out of state members, gas & travel expenses will have an effect on the number of out of staters able to bear the cost burden. IF DRUM CORP IS TO SURVIVE...WHICH IS VERY QUESTIONABLE AT THIS POINT, IT MUST RETURN TO RECRUITING LOCAL KIDS & REDUCE THE DEPENDENCY ON OUT OF STATE MEMBERS. As for the desperate move of reducing the number of judges for the first half of the season...isn't this similar to if major league baseball decided that they would reduce the number of umpires to 2 for each game until the all star break? Wouldn't this compromise the quality of the product & the results? When DCI decides they must downsize the number of judges at DCI competitions, make no mistake...money is tight. I hope drum corps as an activity can survive the economic challenges that lie ahead, & poor management decisions that have been made.

This has got to be the dumbest show title ever.